{"id":6819,"date":"2026-06-25T16:01:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T16:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/cars-singer-gary-numan-how-i-first-hooked-up-with-fan-turned-wife-may-be-illegal-now\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T16:01:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T16:01:55","slug":"cars-singer-gary-numan-how-i-first-hooked-up-with-fan-turned-wife-may-be-illegal-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/cars-singer-gary-numan-how-i-first-hooked-up-with-fan-turned-wife-may-be-illegal-now\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Cars&#8217; singer Gary Numan: How I first hooked up with fan-turned-wife may &#8216;be illegal now&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F3%2F2026%2F06%2F132211233.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_4-0\">Gary Numan believes how he and his fan-turned-wife, Gemma O\u2019Neill, first got together \u201cmay be illegal now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cCars\u201d singer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.com\/culture\/music\/article\/gary-numan-the-way-i-wooed-my-wife-would-be-illegal-now-xxcm0kdz8?t=1782306826910\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">explained to The Times<\/a>, in an interview published Wednesday, that he met his now-partner at a fan event around 1980 when she was 12 and he was 22.<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_4-0\">O\u2019Neill was 18 by the time she and the 28-year-old rock star crossed paths again six years later, he claimed, and they got to know each other as she continued attending his concerts.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>Gary Numan looked back on meeting wife Gemma O\u2019Neill (pictured above in 2017) when he was 22 and she was a 12-year-old fan. <span class=\"credit\">PA Images via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>The duo (pictured here in 2015) crossed paths again six years later when O\u2019Neill was 18, he told The Times. <span class=\"credit\">WireImage<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_4-0\">\u201cThat\u2019s how I attracted her, which I think is illegal now,\u201d he quipped, noting that he contacted a fan club O\u2019Neill was part of to get her phone number in 1992.<\/p>\n<p>The artist wanted to give O\u2019Neill his condolences, \u201cwhich, again, may be illegal\u201d after the death of her mother, he told the outlet.<\/p>\n<p>Numan confessed that when he rang the young fan, she \u201cput the phone down\u201d because \u201cshe thought it was somebody playing a cruel trick.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When Numan called back, O\u2019Neill quizzed him to make sure he was the real deal.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>By 1988, the artist and O\u2019Neill (pictured here in 2004) struck up a friendship as she continued to attend his concerts. <span class=\"credit\">FilmMagic<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>Shortly after, O\u2019Neill\u2019s mom died in 1992 and Numan (pictured here in 2011) called a fan club she belonged to in order to find her phone number and send his condolences. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The pair then went on their first date at a chain restaurant, with Numan recalling, \u201cI took her to a Little Chef because I\u2019m very down to earth. I don\u2019t do all that flash, rich man, pop star stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He and O\u2019Neill tied the knot in 1997 and went on to welcome daughters Raven, 23, Persia, 21, and Echo, 19.<\/p>\n<p>Years before their union, O\u2019Neill once told a career counselor she was \u201cgoing to marry Gary Numan.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>The performer (pictured here in 2002) confessed this move \u201cmay be illegal now.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">Redferns<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>The rockstar (pictured here in 1988) said their first date was a \u201cdown-to-earth\u201d outing at a Little Chef. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In 1997, she <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-independent.com\/arts-entertainment\/how-we-met-1240497.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">spoke to The Independent<\/a>\u00a0about how their age-gap romance came to be.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was 11 and it started as a schoolgirl crush \u2014 a big crush,\u201d she said at the time, adding that she met Numan as a preteen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy dad worked at Warner Bros, which the Beggar\u2019s Banquet label belonged to, and he arranged for me to meet Gary and get a single autographed,\u201d O\u2019Neill explained.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>The couple (pictured here with their daughters in 2019) tied the knot in 1997. <span class=\"credit\">Mike Marsland\/WireImage<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><figcaption>O\u2019Neill and Numan went on to welcome Persia, Raven and Echo (pictured here in 2019). <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images for Audi UK<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>She shared, \u201cI was completely overcome, I couldn\u2019t talk. I was crying, and I told him I really loved him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Neill characterized their first date as \u201creally cute,\u201d adding that her \u201cschoolgirl crush turned quite quickly into real feelings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She continued, \u201cI kept my feet firmly on the ground, though. I remember thinking, \u2018This is really, really nice, he\u2019s really, really friendly, and it\u2019s lovely, but if it stops tomorrow I\u2019m going to be all right about it.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/06\/25\/entertainment\/cars-singer-gary-numan-how-i-first-hooked-up-with-fan-turned-wife-may-be-illegal-now\/\" target=\"_blank\">Source link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gary Numan believes how he and his fan-turned-wife, Gemma O\u2019Neill, first got together \u201cmay be<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/132211233.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}