In order to make it in the music or film industry, it's important to have the right look for the part, be that an on-screen role or simply your public image. With looks being closely related to age, it's unsurprising then that many celebrities feel compelled to play fast and loose with the truth about their age.
Whether it's shaving a few years off to fit with the band's aesthetic, or even adding a few on to secure a part in a film, age-related lies are seemingly common amongst famous people. Click on to see exactly what we mean.
Check out this gallery to find out which celebrities have lied about their age and why.
The Australian actress was exposed in 2015 when a school friend told the papers that she was actually in her mid-thirties rather than 29, as she had been claiming.
Following the incident the tabloids portrayed Rebel Wilson as a serial liar, a depiction that resulted in a high-profile defamation lawsuit.
The Disney star has admitted to using her sister Haylie’s ID to get into nightclubs when she was underage.
Ironically, in later years Duff starred in ‘Younger,’ a TV series centered around the topic of lying about your age.
In 1999, Marshall Mathers lied about his age during an interview with Howard Stern, saying that he was 24 instead of 27.
People were so surprised that the rapper would care about something so trivial as age that it was thought perhaps he genuinely forgot how old he was.
Early in her career, Jenny from the Block used to say that she was born a year later than she actually was.
It was only when her then-boyfriend Sean "Diddy" Combs was arrested and she was taken in for questioning that J.Lo was forced to reveal she was born in 1969 rather than 1970.
The actress reportedly lied about her age to land one of her first roles in ‘That '70s Show.’
She auditioned when she was just 14, but told producers she was "going to be 18."
For a long time the rapper told people that she was born in 1984, when actually she was born in 1982.
It was only in 2011 when she was arrested and questioned by police that her true birth year was revealed.
The esteemed actor lied to the legendary Francis Ford Coppola to land the part of Clean in the 1979 war film ‘Apocalypse Now.’
He told the director he was 16, when actually he was only 14. His age apparently showed during a scene where he had to talk about his love of Playboy magazines.
When the Spice Girls shot to fame in the mid-90s, Ginger Spice told the press that she was 21 when she was actually 25.
She was later outed by fellow band member Victoria, aka Posh Spice, who let slip in an interview that Halliwell was older than that.
In 2008, it was revealed that this member of The Pussycat Dolls was 30 years old, contrary to the band’s website, which listed her as being 28.
The singer was exposed for one of the biggest known age-related lies in the industry.
When she was promoting her new album, she said that she was just 22 years old when in reality she was actually 30.
The actress has lied about her age multiple times, claiming on different occasions that she was both older and younger than she actually was.
In 1993, she told a journalist for Detour magazine: "After a while you have no idea how old you are because you’ve lied so many times."
The then-29-year-old star of ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ lied about her age when she auditioned for the part of 16-year-old Andrea Zuckerman.
She reportedly consulted lawyers to check that it was legal to sign the filming contracts having lied about her age.
In 2003, the rapper appeared in Teen People’s list of the Hottest Stars Under 25, even though he was 28.
See also: Who'd have guessed that these celebrities were the same age?
Busted: These celebrities lied about their age
Apparently famous people don't like getting older either!
CELEBRITY Exposed
In order to make it in the music or film industry, it's important to have the right look for the part, be that an on-screen role or simply your public image. With looks being closely related to age, it's unsurprising then that many celebrities feel compelled to play fast and loose with the truth about their age.
Whether it's shaving a few years off to fit with the band's aesthetic, or even adding a few on to secure a part in a film, age-related lies are seemingly common amongst famous people. Click on to see exactly what we mean.
Check out this gallery to find out which celebrities have lied about their age and why.