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Home · Love & Sex

Hey, Boy! These Were Your Ultimate 80s and 90s Guy Crushes

Happy throwback Thursday. To celebrate, we're taking a trip down memory lane to the time when you doodled these guys' names on your notebooks. From TV stars to sexy crooners, we think we've covered them all.

By Charli Penn · September 22, 2016October 26, 2020
01
These Guys Ruled Hearts In the 80s and 90s

Tell us if we left your crush off of our list.

Getty Images/Warner Bros
02
Merlin Santana
The moment we laid eyes on little Stanley on The Cosby Show we knew it was love. By the time late actor Merlin Santana played Romeo on The Steve Harvey Show we were dreaming of being his Juliet.
Warner Bros
03
Will Smith
Every princess deserved her prince, and in the 90s there was no fresher one around than rapper-turned-actor Mr. Smith. Has he ever stopped being the one?
Jim Smeal/WireImage
04
Usher
They call him U-S-H-E-R-R-A-Y-M-O-N-D…now baby tell me what you want to do with me.
Fred Duval/FilmMagic
05
Fredro Starr
When Mo fell hard for Quentin (Fredro Starr) on Moesha, so did we, and the moment they got engaged is when all of the wedding planning (in our heads) began. Too bad all good things had to come to an end.
Def Jam
06
Bobby Brown and Ralph Tresvant
They were New Edition’s standout cuties and when they went solo, hoards of female fans followed.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
07
Mekhi Phifer
Clockers. High School High. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. They were all movies that had one gorgeous commonality: Mekhi Phifer bringing hot chocolate to the big screen.
Pat Carroll/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
08
Omar Epps
We started crushing on cutie pie Epps as Q in Juice then Malik in Higher Learning. To this day, can you even listen to Raphael Saddiq’s “All I Ask Of You” without daydreaming of Mr. Epps?
SGranitz/WireImage
09
Morris Chestnut
Ricky!!!!!!!! Losing you in Boyz N The Hood nearly broke us, but thankfully we’ve only gotten more of you over the years.
John D. Kisch/Separate Cinema Archive/Getty Images
10
Allen Payne
We only have four words to say on this one: Jason’s Lyric sex scene.
Gramercy/Getty Images
11
Taye Diggs
If you saw his breakout role in 1998’s How Stella Got Her Groove Back, you didn’t need to see another thing to be know that he was the definition of hot chocolate.
12
Kadeem Hardison
Dwayne Wayne was our onscreen freshman college crush, but sadly he belonged to Ms. Gilbert.
John D. Kisch/Separate Cinema Archive/Getty Images
13
Al B. Sure
Back in the 80s and early 90s, Al was new jack swinging into our hearts.
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
14
Malcolm-Jamal Warner
Theo Huxtable was the good on paper guy of our dreams on The Cosby Show.
Alan Singer/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
15
LL Cool J
The ladies have always loved cool James, and that all began in the 80s.
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
16
Ray J
Moesha fans had their eye on Brandy’s little brother too. Raise your hand if back in the day you had a crush on “D-money”.
Steve Eichner/Getty Images
17
Jason Weaver
If singer and actor “J-Weav” was your 90s crush magnet, know this, you were not alone.
ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images
18
Marques Houston
Way back in the day, annoying little Roger on Sister, Sister made you look again when he became part of hit R&B group Immature.
Raymond Boyd/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Image
19
Justin Timberlake
As the lead singer of NSYNC, the pop star with serious soul sung his way right into our hearts at an early age.
Bob Berg/Getty Image
20
Brandon Quentin Adams
The little girl inside you is blushing right now – admit it. From Moonwalker to Sandlot to Moesha, Brian Quentin Adams was our (little) man.
Disney
21
Mario Lopez
Sorry, Zack, most of us were on team Slater, and we’re not ashamed. #SavedBytheBell
Ron Wolfson/Getty Images
22
Lee Thompson Young
Teenage hearthrob Jett Jackson had it going on in the 90s and we dare you say otherwise. Sadly, actor Lee Thompson Young passed away in 2013, but he’ll always have a special place in our hearts.
Disney
23
Tevin Campbell
If there wasn’t a Tevin Campbell poster on your wall in the 90s, you didn’t own a TV or a radio.
Raymond Boyd/Getty Images
24
Walter Emanuel Jones
Zack Taylor, AKA The original “Black Power Ranger” was exactly the after school fix we needed back when boy crushes were a big, big deal.
MMPR Productions Inc
25
Jordan Knight
Remember when you had your eye on this new kid on the block?
Brian Rasic/Getty Images
26
JALEEL WHITE
Steve Urkel never had swag or game, but his alter ego Stefan Urquelle sure got our attention.
ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images
27
Rider Strong
When girl met boy (Shawn) on 90s TV sitcom Boy Meets world, the moment was filled with all of the stars, fireworks and giggles young crushes were made of.
ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images
28
Lamont Bentley
Moesha held it down when it came to 90s teen eye candy. Hey, Hakeem!
CBS Photo Archive via Getty Images
29
Jonathan Taylor Thomas
Ron Galella, Ltd/WireImage

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