10 celebrities you didn’t know were huge Vikings fans

When the Vikings take the field Monday in Los Angeles, you can expect plenty of camera shots of Hollywood hotshots cheering on the home team. But we’ve got our fair share of celebrity fans, like comedian Nick Swardson and actor Josh Duhamel. Makes sense. Both have strong Minnesota ties. But there are other famous people who bleed purple, despite having no direct connections to the region. Meet 10 of them.

Claim to fame: Oscar-nominated actor whose credits include “Cheers” and “Wilson,” which was filmed in the Twin Cities.

Purple pride: Harrelson sported a Vikings jersey while attending the Vikings game in London earlier this season. He also visited training camp in 2019. The Texas native’s love for the team might be connected to his friendship with U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips. The two traveled to Vietnam together in 2023.

Claim to fame: Cuddly rapper best known for the 1989 hit “Just a Friend.”

Purple pride: In the 2003 song “Tear [expletive] Up,” Markie rapped: “Got a big belly/over six feet tall/My favorite team is the Vikings/when I watch football.” When Markie died in 2021, wide receiver Randy Moss tweeted that “the times we spent together were priceless and ‘I can say he was a friend.’”

Claim to fame: Playwright (“August: Osage County”) and actor (“Ford v Ferrari”). He’s married to Carrie Coon, who played a Minnesota police chief in the third season of FX’s “Fargo.”

Purple pride: He grew up in Oklahoma, but describes himself as a lifelong Vikings fan. “I wanted to be a wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings,” he said earlier this year on “The Big Picture” podcast. “But it turns out I didn’t have any athletic prowess or size for that.”

Claim to fame: Co-founder and bassist for the rock group Kiss. Was part owner of a Los Angeles-based team for the now-defunct Arena Football League.

Purple pride: The depth of Simmons’ passion for the Vikings is unclear, but he has posted pictures of local fans dressed in Kiss makeup and once tweeted a shot of wide receiver Adam Thielen sporting Kiss cleats during a game. He sang the national anthem when the Vikings had a 2013 game in England.

Claim to fame: Won the heart of Joey Graziadei in the 28th season of “The Bachelor.”

Purple pride: Anderson grew up in Louisiana, but her dad, Mark Anderson, who competed on “The Golden Bachelorette,” grew up in northwest Minnesota and Fargo. That might explain why she roots for the Vikings while Graziadei cheers for the Packers. The couple have posted their pregame bickering on social media.

Claim to fame: Chief global correspondent for ABC News. She’s a familiar face on “This Week With George Stephanopoulos.”

Purple pride: Raddatz, who grew up in Idaho and Utah, is known as a serious journalist, but she made time on “This Week” in 2023 to interview former Vikings quarterback Joshua Dobbs after he came off the bench and led the team to victory. Co-anchor Jonathan Karl called the team “Martha’s Vikings.”

Claim to fame: Professional tennis player from Florida; reached as high as No. 15 in the world.

Purple pride: Former tennis pro Mardy Fish, an Edina native, turned Korda on to the Vikings, but it was watching Kirk Cousins on Netflix’s “Quarterback” docuseries that made him a die-hard believer. “The fans are insane,” he told tennis.com in December after seeing his first game at U.S. Bank Stadium. “The atmosphere was one of the best I’ve seen in sports.”

Claim to fame: Professional wrestler who has also fronted the heavy metal band Fozzy, and appeared on “Dancing With the Stars.”

Purple pride: Jericho’s dad played pro hockey; Jericho didn’t get into the NFL until his marriage to Hibbing native Jessica Lockhart. On “The Rich Eisen Show” six years ago, he was still smarting over a season-ending loss to the Bears. “It was the worst,” said Jericho, who attended the 2018 game. “We had a good time still.”

Claim to fame: Veteran NBA shooting guard who played for eight different teams.

Purple pride: Matthews should be a Packers fan. He was named Wisconsin Mr. Basketball in high school, played at Marquette University and had two separate stints with the Milwaukee Bucks. But when it comes to football, he’s all about Minnesota. When he played for the Dallas Mavericks, he watched the Vikings-Seahawks 2016 wild card game from a Target Center locker room in a Vikings stocking cap. He seemed genuinely heartbroken when Blair Walsh missed a field goal that would have meant victory.

Claim to fame: Fitness guru; one of Peloton’s most recognizable instructors.

Purple pride: The Brit, who only recently started following the NFL, latched onto the Vikings when they were in London. Safety Josh Metellus and wide receivers coach Keenan McCardell both stopped by her studio. Her videos from her inaugural visit to U.S. Bank Stadium earlier this season focused more on the cheerleaders and a halftime Corgi race than the actual game.