We all fear something or the other and celebrities are no different from us. They may be famous and really good at what they do, but when they are faced with their fears and phobias, they freak out the same way as we all do.

Here is an interesting list of celebrities and their phobias, some very common ones and some very weird.

Katy Perry: Nyctophobia

The singer-songwriter and actor has the fear of darkness and has admitted that she sleeps with the lights on because she thinks “a lot of evil things go on in the dark.”

Matt Damon: Herpetophobia

The actor won’t go near reptiles unless he absolutely has to. While filming We Bought a Zoo, during several scenes where snakes had to be on the set, Damon would begin to furiously sweat whenever he was near the snakes and when pressed to hold one actually, he freaked out!

Madonna: Brontophobia

The superstar musician and actress is terrified of thunder and never steps out when it is raining and thundering!

Adele: Laridaphobia

The singer is terrified of seagulls! According to Adele, it all started when she was just nine years old. She had been “walking down the promenade in Tenby” eating an ice cream cone when a “huge seagull” swooped down and took the ice cream. Adele was terrified that she was going to get picked up with it.

David Beckham: Ataxophobia

The British soccer player David Beckham can’t stand mess and disorder and this phobia that is similar to obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). “I have to have everything in a straight line or everything has to be in pairs,” he admits.

Britney Spears: Herpetophobia

The American pop star panics on seeing large reptiles and lizards, the komodo dragons in particular.

Rafael Nadal: Nyctophobia

The tennis star is afraid of a number of things, such as dogs, spiders, storms, motorbikes, but what he is most petrified of is darkness. Even being home alone at night makes Nadal so nervous that he has to sleep on the sofa because he can’t deal with going to bed.

Nicole Kidman: Lepidopterophobia

The Australian actress panics and suffers from anxiety attacks on seeing butterflies!

Jennifer Love Hewitt: Claustrophobia

The actress is fanatically afraid of closed spaces sush as elevators.

Matthew McConaughey: Cleithrophobia

The Hollywood superstar suffers from the fear of getting trapped in a revolving door. McConaughey once said in an interview, “I don’t like revolving doors, and I really don’t like that blind spot when you’re driving and go into a tunnel.”

Megan Fox: Papyrophobia

The actress is so afraid of touching dry paper that she needs her important documents to be laminated in order for her to touch them. And when she reads scripts, she keeps a cup of water by her side, so that she can dip her fingers in before turning the page.

Oprah Winfrey: Chiclephobia

The talk show queen has had a fear of chewing-gum since childhood. She is so anti-gum that she apparently banned chewing-gum from the building where she records her television programme.

Johnny Depp: Coulrophobia

On screen the actor may have played the strange man in some form of mask — Edward Scissorhands, Jack Sparrow and Sweeney Todd — but is himself terrified of clowns.

Alfred Hitchcock: Ovaphobia

One of the greatest directors of all time had a tremendous fear of eggs. He hated the way the yolk would break and cascade out of the shell.

Published in Dawn, Young World, November 11th, 2017