Dove Cameron Reveals She Was ‘Celibate’ Upon First Meeting Fiancé Damiano David in 2022: ‘I Would Not Have Been Ready’

Dove Cameron wasn’t ready to date fiancé Damiano David when they first met in 2022.

The “Do I Wanna Know?” singer, 30, appeared on the latest episode of Call Her Daddy and recalled meeting David, 27, for the first time at the 2022 MTV VMAs — one year before they started dating.

Both Cameron and David’s band Måneskin were nominated for Best New Artist at the 2022 VMAs. She took home the award and subsequently spoke to most of the group’s members in a “very small” backstage area, but David “barely looked” her way.

“And he was also not giving off friendly vibes. I was like, ‘This guy f—ing hates me.’ I was gonna go on with my night. I met a bunch of people. Everybody’s like, ‘Congrats.’ I didn’t think about it,” said Cameron.

“Later I learned he was just, like, in a really bad place,” she clarified. “It had nothing to do with me. But I took it personally, and I was like, ‘F—ing weird. Alright, bye.'”

Cameron then recalled an interview where David claimed Cameron slid into his DMs before they got to know each other, but she clarified she didn’t send a flirty message and actually just reposted a performance video and tagged the band. “I was a fan of their music,” she said.

Once the 2023 VMAs rolled around, Cameron detailed, “We had a reason to talk. He was single, and I was single, and he was in a better place and I was in a better place.”

Unsure if she remembered him, David introduced himself to the “Breakfast” singer again. “I was like, ‘Yeah, I remember you. Like, you’re so different now.’ He was so friendly. And then he was like, ‘Do wanna come to our show at Madison Square Garden?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah,'” she said. “And then we just started dating, and now we’re engaged. Like, it’s so, so innocent and simple.”

The stars finally aligned, which she doesn’t think would’ve been possible if they tried to get romantic upon first meeting.

“If I had met him before I did in a way where he was interested in me and there was an opportunity for us to be dating, I would not have been ready because I was so depressed,” said Cameron. “I was, like, celibate.”

She added, “I was like, ‘Don’t touch me, don’t look at me, don’t come close to me, I’m not leaving my house.’ I was like dark night of the soul for a year.”

Ahead of the 2023 VMAs, however, Cameron realized she was open to romance. “I literally texted my friends and I was like, ‘I think I’m ready to date.’ One week later, he was like, ‘Nice to meet you,’” she said.

The couple went public with their romance in February 2024 and announced their engagement in January 2026.