Cindy Crawford leads celebrities taking part in viral #FirstPhotoChallenge

It’s one of several viral challenges sweeping the web as everyone stays home under lockdown.

So a host of celebrities have been taking part in the new #FirstPhotoChallenge, which tasks people with sharing the first snap ever taken with their partners.

The likes of Cindy Crawford, Ben Stokes and Martine McCutcheon have been taking part in the trend, delving into their picture archives to find the first time their budding romances were documented before nominating their pals to do the same.

Having been happily married to husband Rande Gerber, 57, for 22 years, Cindy had to go way back to find her first snap with the entertainment industry businessman.

Taking to Instagram on Sunday, the 54-year-old supermodel shared a sweet throwback portrait of the pair taken during their ‘first trip’ as a couple back in 1994.

‘I think this counts,’ she captioned the snap, which saw Cindy showcase her phenomenal figure in a tiny bikini as she snuggled up to her other half.

The couple went on to marry in 1998 and have since welcomed two children together, 20-year-old son Presley and 18-year-old daughter Kaia. 

Another star having to dig deep to find a snapshot was England cricketer Ben, 28, who has known wife Clare Ratcliffe for a decade. 

The couple’s first picture appeared to have been taken in a nightclub, with a baby-faced Ben clutching a drink in one hand and pulling Clare close to him with the other as they posed on the dancefloor.  

Ben, who tied the knot with Clare in 2017 after the couple welcomed children Layton, seven, and Libby, four, captioned the shot: ‘This is nearly 10 years ago!’ 

Ben’s teammate Stuart Broad also got in the action with on/off girlfriend Mollie King last week. 

The former T20 captain, 33, has been dating Saturdays singer Mollie, 32, on and off since 2018 and they are currently self-isolating together in Nottingham amid the coronavirus lockdown.

On Sunday afternoon, Mollie posted a rare snap with her boyfriend for the challenge, a sweet throwback of herself on a romantic date with the cricketer. 

The pair were thought to have gone their separate ways in August 2018 after a blossoming romance of five months due to their ‘busy schedules’, but the pair later reconciled in February 2019.

Despite knowing her boyfriend for years, Ariel Winter struggled to find a vintage snap of the pair as she took part in the challenge with beau, Luke Benward.

The 22-year-old Modern Family star was seen with her back turned to the camera as she gazed into Luke’s eyes in a photo ‘taken sneakily’ by actress/model Paris Berelc. 

‘Even though we’ve been friends for four years, this is the first photo I could find of just us two aside from a paparazzi photo sooooo this will have to do for this challenge,’ Ariel joked. 

Ariel has been romantically linked to Luke since December 2019, following her split from boyfriend of three-years, Levi Meaden.

Back in the United Kingdom, Martine McCutcheon, 43, was also taking part in the challenge as she shared heartwarming throwback snaps of herself and songwriter hubby, Jack McManus, 35. 

The EastEnders star took to Instagram on Saturday evening where she posted the run of photos, which had been taken in a photobooth on their first date 13 years ago.   

In 2011, after four years of dating, Jack proposed and the couple tied the knot in Lake Como in September 2012. Martine went on to give birth to their only child, a son named Rafferty in February 2015. 

Hollywood legend Mark Wahlberg, 48, got in on the action this month as he shared a sweet first snap with his wife of 11 years, Rhea Durham, 41.

When the couple first met, she was a successful model and he had a bona fide acting career with starring roles in Boogie Nights, Three Kings and The Perfect Storm.

They tied the knot in 2009 and they share four children together – Ella Rae, 16, Michael, 14, Brendan, 11, and Grace, 10. 

Mark’s elder brother Donnie Wahlberg, 50, then took part in the challenge himself, sharing two pictures with his wife of six years, Jenny McCarthy, 47. 

He explained: ‘This was our first meeting at @bravoandy @bravowwhl — where Andy implored me to ask Jenny out.  I didn’t.

‘However, we’d meet again a year later at her talk show @vh1 @jennymccarthy Show and the rest, at they say, is history. ❤️’ 

Jenny then commented on the cute shots: ‘Mister!!! I’ll never forgot how hot I thought you were the moment I met you. ♥️’

Will and Grace star Eric McCormack, 57, was feeling nostalgic when he shared a sweet snap taken with his wife Janet Holden back in 1994.

Taking to Twitter, he penned: ‘Okay, #firstphotochallenge This is the first shot Janet & I took at the #LonesomeDove S1 Wrap Party, circa Dec ’94. It was our ‘coming out’ too. No one on the show knew we’d been dating for months.’ 

The couple have a 17-year-old son Finnigan, who is following in his father’s footsteps by going after a career in acting.    

Olivia Culpo and Christian McCaffrey were also getting in on the fun with the challenge, with Sports Illustrated star Olivia, 27, sharing a sweet snap puckering up to kiss her boyfriend.

She stated that, ‘Yes I was drunk’ and that she took the photo and sent it to his mother Lisa because she asked for a picture.

The pair are believed to have started dating in July last year when they were spotted together on a getaway in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  

Another star taking part in the challenge was Love Island host Laura Whitmore, 34, who shared a hilarious throwback with her voiceover beau Iain Stirling, 32, where the couple sipped on bottles of blue WKD in a ‘dodgy club’ during the early stages of dating.

However the environmental activist joked that she was more sad that she was using a plastic straw rather than her surroundings or choice of alcoholic beverage, while sharing a couple of the fresh-faced young couple.

Laura had been nominated by her pal Perrie Edwards, 26, who shared an insight into the early days of her relation with Liverpool footballer Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, also 26, with her own post. 

Perrie and Alex cuddled up together whilst looking away from the camera and at the twinkling Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, while on potentially their first romantic getaway together.

Elsewhere Olly Murs, 35, shared a sweet snap with his girlfriend Amelia Tank, from the first time that he went to meet her parents which he claimed he managed to ‘survive’. 

Rochelle Humes, 31, couldn’t find a snap that dated far back enough to their first meeting so instead shared a snap from the holiday when her now husband Marvin, 35, popped the question.

She said: ‘Our iCloud for some reason won’t go back past 2010. So we can’t find out our first picture. Need to go through an old laptop but, here’s a pic of us on holiday in 2011 when @marvinhumes asked me to marry him…’ 

Rebecca Vardy, 38, who tied the knot with her husband Jamie in 2016, shared a sweet snap of the couple having a smooch shortly after meeting and starting their romance in 2014. 

Meanwhile Vicky Pattison shared an adorable ‘first date’ snap with her beau Ercan Ramadan, as the couple giggled and cuddled while dressed up during their first outing together last year. 

Vicky penned alongside the image: ‘So a couple of people have nominated me to do the ‘first date challenge’… So here goes.. As mine and @ercan_ram ‘a relationship is still shiny new, it’s not that embarrassing.. In fact I think it’s pretty cute.’