Rhode Island ‘Superfan’ Recalls Surprise Meeting With Justin Bieber

Portsmouth, Rhode Island's Katelyn Turano remembers her surprise meeting with pop star Justin Bieber as though it just happened.

"I can't believe it's been nine years," Turano said. "I still remember the moment like it was nine days ago."

So how did it come to be that a 19-year-old Middletown High School graduate, a Business Management major at Providence College, would cross paths with Biebs?

"So, it's a funny story," Turano said. "I had seen that Ellen (DeGeneres) posted a link on Twitter for a chance to win tickets to Justin's album release concert for Purpose."

"I applied for tickets and told them my entire story of being the biggest Bieber fan in Rhode Island, and they actually called me and offered me tickets to California," she said.

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In November 2015, Turano and her mom flew west to appear on the Ellen show, taped in Studio 1 for NBC on the Warner Brothers lot in Burbank, California. Turano was Ellen's guest while mom paid her own way.

"She just wanted to come with me because I had never been to California before," Turano said.

With cameras rolling, Turano confessed her "obsession" with Bieber not knowing he was standing on stage behind her.

"He was awesome," she said. "I must have hugged him like 10 times and each time he gave the biggest hug back. He was so nice."

"To be honest, I can't believe he was standing right in front of me to this day," she said.

Not only did Turano see Justin Bieber's concert on November 13, 2015, but she got to meet her crush, too.

Turano said she has seen Bieber perform several times.

"I saw him back in 2009 at Six Flags (New England) for free when he was just starting, then in 2010 at Lupo's in Providence," she said.

She said she "stood outside in the cold for hours" to secure space in the front row.

Turano also saw Bieber perform at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence in 2010, and twice at the TD Garden in Boston in May 2016.

"I'm a huge fan girl," said Turano, who also purchased VIP tickets to Bieber's last scheduled tour that was canceled due to illness.

Turano said Bieber follows her on her Twitter account and a fan account she started with more than 14,000 followers.

"He DM'd me 'Happy Birthday' before on my 14th or 15th birthday," she said.

Turano said that in school, her locker was covered in Bieber photos.

"I'd get made fun of in school for how obsessed I was when no one even knew who he was," she said.

Today, Turano has two-year-old twin boys and is engaged to be married to Michael Curtis in 2025.

She also has some pretty sweet memories of the day she met Justin Bieber.