David and Victoria Beckham, Priyanka Chopra and More Stars Who’ve Given or Received Pets as Gifts

Credit: Gregory Pace/Shutterstock

David and Victoria Beckham, Priyanka Chopra and More Stars Who've Given or Received Pets as Gifts

There’s no better gift than a new pet! Whether searching for the perfect birthday or holiday present, many stars often turn to a four-legged companion to surprise their loved ones.

“It’s Bella’s 4th Birthday today!!!! All she has wanted for soooo long is a kitty, so we adopted one today,” Bachelor in Paradise’s Carly Waddell wrote via Instagram in February 2022, alongside a snap of her daughter and the new feline. "Welcome to the family Sir Kroger Opryland Waddell. (If you know Bella…it’s no surprise she named him after her favorite grocery store 🤣 Who else out there is a cat person???? Cuz y’all are about to get some MAJOR kitty-gram!”

The Nashville resident — who shares daughter Bella and son Charlie with estranged husband Evan Bass — also couldn’t help but gush over their new family pet, adding, "He is sooooo sweet!!!!”

Waddell is not the only celebrity to adopt a furry friend to give as a gift. Priyanka Chopra Jonas, for her part, surprised husband Nick Jonas with their second dog. (The twosome are also proud puppy parents to Diana and Panda.)

“Please meet our new pup @ginothegerman I haven’t stopped smiling since I woke up this morning and finally realized what was going on,” the Jonas Brothers crooner, who welcomed a daughter with the Quantico alum in January 2022, wrote via Instagram in November 2019. “Thank you @priyankachopra ❤️ 🐕.”

Margot Robbie was equally as shocked when her Suicide Squad costar Jared Leto gave her a pet rat, affectionally named Rat Rat.

“If Harley [Quinn] got something from Joker [Leto’s character], she'd probably cherish it,” the Australia native told Elle magazine in July 2015.

While the Birds of Prey star treasured her new animal companion, costar Viola Davis was startled by its presence.

“I was saying loudly, ‘Don’t open the box!’ I was halfway out the door when she opened the box and saw the biggest black rat you could imagine,” the How to Get Away With Murder alum told British Vogue in June 2021 about her experience on set of the 2016 movie. “Then, she cooed at it. No fear. Open. Receptive. Full of joy.”

What started as a “prank,” according to Davis, soon became Robbie’s beloved pet.

“We called him Rat Rat. He liked beer and bath time. And then the landlord of the place I was renting found I had a rat and said Rat Rat had to go,” the I, Tonya actress explained via a July 2021 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! “And so then Jai Courtney, who plays Captain Boomerang, he said, 'I'll take Rat Rat,' and then his landlord wasn't cool with that either, and so then one of the costumers on the job took Rat Rat, and then she had to give Rat Rat away, and Rat Rat, she gave it to Guillermo Del Toro's daughters apparently. So in the end, Rat Rat is a bit of a starf—ker, really.”

Scroll below to see which stars have given or received pets as gifts:

Credit: Gregory Pace/Shutterstock

David and Victoria Beckham, Priyanka Chopra and More Stars Who've Given or Received Pets as Gifts

There’s no better gift than a new pet! Whether searching for the perfect birthday or holiday present, many stars often turn to a four-legged companion to surprise their loved ones.

“It’s Bella’s 4th Birthday today!!!! All she has wanted for soooo long is a kitty, so we adopted one today,” Bachelor in Paradise’s Carly Waddell wrote via Instagram in February 2022, alongside a snap of her daughter and the new feline. "Welcome to the family Sir Kroger Opryland Waddell. (If you know Bella…it’s no surprise she named him after her favorite grocery store 🤣 Who else out there is a cat person???? Cuz y’all are about to get some MAJOR kitty-gram!”

The Nashville resident — who shares daughter Bella and son Charlie with estranged husband Evan Bass — also couldn’t help but gush over their new family pet, adding, "He is sooooo sweet!!!!”

Waddell is not the only celebrity to adopt a furry friend to give as a gift. Priyanka Chopra Jonas, for her part, surprised husband Nick Jonas with their second dog. (The twosome are also proud puppy parents to Diana and Panda.)

“Please meet our new pup @ginothegerman I haven’t stopped smiling since I woke up this morning and finally realized what was going on,” the Jonas Brothers crooner, who welcomed a daughter with the Quantico alum in January 2022, wrote via Instagram in November 2019. “Thank you @priyankachopra ❤️ 🐕.”

Margot Robbie was equally as shocked when her Suicide Squad costar Jared Leto gave her a pet rat, affectionally named Rat Rat.

“If Harley [Quinn] got something from Joker [Leto’s character], she'd probably cherish it,” the Australia native told Elle magazine in July 2015.

While the Birds of Prey star treasured her new animal companion, costar Viola Davis was startled by its presence.

“I was saying loudly, ‘Don’t open the box!’ I was halfway out the door when she opened the box and saw the biggest black rat you could imagine,” the How to Get Away With Murder alum told British Vogue in June 2021 about her experience on set of the 2016 movie. “Then, she cooed at it. No fear. Open. Receptive. Full of joy.”

What started as a “prank,” according to Davis, soon became Robbie’s beloved pet.

“We called him Rat Rat. He liked beer and bath time. And then the landlord of the place I was renting found I had a rat and said Rat Rat had to go,” the I, Tonya actress explained via a July 2021 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! “And so then Jai Courtney, who plays Captain Boomerang, he said, 'I'll take Rat Rat,' and then his landlord wasn't cool with that either, and so then one of the costumers on the job took Rat Rat, and then she had to give Rat Rat away, and Rat Rat, she gave it to Guillermo Del Toro's daughters apparently. So in the end, Rat Rat is a bit of a starf—ker, really.”

Scroll below to see which stars have given or received pets as gifts:

Credit: Courtesy of Dorit Kemsley/Instagram

Dorit Kemsley

“Holidays came a little early in this house 🐾 Welcome to the family, Pumpkin! 🐶🧡,” the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills personality captioned a December 2022 Instagram video, introducing the new pup to kids Jagger and Phoenix. “We love you so much!”

Credit: Sharna Burgess/Instagram

Sharna Burgess and Brian Austin Green

The Dancing With the Stars pro and the actor, who share son Zane, gifted Green’s son Noah a puppy for his 10th birthday.

“We got a new puppy 😅🥰 (cos our farm isn’t full enough lol) a 10th birthday present for Noah who had been begging for this dream puppy since 6 years old,” Burgess wrote via Instagram in November 2022 of her boyfriend’s eldest son with ex-wife Megan Fox. “An all-white fluff named Mochi. The joy, utter shock, instant tears and total gratitude on Noah’s face was beautiful, and for that moment alone wrangling another puppy into our pack is worth it.”

Credit: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert/YouTube

Sosie Bacon

To celebrate her 30th birthday, Bacon gave herself a special present.

“I was having a bit of a moment about turning 30 [and] I got, like, nine or 10 tattoos and a horse,” the Smile actress said during a September 2022 appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert of her equine, Diamond. “I rode horses growing up, but not enough to get one. … She's cheap, she's pretty [and] she’s mine.”

Credit: Courtesy of Ciara/Instagram

Russell Wilson and Ciara

“Meet... BRONCO 🐶 The kids call her Bronco Love Brownie,” the “Level Up” songstress captioned a May 2022 Instagram video with her husband. “The sweetest surprise. I love you baby @DangeRussWilson #MothersDay.”

Credit: Courtesy of Carly Waddell/Instagram

Carly Waddell

The Bachelor alum gifted a gray kitten to daughter Bella for her fourth birthday.

Credit: GUILLAUME HORCAJUELO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

David and Victoria Beckham

The soccer star and the former Spice Girls performer picked out dog Sage to give their four children — Brooklyn, Cruz, Romeo and Harper — for Christmas in December 2019.

Credit: Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock

Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell

“The day of my birthday, we’re sitting in the living room and I hear a knock at the door. [Dax] says, ‘Your present is here. Why don’t you grab the dogs and go in the back room?'” the Veronica Mars alum recalled during a January 2012 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show about how her man celebrated her 31st birthday. “I was immediately overcome and I thought, ‘There is a sloth near! There is a sloth here! It’s close! It’s gonna happen!’”

She continued: “I didn’t know how to process that because my entire life had been waiting for this moment where I would get to interact — I’m serious! — with a sloth. … I was sitting on my bed, knowing that my sloth is here, and I start to have a full-fledged panic attack. I don’t know how to compete with all this emotion so I just kind of crawl up on the bed and I’m crying so hard.”

Credit: Courtesy of Nick Jonas/Instagram

Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas

The former pageant queen surprised her husband, whom she wed in December 2018, with a German Shepherd puppy. They named him Gino and subsequently launched an eponymous Instagram account for the pooch.

Credit: Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

Margot Robbie

The Wolf of Wall Street actress treasured her pet rat from the 30 Second to Mars crooner after working together on 2016’s Suicide Squad.

Credit: Courtesy of Kim Kardashian/Instagram

Kim Kardashian

North rang in her fourth birthday with a brand-new puppy from the Skims mogul in 2017. After the reality TV personality asked fans for naming advice, Kardashian and Kanye West's eldest daughter ultimately chose the moniker Sushi. 

Credit: Courtesy of Neil Patrick Harris/Instagram

Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka

“Oh Santa, what have you done?? On Christmas morning, @dbelicious and I watched Gideon and Harper open a box filled with ... a golden retriever puppy. Her name is Ella, and she has pretty much taken over our lives,” the Matrix Resurrections star captioned an Instagram snap of twins Gideon and Harper cuddling the pup in December 2020. “She’s curious, clumsy, and sublime. Except for when she’s peeing everywhere. Or gnawing on everything. Which is always. Methinks we need some training. But first, I must go cuddle. Thanks, Santa. You rule."

Credit: Cindy Barrymore/Shutterstock

Jessica Simpson

Simpson gave her eldest children, Maxwell and Ace, two Shih Tzu puppies for Christmas 2018.

Credit: Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

Teddi Mellencamp

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum surprised her children with two French bulldogs in December 2019. 

Mellencamp introduced the new pups via Instagram, writing, “Santa came a bit early. Welcome to the family Porkchop and Havana (Ohh Na Na). While Khaleesi will never be replaced in our hearts, seeing how our snugglebugs lit up with these two, Santa knew exactly what was needed to brighten up the holidays.”

Credit: Matt Baron/Shutterstock

Chrissy Teigen and John Legend

The Cravings founder and her spouse adopted dog Pebbles in January 2022 to help protect daughter Luna “from bed monsters.”