Seeing someone you think you know

A few weeks ago when I still didn't know about my feet injury, I was at gym exercising. I saw a young, handsome man 15 meters away. I was certain about that I've seen him before. But where? I had no idea. I knew I hadn't talked to him or seen him at the gym before. Still it felt like I knew him...

Then I got it. I remembered seeing him on TV. Haha :D funny! I've watched him on a reality TV-show; Selviytyjät twice a week for a month. It's a Finnish version of Survivers. Of course I was this fan who didn't want to disturb him but couldn't stop stirring! When I first saw him; Harri, I couldn't believe my eyes, but last week I saw him again at the same gym. I'm sure it's him.

The both camps in the beginning. Harri is standing at the row behind; as the second from the yellow flag.

I'm still following the program on the TV-channel. I know that someone of the nine competitors that's left on the Island(s) in Malaysia will win the whole competition. Actually there's already a winner, 'cause they've filmed this competition in summer 2012. But the audience doesn't know who it is. And Harri is still one of the nine that is left in the competition. He could even be the winner!

It's funny how I recognized Harri at the gym. I would have felt soo embarrassed if I would have went to say "Hello, do we know each other?" :D But what I've heard it's pretty common that people recognize someone familiar from the telly. We think the persons we see is familiar because we recognize them by their looks or by their voices. But the place is different than when we've seen/heard them before. It's like the brain can't connect the person with the "wrong" place. And that's why we don't know how we know them and where we've seen them.

Another example about a similar situation; I saw a weather man from telly in a shopping center. I felt confused. First I thought it was my neighbour. But my friend, who also saw him, said we've seen him telling todays weather at channel four. A relative told me she'd seen a woman, who seemed so familiar, at a public place. My relative couldn't bring herself to talk to her. And that was certainly good, 'cause she remembered afterwards that it was her dentist she'd saw.

Funny isn't it? Has something like this happened to you too? I bet it has at some point, but you may not remember it :)

The pic is not mine, it's from: http://cdn.katsomo.fi/multimedia/static/webdav-content/sumokuvat/katsomo/ohjelmalogot/tositv/2013/01/1587707-max950x534.jpg