20 TV Couples Who Got Together Off Screen (And Lasted 5 Minutes)

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Since television began, it’s been rather obvious how some actors get along far better than just on screen. More than a few marriages have begun by actors playing lovers on screen. It used to be easy to keep it all quiet in the pre-Internet era but over the years, social media has made it easier for fans to find out about these relationships and remark on them. Sadly, too many of them are short-lived. More than a few involved have admitted that the passion was being on set all the time, often shooting steamy scenes and just giving in to temptation. But once the show ends or such, that same passion fades away and the relationships end. Even those who get engaged (or married) can see the relationships cool down and end, sometimes badly.

Impressively, some actors are able to continue working together for a while after these breakups (even playing characters in love). Other times, it leads to one or both leaving the series as working with your ex is a seriously awkward situation. There are plenty of long-time relationships but notable are the ones that are quite brief. Actors who decided to give real dating or marriage a try only to find the same chemistry on set didn’t translate as well to real life. Here are 20 TV show couples who gave real romance a try only to find it lasts less time than a season of TV.

Half the 90210 Cast

People expected Beverly Hills 90210 to be a “summer filler” series when it debuted in 1990. Before anyone knew it, it was a monster hit and a full-fledged phenomenon to boost its cast to stardom. When you put a bunch of young actors on set, it’s inevitable things get steamy and they’ve all pretty much admitted to some hookups. First, Jason Priestly and Shannen Doherty were soon together despite how they play twins. This seemed to end badly as Doherty has trashed Priestly for acting like nothing happened. Priestly then leapt into a relationship with Tori Spelling, who had no shame describing the details.

Meanwhile, after playing coy for years, Spelling finally admitted via lie detector that she and Brian Austin Green had a good hookup going. It also seems (to no surprise) Doherty and Luke Perry gave a relationship a try and even Jennie Garth and Ian Zierling have admitted their “rehearsal” for a kiss scene got serious. It just shows that the on-screen relationships were nothing compared to how the cast was getting together off camera.

Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki

From the first episode, The Big Bang Theory operated on a simple but good premise: A band of uber-genius nerds who can’t quite unravel how to handle the drop-dead gorgeous blonde living across the hall. Kaley Cuoco was a TV veteran already and well-cast as Penny while Johnny Galecki was also good as Leonard. The show pushed their growing relationship, each drifting to other people but eventually coming together.

However, in a town where gossip dominates and paparazzi check folks out constantly, it came as a huge shock when, in 2010, Cuoco and Galecki revealed that they had dated for two years but then called it quits. For them to keep this quiet was amazing as they were worried the show might suffer under the glare of a real-life relationship. They did not let it damage the show in any fashion however, which proves how classy they are.

Ian Somerhalder and Maggie Grace

There’s something about Ian Somerhalder and on-set hookups. The handsome actor became an instant favorite for female viewers for his role as Boone on the iconic ABC series Lost. The brooding bad boy was shown with his stepsister Shannon (Maggie Grace) when their plane crashes on the mysterious island. They bicker a lot and such but things take a wild turn in a flashback revealing how Shannon manipulated her step-sibling into bed. That may not be a huge shock, however, given how Somerhalder and Grace had a serious chemistry.

Ironically, Boone was written off near the end of the first season with Shannon bumped off the following year. But in 2006, with both off the show, Somerhalder and Grace began dating for a year. They called it quits in 2007 yet remain very good friends. Somerhalder would have a famous romance with future co-star Nina Dobrev showing how female co-stars are an easy mark for him.

Keri Russell and Scott Speedman

Keri Russell had been bouncing around TV for a while in minor parts, including a stint on the 90s version of The Mickey Mouse Club. In 1998, she was shot to instant stardom by the WB drama Felicity. Critics loved her in the title role of a young woman who impulsively moves to New York to attend college with her high school boyfriend and soon fans loved it too.

Scott Speedman was the object of her affection. It’s infamous for how Russell’s haircut in season two led to a ratings decline but they kept it up well. That includes Speedman and Russell dating although Russell quips that Speedman was “a disaster of a boyfriend” and he agrees with that. They split before the show ended but are still good friends, even doing a special reunion photo shoot among other bits. Russell is now married to her The Americans co-star Matthew Rhys, showing how on-set hookups are still a thing for her.

Katherine Heigl and Jason Behr

Katherine Heigl is best known for her Emmy-winning turn on Grey’s Anatomy, some hit movies and a hard reputation as a diva. Before all that, the attractive blonde rose to fame on the cult WB/UPN series Roswell. She played one of a trio of aliens hiding on Earth, using her powers to protect others and seek out their origins. Jason Behr played her on-screen sibling but it was pretty obvious the chemistry between them was far more than just siblings.

The two were soon among the hottest young starlets around with a passionate fan base and that fuelled them rising up more as a couple and seemingly engaged. However, they split in 2001 yet had to continue for one more season of the show. Both moved onto new careers and relationships yet if you rewatch Roswell today, it’s interesting to think about this brother and sister being steamier behind the scenes.

Naya Rivera and Mark Salling

It’s well known how Glee gave a real-life romance in Lea Michele and Cory Monteith which sadly ended with Monteith’s untimely death. But another relationship was between Naya Rivera, who played the sharp-tongued Santana, and Mark Salling who played brooding jock Puck. The two were pretty steamy, as Rivera related in her autobiography but it was a hard “romance.”

While neither really crossed the line with the other, reports are things were pretty rough between them at times and it was more just passion than real feelings. They finally called it quits after a year and a half to move onto other people. Sadly, both are known for rougher times, each of them with way too many problems to name. Unfortunately, Salling passed, so this is a romance that would never again have a chance.

Jennifer Morrison and Jesse Spencer

House was an immediate hit for Fox thanks to Hugh Laurie in the title role of a sardonic doctor solving medical mysteries. He had a staff he tended to treat as dummies despite their smarts, with Jennifer Morrison and Jesse Spencer the top two among the cast. They were soon going out a lot and the romance got heavy fast, leading to Spencer proposing to Morrison at the Eiffel Tower at Christmas 2006.

Fans went wild for it with Morrison even posing in her planned wedding dress for Us Weekly. But just before the planned nuptials in August of 2007, the two called it off. It’s a bit up in the air what happened, but as always there are rumours of each one being unfaithful. Instead, they both just say that things got “complicated” and ended it.

Jessica Alba and Michael Weatherly

In 2000, Dark Angel exploded on TV screens. James Cameron produced this terrific sci-fi action series that showcased Jessica Alba in her star-making role as Max, a genetically-engineered soldier in a post-apocalyptic Seattle using her skills to help others. Michael Weatherly played Logan, an underground journalist helping Max with her jobs. Naturally, there was great chemistry between the characters, aided by how the actors got along well off-screen.

They were soon going out together at various award shows and promotional events. The two were engaged in 2001 and it looked like a great new Hollywood couple out there. But they called it off less than two year later, clearly not as hot once the show ended. Weatherly moved onto the long-running smash NCIS while Alba is happily married to Cash Warren, a mother of three and a billionaire thanks to her Honest Company. So while it didn’t last long, it was fun to see the two together.

Emily VanCamp and Dave Annable

Here’s a case where an unexpected romance ended up shifting a show majorly. Brothers & Sisters was a surprise hit for ABC, talking of the rather complex Walker family handling various secrets. Dave Annable started off as Justin, a recovering addict and womanizer. His siblings deal the discovery their father had been having a relationship with another woman for 20 years and apparently produced a daughter, Rebecca (Anna VanCamp).

A funny bit has Justin saying he knows this is their sister as “she’s hot and I feel nothing!” Soon, fans were into this fun dynamic but behind the scenes, the chemistry between Annable and VanCamp was getting more and more serious. It was too much to ignore and thus the writers altered things by revealing Rebecca wasn’t really a Walker, so that they could date on the show.

As it happened, things appeared too sour between them and VanCamp left the show just before its final season which coincided with their breakup. Annable ended up marrying his replacement love interest Odette Yustman. Meanwhile, VanCamp is engaged to Josh Bowman, her love interest on Revenge. It just shows real life is full of twists.

Blake Lively and Penn Badgley

The first episode of Gossip Girl sets up the major attraction of the show. Dan (Penn Badgley), an aspiring writer and Serena (Blake Lively), a rich New York gal. It was an obvious “opposites attract” bit although the show played with it by having each go to other lovers yet keep being drawn together.

The chemistry was big and Badgley would openly call Lively the best on-screen kisser he’d ever known. As it happened, that chemistry was just as hot behind the scenes as, almost as soon as the show began, the two were dating. Each have called it a good time and clearly still care for one another.

Officially, they ended it in 2010 but they would later reveal it had cooled about a year and a half earlier. They decided it’d be better to keep it quiet as they were worried the breakup might divide fans and hurt the show. Ironically, the series finale had the two getting married while Lively is best known today for her marriage to Ryan Reynolds. But it’s more fun watching the early seasons of Gossip knowing Dan and Serena were going at it for real.

Jennifer Love Hewitt and Jamie Kennedy

Here’s one of the odder romances as these two don’t appear to have much in common. Jennifer Love Hewitt had come to fame with Party of Five and was soon considered one of the hottest women alive with numerous magazine shoots. She tried her hand at movies but it didn’t take since she had too many flops. So Hewitt made a successful return to CBS on Ghost Whisperer.

The long-running hit has her as Melinda, a woman who can see ghosts and help them with issues. In the fourth season, Jamie Kennedy joined the series as Eli, whose near-death experience allows him to hear (but not see) ghosts to help Melinda out. They seemed an odd pairing but they actually ended up going out for almost a year. They split up shortly after the show ended with Hewitt going onto new relationships.

Hayden Panettiere and Milo Ventimiglia

This is a really interesting case in some ways. When Heroes became a sensation, two characters were the clear leads: Claire (Hayden Panettiere), the indestructible cheerleader, and Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) who could gain the powers of others. Both actors were amazingly charismatic and before long, hundreds of fan fiction authors were doing Claire/Peter hookups. This ended up becoming hilarious when the show revealed Peter was actually Claire’s uncle, ending any chance of an on-screen romance. Off-screen was a different story. Despite how Milo was 30 and Hayden was barely 18, the two were soon dating, trying to keep it quiet for concerns how it might affect the show.

They kept it up as the show suffered its sad decline, splitting up in early 2009 just before it was canceled. They’ve gone separate paths with Hayden on Nashville and married with a child while Milo is hailed for This Is Us.

Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson

Dawson’s Creek was an immediate hit when it premiered in 1998, teen fans loving the tale of a group of friends in a small town. James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson and Michelle Williams were instant stars with the main couple of the show being how Dawson and Joey were realizing they were more than friends.

Joey was also hooking up with Jackson’s Pacey and this odd triangle would dominate the series for some time. The cast were quite tight so there was little surprise that Holmes and Jackson ended up dating over the course of the show’s first two seasons. It added a bit more heat to their on-screen kisses and each seemed to lean on each other well. But they split in 2000 with Holmes going on to date actor Chris Klein. That ended and paved the way for Holmes’ infamous marriage to Tom Cruise. But it makes sense to see Joey and Pacey hooking up for real even if it didn’t last long.

Ed Westwick and Jessica Szohr

From the start, Gossip Girl played on the wild lives of the rich of New York and fans loved its nutty storylines. Ed Westwick was cast as Chuck Bass, the often slimy yet oddly charismatic rich guy who usually had a long-standing relationship with character Blair. Jessica Szohr was Vanessa, a Brooklyn gal who soon was pulled into the lives of the elite. With her charm and fun manner, Szohr soon bumped the role from recurring to a regular.

It was in season two that she and Eastwick started dating, an offbeat pairing given their characters rarely mixed but did have a steamy hookup in the second season. They seemed to be doing well, including appearing in public a lot but in 2010 they called it quits. Westwick today is saddled by accusations of attacks on women which gives this relationship a darker shadow today.

Jennifer Aniston and Charlie Schlatter

Long before her fame on Friends, Jennifer Aniston was another struggling actress. In 1990, she got her first break on TV in Ferris Bueller, an NBC sitcom based on the classic movie comedy. However, the show failed to capture the fun that made the original series work and was quickly canceled.

Aniston played the role Jennifer Grey had played in the movie as Ferris’ younger sister who is the only one who sees through his scams. Charlie Schlatter was in the title role and the two soon were dating. It wasn’t long after the show ended that the two called it off and moved on. Aniston, of course, would go on to Friends and a variety of very famous relationships. Schlatter was never a huge star but a successful TV actor on Diagnosis Murder and other shows yet still amazing how he was the first guy in Hollywood to land some time with Aniston.

Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter

Dexter was always a disturbing show. After all, the title character was a serial killer and yet also the good guy. But the way Dexter and foster sister Debra seemed a little too…close rubbed fans the wrong way. Indeed, a subplot of Debra dreaming of kissing Dexter freaked people out more than any of the grisly murder scenes. A reason for that was that Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter were getting pretty close behind the scenes.

They eloped on New Year’s Day 2008 and showed up together at the Golden Globes. They thus carried that onto the show as it continued but in December of 2010, they announced they had been separated for some time and getting divorced. Speculation is that Hall’s battle with brain cancer was too much a tension factor for them. The series had an infamously terrible finale but Hall and Carpenter say they’re on good terms today with Carpenter remarried with a child. Still, having an on-screen pair of siblings as an off-screen couple didn’t quite seem right.

Jason Segel and Linda Cardellini

Freaks and Geeks is hailed as one of the best “cancelled too early” series ever. The story of a group of high school loners in 1981 Michigan was hailed by critics but never found the audience it deserved at the time. It’s notable for how it’s launched the careers of numerous stars like James Franco, Judd Apatow and Jason Segel.

He played the weed-toting leader of the “geeks,” a goofy guy but fans loved him. Linda Cardellini was Lindsay, the main character, a bright gal who found a connection to these goofs. While the show sadly didn’t last long, Segel and Cardellini hit it off and were soon dating. On the show, Segel composed a song for Lindsay and that seemed to win her over and they were pretty serious for a while.

However, they split and while neither likes to talk about it, it seemed to go badly. Indeed, it’s reported that was the inspiration for the nasty breakup in Segel’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall film. Segel has become highly successful with How I Met Your Mother and various comedies to put this breakup behind him.

Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder

When The Vampire Diaries began, most cited it as a “CW version of Twilight” with the plot of a teenager caught between two vampire brothers. But the series expanded into a huge hit, with fans loving its storylines and twists, all backed by a great cast of actors. Nina Dobrev was the star as Elena, at first drawn to “good brother” vampire Stefan. However, she and his wicked brother Damon were soon hitting it off and Ian Somerhalder made the murderous character a hit with fans. Given the simmering chemistry they showed on screen, it should be no surprise Dobrev and Somerhalder were a couple in real life, handling an on-screen relationship which soon got Elena and Damon together on the show. However, the relationship didn’t last long as the two soon split.

However, they still had to keep it up for the characters. Indeed, they were picked out by the People’s Choice Awards for “best on-screen couple” and in their speech, the duo joked about going from on-screen rivals to on-screen couple to “getting together, breaking up and having to be together on the show. But at least it’s not awkward.” Dobrev left after the sixth season but returned for the finale to close it out.

Jennifer Garner and Michael Vartan

Jennifer Garner seems to have a thing for hookups with co-stars. It started when she guest-starred on Felicity, the popular dramedy about a college gal’s life. She and star Scott Foley hit it off well and they were married in 2000.

A year later, Garner landed her star-making role on the spy drama Alias that boosted her up majorly. On screen, Michael Vartan played Vaughn, Sydney’s handler and the two were soon lovers. While they’ve never confirmed it, many speculate they did have an affair on set which paved the way for Garner to divorce Foley in 2004. By this point, she and Vartan were open about dating, even speculation of them getting engaged once the divorce was finalized. But then Garner and Ben Affleck hit it off making Daredevil and she and Vartan broke up. Garner ended up marrying Affleck for over a decade of marriage to leave both her former TV co-stars way behind.

Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray

Few times has mixing romance with on-set work blown up like this. One Tree Hill amazed many by going from a low-level teen dramedy to a long-running hit for the WB and then CW. A big focus was on Chad Michael Murray as the basketball player who has a conflict with his half-brother and their various loves.

Sophia Bush played Brooke, the rich gal who had a fling with each guy while also handling a sharp tongue. Bush and Murray soon felt a bigger connection and started hooking up. They were engaged in 2004 and married a year later. But just five months after that, Bush filed for divorce and even sought an annulment. She related that Murray had been being unfaithful to her pretty much from the honeymoon, including with none other than Paris Hilton.

Amazingly, the two still had to keep up work for another three seasons before Murray left the show. Bush has continued to find success in Chicago PD.