Famous On-Screen Couples Who Continued Their Relationship Off-Screen

This article was originally published on Excellenttown.com

Whether we like to admit it or not, we all love a little romance in our TV or movies. We love seeing characters fall in love and start drama, and sometimes we get so emotionally involved, we wish the actors playing these characters would actually date in real life. When art imitates life, fans simply can’t get enough. Well, off-screen relationships between actors happen way more than you might think. In fact, they happen all the time. Some relationships work out, some crash and burn, but one thing is for sure. They’re all full of juicy gossip and we can’t look away. Check out this list of the hottest on-screen celebrity couples who took their relationships to the real world.

1. Kit Harington and Rose Leslie

Kit Harington and Rose Leslie famously met on the set of Game of Thrones, where they played Jon Snow and Ygritte. They played each other’s love interests in seasons two and three, and rumors soon began flying about whether they were dating in real life as well. Their chemistry on the show was undeniable, but the on-again-off-again couple kept the status of their relationship under wraps for the most part.

Kit and Rose eventually confirmed their relationship status and got married in Scotland in 2018. Game of Thrones fans were thrilled to learn that the couple tied the knot in an actual Scottish castle. Very on-brand. They recently welcomed a baby boy in February 2021. As we know, happy endings rarely happen in Game of Thrones, so we’re glad these two actors have gotten their happily ever after in real life.

The Big Bang Theory‘s Penny and Leonard are a fans’ favorite. What most people don’t know is that co-stars Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki began dating shortly after the show began. They secretly dated behind the scenes for about two years and didn’t make a big deal about it. Although things work out wonderfully between their characters Penny and Leonard, the same can’t be said for their IRL relationship.

Interestingly enough, Penny and Leonard ended up getting together after the two broke up in real life. Their characters even ended up getting married! It may have been a little awkward to keep playing a couple on-screen, but the two were able to keep it professional for 11 seasons. They’ve both commented on how they’ve remained friends and are an important part of each other’s lives.

Before Blake and Ryan, there was Blake and Penn, aka Dan and Serena from Gossip Girl. To put it lightly, fans freaked out when rumors began circulating that the two were dating. Although they repeatedly denied being in a relationship, they dated for the first three seasons of the show.

If you’re a Gilmore Girls fan, you know the famous question: Team Dean, Team Jess, or Team Logan? Turns out Alexis Bledel was Team Jess in real life. Bledel and Ventimiglia met in 2001 when he joined the Gilmore Girls cast as Rory Gilmore’s love interest, Jess Mariano. The two began dating about a year after they first met, and the chemistry between the two is palpable on screen.

Rachel Bilson and Adam Brody played the beloved couple Summer and Seth on the early 2000’s hit show The O.C. Their lives reflected their characters’ stories because the two dated in real life for almost the entire run of the show. Although Summer and Seth ended up getting married, the same didn’t play out for Bilson and Brody.

The two lovebirds ended up splitting a year before the show finale. Both have moved on and remain friends, cracking jokes about their time working together in interviews and on social media. Bilson has even said that, in her mind, Seth and Summer are still married. She’d even be open to an O.C. revival.

Amy Poehler and Will Arnett were a comedy power couple when they were together. These two hilarious comedians met via mutual friends in 2000 and got married in 2003. Although they didn’t meet on a set, they were constantly collaborating while they were partners. Poehler famously played Arnett’s wife on Arrested Development and the two teamed up in Blades of Glory as well.

One Tree Hill is one of the stand-out teen dramas from the early 2000s. When co-stars Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush announced that they were dating shortly after the series premiere, it seemed that life was imitating art. The couple even got married in 2005 and it seemed like a happily ever after story to fans.

Before we all fell in love with Marshall and Lily, Jason Segel was part of another beloved on-screen relationship. Jason and Linda met on the set of Freaks and Geeks, and their relationship lasted longer than the show. Their characters, Nick and Lindsay, had a short-lived romance, but their actual relationship lasted about five years. They were a solid couple, doing red carpet and press events together until their split in 2007.

The chemistry between super-spy Sydney Bristow and Michael Vaughn on Alias was largely due to the off-screen romance between the two actors, Jennifer Garner and Michael Vartan. The two met while working on the show and began dating two years later. Although people loved their chemistry, they only stayed together for a year and announced their split in 2004.

Actors Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan met on the set of the set of the 2006 hit film Step Up; they were cast as the main characters, who naturally fall in love. Around the same time, rumors about an off-screen relationship started circulating. They decided against hiding their relationship and showed up to the Los Angeles movie premiere as a couple.

J.R. Ramirez and Melissa Roxburgh, the talented actors from the hit TV series Manifest, had an on-screen connection that soon blossomed into an off-screen romance. Their story began when they met on the set and worked closely together. While their initial relationship remained a secret, it wasn’t their undeniable chemistry that fueled the rumors. Instead, it was the frequent appearances they made together and their refusal to address any dating speculations that set tongues wagging.

there was a time when Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner were Hollywood’s sweetest couple. They famously started dating afterAffleck and J. Lo broke up, in 2004. The two stars first met in 2000 on the set of the movie Pearl Harbor, when Garner was married to fellow actor Scott Foley. They worked together again in 2002 on Daredevil, and this time, Affleck was in a relationship with Jennifer Lopez.

The two started dating in 2004, not long after Affleck and Lopez called off their engagement and Garner and Foley filed for divorce. Garner and Affleck tied the knot in 2005, and for a while it seemed like they were going to make it. They raised three beautiful children together, but the relationship wasn’t meant to be – in 2015, ten years after getting married, they announced they were getting a divorce.

Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell are one of Hollywood’s oldest and most popular couples. They first met way back in the mid-sixties, on the set of the Disney film The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band. Hawn was 21 years old at the time, while Russell was only 16. Clearly, nothing happened between the two, as the time wasn’t right yet.

Little did they know their paths would cross again almost two decades later. They met again on the set of Swing Shift in the early eighties, and this time, sparks flew between the two stars. They started dating in 1983 while working on the film, and they’ve been together since. While they’ve never tied the knot, after raising a family together and staying by each other’s side for nearly four decades, their love is undeniable.

If you’re an avid fan of Friends, and you’ve watched the theme song more times that you’d like to admit, you probably noticed that at some point actress Courteney Cox appears in the credits as Courteney Cox Arquette. The Friends star met fellow actor David Arquette in 1996, two years after the sitcom started filming.

The two met on the set of the horror film Scream – and they were love interested on the film. They took their relationship to the real world and were known as one of the hottest Hollywood couples of the late nineties. They walked down the aisle in 1999 and seemed like the ultimate couple goals. However, in 2012 they filed for divorce. Today, they remain on good terms for the sake of their 17-year old daughter, Coco.

The love story of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck is one for the books. Or the movies. You’ve probably heard about their recently rekindled love story more than you would’ve liked – tabloids have been all over the story lately. We can’t blame them, though, it is a pretty crazy love story.

Multi-talent Jennifer Lopez and fellow actor Ben Affleck first met in 2002 on the set of the film Gigli. At the time, J. Lo was married to her second husband, Chris Judd, and Affleck was also in a serious relationship. However, later that year, the co-stars and friends took their relationship to the next level after separating from their respective SO’s. The couple was engaged by 2003, but to everyone’s surprise, they ended things in 2004. Fifteen years later, In June 2021, they were spotted together again, and they seem inseparable since.

Jamie-Lynn and Jerry met each other while both acting in the hit HBO series Entourage in 2008. Sigler joined the cast as a guest star playing Ferrara’s love interest, and they evidently hit it off and started a real-life romance right away. Their relationship ironically mirrored their Entourage relationship.

Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dalllas met while filming Once Upon A Time (2011) and they began dating shortly after. It seemed pretty inevitable that they would fall in love, because Dallas literally played Prince Charming! They tied the knot in 2014 in a small ceremony, and they’ve continued to gush over each other ever since.

They have two kids together and are “going strong” according to Dallas. They both love being parents, and their partnership seems strong and genuine. According to US Weekly, Goodwin still calls Dallas her “knight in shining armor.” If their love story isn’t the epitome of romance, we don’t know what is.

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have been together for about a decade, and they stand out as a rare Hollywood couple success story. The two met on the set of Green Lantern in 2010, but Ryan was married to Scarlett Johansson and Blake was dating Gossip Girl co-star Penn Badgley (more on that later). Both of their relationships eventually ended, and the two got together.

The story goes that they went on a double date with other people, and realized that sparks were flying between the two of them. The rest is history, and the two got hitched in 2012. They now have three kids and still gush over each other in interviews. “I think the best way to have a relationship is to start as friends,” Ryan told Entertainment Weekly when asked how their relationship has been so successful – and judging by their social media accounts, the two are certainly friends first!

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