TV and film sets might be the greatest matchmakers in Hollywood, with a number of celebrity couples secretly falling in love between takes.
Ben McKenzie and Mischa Barton played Ryan Atwood and Marissa Cooper, respectively, on Fox’s The O.C. between 2003 and 2006. The characters had an instant attraction from the pilot, and so did the actors.
“It wasn’t just onscreen either,” Barton revealed during a February 2024 appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, noting it was “tricky” to hide their relationship. “I think that kind of set things off on the wrong foot too because it was like people hook up on these shows and, whatever, and these things happen, but we threw ourselves all into it very fast.”
Maureen McCormick and Barry Williams, for their parts, played step-siblings on The Brady Bunch and only revealed their offscreen romance two decades later.
“Yes, we did, definitely,” Williams, who played Greg Brady, revealed during a 2013 interview. “In fact, I was her first kiss and that was in Hawaii when we were filming the episodes there.”
Keep scrolling to find out which celebrities hid their behind-the-scenes romances until years later: