Valentine’s Day may be behind us, but love is always in the air; which is a sentiment that seems to ring true especially for stars of the CW. We all know that celebrity couples are notorious for kindling relationships on-set. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds - the list goes on and on. While some flames do eventually go out, it’s getting to witness that first spark on-screen that fans actually love most.
The CW is one of those beautiful places where audiences can tune in to catch some pretty hot romances on a weekly basis. Although, it’s really those wonderful moments when love stories begin on TV and carry into real life that can make a show that much more endearing.
It’s clear this network not only has a knack for casting, but it also proves to have a pretty solid record when it comes to matchmaking. If you thought some of the couples that hooked up on-screen might have had a chemistry that was too good to be true, that could be because behind the camera, it was true. Have you ever wondered if some of your favorite CW romances were actually an item?
Here are 16 CW Couples You Had No Idea Were Together In Real Life.
16. Adelaide Kane and Sean Teale - Reign
Adelaide Kane and Sean Teale met on set of the CW show Reign, and played a couple in the throes of a heated romance. Queen Mary Stuart and Louis Condé ended up in the midst of a tortured love affair, leaving fans craving more, yet knowing the relationship was doomed from the start.
The Australian star and the British actor reportedly began their real-life love affair back in 2014.
While the show might have quashed any hope we had to see the two of them live out their wildest dreams, the good news is, this couple is still together.
Reign may have been canceled after four seasons, but it would seem their true love isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
15. Sophia Bush and Austin Nichols - One Tree Hill
When it comes to drama, this CW series knew how to do it right; both on-screen and off. While Bush had dated a co-star or two in the past, her on-again, off-again relationship with co-star Austin Nichols had fans completely invested. The couple’s on-screen romance as Brooke and Julian (better known as “Brulian”) was one of the show’s highlights.
Audiences watched the pair have to fight for the relationship, overcome hardships and finally triumph. In the end, they would marry, raise two sons and go on to live happily ever after. However, with this love story, real life would not be as kind to them as the writers were.
For years, fans may have cooed over the two together in public, but their time as a couple actually ended just prior to the series finale.
14. Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev - The Vampire Diaries
If you were a fan of The Vampire Diaries, it was impossible to miss the chemistry between these two. When their love connection was first revealed in 2011, no one was particularly surprised.
Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder seemed like a supernatural match made in Heaven.
While vampires are supposed to live forever, this relationship certainly did not. After only three years, it fizzled. Speculation about why the couple split floated around the CW rumor mill for a while but the biggest shock came not long after their breakup.
The hunky heartthrob had found love from another supernatural world, when he quickly married Twilight actress, Nikki Reed. Luckily, unlike the show, there was no wild love triangle. The three put tabloid rumors to rest via Instagram post, proving that friendship is where it’s at.
13. Alexis Bledel and Milo Ventimiglia - Gilmore Girls
People know that Rory and Jess dated on the show, as the recent revival left viewers wondering if he would become the Luke to Rory’s Lorelai. But, what a lot of viewers may not remember is that the pair actually dated in real life.
Alexis Bledel and Milo Ventimiglia first met on-set back in 2001, and kept their romance hidden for four years. The days of living pre-social media, may have had a helpful hand in that scenario. While the two were rumored to even have discussed marriage at one point, they eventually split back in 2006, effectively ending any chance of a fairy tale love story.
Bledel went on to marry another former teen actor, Angel’s Vincent Kartheiser. Ventimiglia went on to date a co-star from another show and is now a “hero” to everyone as star of NBC’s This Is Us.
12. Sophia Bush and James Lafferty - One Tree Hill
Perhaps not quite as scandalous as the reveal of their on-screen tryst, Sophia Bush and James Lafferty’s real-life romance came to light thanks to a shocking video of another kind. Hot on the heels of the actress’s divorce from Chad Michael Murray (more on him later), during an on-camera interview, her ex-husband disclosed that his former wife had moved on to another actor post-breakup.
Thankfully, after he filled the world in on his ex’s new relationship, he also let fans know that everyone still managed to be friends.
Though the characters of Brooke and Nathan certainly had people talking after their one-night stand had been exposed, Bush and Lafferty’s off-screen romance was actually much more low-key. The whole thing lasted roughly a year. Soon after, Bush began her romance with Nichols.
11. Melissa Benoist and Chris Wood - Supergirl
Everyone deserves a superhero (both on-screen and off), which is why this pair gives viewers a reason to smile. In front of the camera, Kara and Mon-El have an intense love that has been met with mixed response from viewers. Behind the camera, it would seem Melissa Benoist and Chris Wood could possibly be trying to channel their respective characters.
After the actress’s divorce from Glee’s Blake Jenner, this Supergirl found love in the arms of her co-star. Coincidentally, he had also recently split from a former co-star whom he met working on another CW show. After several sightings together, in early 2017, Benoist and Wood confirmed their real-life relationship and have since been pretty outspoken with their PDA. In fact, their adorable public words of encouragement and obvious affection for each other gives all of us hope that love can save the day
10. Candice Accola and Zach Roerig - The Vampire Diaries
Accola and Roerig may not have been the most highly publicized couple to come out of this CW show, but they were utterly adored nonetheless. As their characters Caroline and Matt had dated on the show, naturally their rocky on-camera relationship translated into a rocky off-camera relationship.
Fans actually had no clue the two were an item, until a Tweet revealed the real-life relationship.
Unfortunately, in 2012, after a year of dating, the two called it quits. Just as their characters’ love affair was not meant to be, neither was their off-screen romance. Eventually, Candice Accola would become Candace King (after marrying The Fray’s Joe King) and Zach would go on to date another actress whom he met on the set of The Vampire Diaries, Nathalie Kelley. The show took its final breath in 2017.
9. Sebastian Stan and Leighton Meester - Gossip Girl
As one of the three couples to come out of Gossip Girl, Leighton Meester and Sebastian Stan sadly did not find relationship success - on or off-screen. Their season 2 on-camera love affair may have led to their characters having a short fling, but in real life, the pair was actually an item for a couple of years. Even when their TV love interests had them heading in different directions, fans, at the time, adored witnessing how in real life, the two would regularly gush over each other in the face of all their other on-screen hook-ups.
Eventually, the pair called it quits in 2010. Stan reportedly went on to date a couple of other notable actresses whom he had also met on-set. Meester married fellow CW alum, Adam Brody.
8. Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin - Veronica Mars
Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin are proof that Hollywood dreams do come true. The couple soon gets to celebrate 21 years of marriage with an army of fans behind them rooting them on. While most of their PDA (aside from social media) comes in the form of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills these days, longtime CW fans remember the pair starring together on the teen drama,Veronica Mars.
In real life, the couple is an example that would make anyone proud, but on-screen, as the parents of Logan Echolls, the two left a lot to be desired. Aaron Echolls (Hamlin) had an affair with his son’s girlfriend, committed crimes, and caused his wife, Lynn Echolls (Rinna), to take her own life. Thankfully, that drama only happened in the tiny town of Neptune. In real life, we get the fairy tale.
7. Courtney Ford and Brandon Routh - Legends of Tomorrow
While these two actors didn’t meet on-set, Brandon Routh and Courtney Ford were lucky to have found each other years ago when he was tending bar at a Hollywood bowling alley. After being together for some time, the couple finally married in 2007.
Considering that the two have both done CW work in the past, Ford (Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries) and Routh (a list that includes The Flash and Arrow), bringing them together on the DC spin-off, seems, much like the two of them, to be a natural pairing.
Introducing Ford as Nora Darhk in season 3 and making Routh (Ray Palmer) display a curious attraction to her has already prompted some wild fan theories. While nobody is quite sure what to make of their on-screen relationship yet, in real life, viewers can breathe a sigh of relief knowing these two have got each other’s backs.
6. Ed Westwick and Jessica Szohr - Gossip Girl
Another couple on the GG love list is Ed Westwick and Jessica Szohr. The Chuck and Vanessa relationship (aka Chanessa) was a fleeting, fiery, opportunistic love affair that came to a head during season 2. As the show was filled with plenty of drama, these characters fueled the fire and in an attempt to get revenge, ended up hooking up on-screen on more than one occasion.
In reality, this duo waited before they went public with their actual relationship.
The on-again, off-again romance eventually ended after rumors of infidelity surfaced. Headlines were creating tabloid fodder that rivaled the show’s own storyline. After the split, over the years, the two have appeared to remain amicable - though Szohr has expressed concerns about the recent assault allegations against Westwick.
5. Phoebe Tonkin and Chris Zylka - The Secret Circle
There’s no real secret in the CW circle, especially when it comes to who’s dating who. In only one season, The Secret Circle managed to cast a spell on not only viewers, but apparently, the actors as well. The Jake and Faye romance began as a “friends with benefits” type of situation, leading to Faye falling first, and then eventually, Jake realizing his love for her. The series actually ends with the two of them seemingly ending up together.
In real life, Tonkin and Zylka only dated for two months.
Although it was rumored to have been a rough split, the pair was pictured post-break-up, celebrating the actor’s birthday; even Tweeting about it. While on the show, their love may have been made to last, off-screen, the two were not meant to be. Both have moved on to new shows and new loves.
4. Blake Lively and Penn Badgley - Gossip Girl
These days, it’s hard for most to imagine Blake Lively with anyone other than Ryan Reynolds. However, there was once a time when both their hearts belonged to other people.
The TV romance between Dan and Serena (Penn Badgley and Lively), gave the show’s admirers plenty to gossip about, but, in real life, these two managed to impressively keep things under wraps. They first fell in love on-set back in 2007, and for a while claimed to be just friends.
While the secret eventually came out, they still somehow managed to maintain their privacy.
Even their breakup, three years later, wasn’t known by those on the Gossip Girl set until months after it actually happened. The couple parted ways in real life before the end of season 2. The finale gave fans a more satisfying ending that saw Dan and Serena living happily ever after.
3. Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson - The O.C.
Seth and Summer were an O.C. favorite; a mismatched pair who taught teens everywhere that the awkward, funny kid could potentially win the heart of the pretty, popular girl. Although the two did not start out as the show’s main storyline, their on-screen chemistry inevitably drew viewers in, making them one of the most beloved teen couples on the air at the time.
Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson had begun dating in real life back in 2003, and fought rumors of breakups and engagements throughout most of the relationship’s three-year run. Off-screen, the pair broke up in 2006, which was an entire year before the show ended.
While Brody and Bilson couldn’t make it work, Seth and Summer could.
The series gave fans what they had always wanted for the pair – a wedding.
2. Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray - One Tree Hill
Prior to Nichols and Lafferty, Sophia Bush lived out a highly publicized relationship with co-star Chad Michael Murray. Brooke and Lucas (otherwise known as “Brucas”) had viewers thrilled from the very beginning. Once that first on-screen spark ignited, it illuminated an undoubtable chemistry between the pair. However, the couple’s on-again, off-again TV romance played out a bit differently in real life.
The fast and furious love affair off-screen began in 2004, peaked with a marriage in 2005, and ended in a separation only five months later. The couple’s divorce was finalized in 2006. The two managed to keep things cool until Murray left the show in 2009.
Bush, as we know, went on to find love with her other OTH co-stars. Murray later married to an extra he met on set.
1. Jared Padalecki and Genevieve Cortese - Supernatural
Before Genevieve Padelecki ended up landing the dream role of Jared Padelecki’s wife, she was Genevieve Cortese, starring in the dream role of Ruby on Supernatural. She first showed up in 2008 (taking the place of Katie Cassidy), as the demon who mysteriously had power over Sam.
On-screen, the two shared an unmistakable passion and by 2010, in real life, the couple said “I do.”
Fans unfortunately said goodbye the actress in 2009, at the end of season 4, and with the exception of her surprise cameo in season 6 (“The French Mistake”) we haven’t seen her since. The good news is that she and Jared are still going strong.
With the recent addition of Danneel Ackles (Jensen’s wife) to the Supernatural lineup, is it possible there’s hope we will see the return of Genevieve as well? Only time will tell.
What other real life CW couples can you think of? Let us know in the comments!
