8 TV Couples Who Divorced After Being On Shows Together, And 17 Couples Who Are Still Together
Falling in love with your co-star is pretty much a Hollywood trope with long shoot days, professional hair and makeup, and heightened fictional emotions-turned-real. Sometimes, this can be the beginning of a happily ever after, and sometimes, it’s a season that had to end.
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Here are some couples who married and divorced (or separated) after their time on TV together:
1. Lucille Ball and Dezi Arnaz
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Yes, TV’s original power couple divorced in 1960 after twenty years together and six seasons of I Love Lucy (1951-1957), getting married in 1940. Ball filed for divorce once before in 1944, but it never was finalized. They then had two children. After their divorce, Lucille married comedian Gary Morton in 1961, and Arnaz married Edith Mack Hirsch in 1963. Both Ball and Arnaz remained friendly during his final years before he passed away in 1986.
2. Sonny Bono and Cher
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Before starring in The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour (1971-1974), Sonny Bono and Cher were already a creative duo, releasing records, touring, and producing movies. The two were married in 1964, and Cher gave birth to their son Chaz in 1969. While their divorce in 1975 was public, they still had a lot of love for each other and even reunited in a revival of The Sonny & Cher Show (1976-1977).
3. Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray
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Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush starred in the mega-popular teen drama One Tree Hill (2003-2012) as Lucas Scott and Brooke Davis. During the first four seasons, Murray and Bush’s characters were in a love triangle. In real life, however, Murray and Davis were engaged in May 2004 and married in April 2005. Bush filed for divorce in December 2006, and the two continued to star on the series for more seasons.
4. Adrianne Palicki and Scott Grimes
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Adrianne Palicki and Scott Grimes starred as Commander Kelly Grayson and Lieutenant Gordon Molloy, respectively, on The Orville (2017-2019), created by Seth MacFarlane. Palick played the ex-wife of MacFarlane’s character and Grimes played his best friend. Palicki and Grimes announced that they were together at San Diego Comic-Con in 2018, were engaged January 2019, then married in May 2019. Palicki first filed for divorce in July 2019, but had the filing dismissed in November 2019. She filed for divorce a second time in July 2020, and they are officially separated.
5. Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter
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Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter starred as brother and sister Dexter and Deb Morgan on Dexter (2006-2013). The two started dating in 2007, eloped on New Year’s Eve 2008, then divorced in 2011. During their marriage, Hall was diagnosed and fought Hodgkin’s disease while also starring on the show together.
6. Paul Wesley and Torrey DeVitto
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Paul Wesley and Torrey DeVitto met in 2007 while filming Killer Movie. Wesley starred as stoic Stefan Salvatore on The Vampire Diaries (2009-2017), competing against his brother, Damon Salvatore, for human Elena Gilbert’s heart. In 2011, Wesley and DeVitto got married. DeVitto guest starred as a local Mystic Falls doctor, Dr. Meredith Fell, in seasons three and four. Wesley and DeVitto then divorced at the end of 2013.
7. Melissa Benoist and Blake Jenner
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Both Benoist and Jenner joined Glee in the fifth season. Benoist was cast as Marley Rose, and Jenner was cast as Ryder Lynn after winning The Glee Project season 2. They announced their engagement in 2013 and were confirmed to be married in 2015. Benoist first starred as Supergirl in 2015 and Jenner guest starred in an episode in Season 1. Benoist filed for divorce in December 2016, which was finalized a year later in December 2017. In 2019, Benoist shared a video on Instagram detailing her experience with domestic abuse, explaining that an injury she sustained in 2015 was from a fight. Jenner responded to the video a year later.
8. Alexis Bledel and Vincent Kartheiser
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Alexis Bledel guest-starred on Mad Men as the mistress Beth Dawes to Vincent Kartheiser’s Pete Campbell in 2012. Bledel and Kartheiser announced their engagement in March 2013 and married in June 2014. Bledel gave birth to their son in 2015. In 2022, Kartheiser filed for divorce.
And here are the couples who are still making it work!
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9. Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa
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Once a daytime power couple, always a daytime (morning) power couple! Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos first met in 1995 on All My Children, where they played a couple that faced many soapy trials and tribulations. While their characters eventually get married in 2000, Ripa and Consuelos eloped in May 1996. Today, they host Live with Kelly and Mark, dealing with much lighter fare for the daylight crowd.
10. Alexis Denisof and Alyson Hannigan
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Alyson Hannigan and Alexis Denisof met on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003). Hannigan played best friend Willow Rosenberg, and Denisof later joined in Season 3 as Watcher Wesley Wyndam-Pryce (before joining the Angel spin-off series in 1999). The couple got engaged in December 2001, and they were married in October 2003. Together, they have two daughters.
11. Emily VanCamp and Josh Bowman
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Emily VanCamp starred in the soapy drama Revenge (2011-2015) as Emily Thorne, and Daniel Bowman played Daniel Grayson, with whom VanCamp’s character was in a relationship. Like any good drama, there were many twists and shocking reveals in the characters’ relationship, but thankfully that doesn’t seem to be the case here. They started dating early on in the series in 2011 and announced their engagement in May 2017. They got married in December 2018, and they have two daughters.
12. Dave and Odette Annable
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Speaking of Emily VanCamp, Dave Annable dated VanCamp shortly when they were on Brothers & Sisters (2006-2011). After VanCamp left the series in 2010, Odette Yustman joined the series a few episodes later for a small arc as the romantic interest for Annable’s character. The two got married in October 2010 and had a daughter. They announced a separation in October 2019, but reconciled in August 2020.
13. Trai and Grace Byers
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Their characters on Empire may have had major drama with each other, but in real life, Grace Byers (née Gealey) and Trai Byers have been sweetly building their own dynasty. Trai played Andre Lyons, the business-minded son of Cookie and Lucious Lyon, and Grace played Anika Calhoun, the determined Empire executive who butts heads with Trai’s Andre.
First announcing their engagement in 2015, the couple married on April 14, 2016, and welcomed their first child on their first wedding anniversary! A stark different ending to how their characters end things on Empire. Since then, Trai has appeared on Grace’s series Harlem.
14. Kristen Dunst and Jesse Plemmons
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Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemmons played married couple Peggy and Ed Blumquist in Season 2 of Fargo in 2015, yet they didn’t start dating until 2016. They got engaged in 2017 and married in May 2018. Together they have two children.
The two later starred in The Power of the Dog (2021) and Civil War (2024).
15. Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead
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Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead first met on Season 3 of FX’s Fargo, where they played a couple. They were married to their respective partners, but started dating in 2017 after they each got divorced. Winstead gave birth to a son in June 2021, and the couple got married in April 2022.
They later starred in Birds of Prey (2020) and A Gentleman in Moscow (2024-present). Plus, they are now both in the Star Wars universe!
16. Jared and Genevieve Padalecki
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The two met on Supernatural (2005-2020) when Cortese had a recurring guest role as Ruby, replacing Katie Cassidy as the demon who helps Padalecki’s Sam Winchester save his brother’s soul. The pair started dating in 2008, got engaged in 2009, and were married in February 2010. Together, they have three children.
17. David Giuntoli and Elizabeth Tulloch
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The pair met on the set of Grimm (2011-2017), where Tulloch played Juliette, the veterinarian girlfriend of Giuntoli’s character. However, the two didn’t start dating until 2014. They got engaged in April 2016 and were married in June 2017. They have one child together.
18. Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas
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Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas met while filming Once Upon a Time (2011-2018), playing the classic fairytale princess and her prince. They were engaged in October 2013, married in April 2014, and have two sons.
19. Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer
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Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer first met when auditioning for True Blood (2008-2014), and they dated since the beginning of 2007 when they were filming the pilot. They got engaged in August 2009 and were married in August 2010. Together, they have twin children.
20. Rob McElhenney and Kaitlin Olson
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The two first met when McElhenney cast Olson as Dee Reynolds in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005-present), but they didn’t start dating until the second season in 2006. He proposed to her in December 2007, and they wed in September 2008. They have two children together.
21. Charlie Day and Mary Elizabeth Ellis
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While The Waitress on Always Sunny doesn’t give Charlie the time of day, Ellis and Day have been together since 2001. She played The Waitress in the early pilots for Always Sunny and continued when the show was picked up. The two married in March 2006, and Ellis gave birth to a son in December 2011.
22. Rose Leslie and Kit Harrington
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The King in the North found his Queen when Rose Leslie joined Game of Thrones (2011-2019) as Ygritte, a Wildling who showed Harrington’s Jon Snow the Free Folk way. They started dating in 2011, announced their engagement in 2017, and married in 2018. They have two children together.
23. Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher
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Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis first met on That ’70s Show (1998-2006). Kunis famously lied about her age to get cast on the show, where she was only 14 years old, next to a 20-year-old Kutcher. However, they did not get together until early 2012. They got engaged and had their first child together in 2014, then got married in 2015. They have two children.
24. Ben McKenzie and Morena Baccarin
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Meeting in the hard streets of Gotham (2015-2019), McKenzie played a young Officer Jim Gordon, and Baccarin played Leslie “Lee” Thompkins. They started dating in 2015 as Baccarin was going through a divorce from her first husband. Following the birth of McKenzie and Baccarin’s first child in March 2016, the couple got engaged in November 2016 and married in June 2017. They had a second child in 2021.
25. Melissa Benoist and Chris Wood
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Melissa Benoist was starring as the titular hero on Supergirl (2016-2021) when Chris Wood joined the series for Season 2 as Daxamite Prince Mon-El. They started dating shortly after, engaged in February 2019, and married later that year in September. Benoist gave birth to a son in 2020.
