8 Celebrity Couples Who Tried to Maintain a Romantic Relationship Off-Screen But It Failed

On-screen couples do tend to sometimes get romantically involved off-screen as well. Some turn out to be the best couples among the lot, while some fail terribly. Many co-stars still prefer maintaining their professional relationships, which many of us still talk about today. Below are listed some celebs who tried to be together for a while but it didn’t work out.

1. Blake Lively and Penn Badgley, Gossip Girl

The couple met on the sets of Gossip Girl and got romantically involved with each other in the years 2007-2010. Although their relationship was a rough ride, yet they made a public debut as a couple at the 2008 Met Gala. They dated for 2 years and then eventually ended their relationship.

2. Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter, Dexter

After a couple of years of working together on the series, the main characters started to date in real life. They got married in 2008, but in 2010 they announced their breakup due to “irreconcilable differences.” The on-screen siblings are now divorced spouses in real life.

Nevertheless, they managed to keep a warm, friendly relationship. Otherwise, filming Dexter’s last season, which was released in 2021-2022, would’ve been in real danger.

3. Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac, Scenes From a Marriage

The actors played spouses on screen. They would also often flirt while off set too — perhaps due to PR reasons or because they simply liked it. That’s why rumors about their romance have been around for a long time. But it was quickly revealed that playing lovers was just a game for the actors.

In fact, Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac are both married and are only good friends in real life.

4. Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber, The Painted Veil

The actors knew each other before their work on The Painted Veil. But when they started to work on this project, they were already a couple. A couple of years after completing filming, they had their first baby, then a second one.

However, 11 years later, the former lovers decided to break up. They got through their break-up wisely, and it didn’t stop them from raising their kids together, plus, they continued to portray lovers on screen.

5. Aimee Lou Wood and Connor Swindells, Sex Education

In the first season of Sex Education, the characters of these 2 actors were having an affair. Approximately at the same time, the couple started to date in real life. However, their relationship wasn’t that successful, and in 2020, Wood announced their break-up, adding that this relationship was not bringing any joy to either of them.

6. María Pedraza and Jaime Lorente, Money Heist

The young Spanish actors met each other while working on the Elite movie, and they later became colleagues on Money Heist. Lorente played a bandit named Denver, while Pedraza played one of the hostages.

Their relationship lasted for 2 years, after which the actors unfollowed each other on social media and tried to erase most of the evidence of their affair from there.

7. Martin Freeman and Amanda Abbington, Sherlock

In the British series about Sherlock Holmes, the relationship between Dr. and Mrs. Watson ended romantically — we see the happy ending and their wedding on screen (though the fate of Abbington’s character develops tragically in the future). In real life, the relationship of the actors was much more dramatic.

They met each other in 2000 and had 2 kids. In 2016, Abbington said that their union was hit by a heart-breaking breakup. “I had thought Martin was the love of my life. This wasn’t meant to happen to us,” the actress added.

8. Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory

The couple met on the set of The Big Bang Theory where they dated each other for almost two years. They did break up eventually, but their characters continued dating each other on the show. Despite the separation, they did manage to maintain a warm friendship.