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GALLERY: TV couples who had real life relationships

Did you know these TV couples actually dated in real life?

tv couples real life
Emmy Griffiths
TV & Film Editor
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jason kylie © Photo: Rex

It is a sign of a good TV show when you become invested in the characters and their lives, or more specifically, their love lives! And so it is all the more exciting when you realise that the couple you have been rooting for are actually together in real life! Click through our gallery to see the onscreen TV characters who actually became a couple, starting with this classic pair... 

Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan – Neighbours

Fans were obsessed with the love of Charlene and Scott on Neighbours, especially their wedding day episode, which was watched by nearly 20 million people. The pair dated for three years before splitting in 1989, and Jason later admitted it took him a long time to get over the relationship. "It was an extremely painful parting of the ways and, without doubt, I took a long time to recover from it," he told the Mirror. "Years, definitely."

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Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher – That 70s Show

Mila and Ashton played Jackie and Kelso on the popular comedy way back in 1998, however, they only started dating years after the show finished in 2012. The pair began their romance when they ran into one another at an awards show, with Mila admitting that they would "never be together based on the people [they] used to be".

kit 2© Photo: Getty Images

Kit Harington and Rose Leslie – Game of Thrones

Kit and Rose got together while playing the onscreen couple Jon Snow and Ygritte in the smash hit show, Game of Thrones, and are now engaged to be wed! Kit opened up about falling for his co-star while filming to Vogue, explaining: "The three weeks in Iceland when we were shooting the second season. Because the country is beautiful, because the Northern Lights are magical, and because it was there that I fell in love. If you're already attracted to someone, and then they play your love interest in the show, it becomes very easy to fall in love."

kaley cucau© Photo: Getty Images

Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki – The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory stars were a perfect match in the show as the geeky scientist and the funny yet struggling actress who lived across the hall. Speaking about still working together following their split, Kaley told CBS: "Moments were really hard, but we have such a love for each other - and we knew we weren't destined to be together - that we accepted it and said, 'Look, if we ever break up, we will be professional.' I'm so lucky it was a mutual ending and that we don't hate each other."

rachel bilson© Photo: Rex

Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson – The O.C.

Seth and Summer's relationship on The O.C. was among our favourite things on the California-based show (alongside the constant melodrama and Sandy Cohen's eyebrows), and it was no surprise to see the couple dating thanks to their onscreen chemistry. Following their split, Adam went on to marry the star of another teen drama, Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester!  

sophia bush chad michael murray© Photo: Getty Images

Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush – One Tree Hill

Lucas Scott and Brooke Davies were pretty on and off in One Tree Hill, but their real-life counterparts went all the way to tying the knot! However, the pair were only married for five months before Sophia filed for an annulment, citing fraud. Speaking about their break-up, she said: "It devastates me now that I have been reduced to a Hollywood statistic–another joke marriage. I never expected to be married more than once."

blake lively penn badgeley© Photo: PA

Blake Lively and Penn Badgley  - Gossip Girl

Although we know Blake is now happily married with two children to Ryan Reynolds, her relationship with Penn set Gossip Girl fans' hearts a-fluttering after watching them onscreen as Dan and Serena, a pair from two different worlds who fall madly in love with one another in the show. The pair were together for three years before calling it a day, and Penn told Elle: "We were very much caught up in the show, which itself was a six-year endurance test. Our relationship was a part of that and helped us through it. I mean, like anything valuable, it was good and it was bad and it was a learning experience."

josh dallas ginnifer goodwin© Photo: Getty Images

Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas – Once Upon a Time

Talk about a happily ever after! Ginnifer and Josh got together in real life after playing the 'love at first sight' couple, Prince Charming and Snow White, in the popular fantasy show. The pair are now married and share two sons, Oliver and Hugo. Speaking about falling in love with her, he said: "On and off screen it was magical... I can remember now when we were shooting the pilot, we were shooting that scene where he rides up on the horse and she's asleep in the coffin and she's surrounded by the forest and she's, for all he knows, dead, and he goes to kiss her and she wakes up. I remember it started to snow when we were there and it seemed so symbolic and magical."

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Charlie Heaton and Natalia Dyer – Stranger Things

Fans of Stranger Things were delighted to see that Jonathan Byers and Nancy Wheeler actually got together in real life, although fans rooting for Steve and Nancy to be together in the popular Netflix show were a little less thrilled! Speaking about her boyfriend and the SAF Awards in January, Natalia told Us Weekly: "He's alright I guess. He doesn't mess up our scenes too much. No, he’s great. He’s talented, like everybody in the cast. They’re all super, just great to work with."

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