Top 10 Sitcom Stars Who Fell in Love on Set

Top 10 Sitcom Stars Who Fell in Love on Set

Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Sitcom Stars Who Fell in Love on Set

For this list, we’ll be looking at sitcoms only. That means no dramedies and no dramas, teen or otherwise.

HR might have a policy against you dating at work, but we don’t think they’ll mind if you leave a quick comment on your lunch break.

#10: Will Smith & Jada Pinkett Smith
“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” (1990-96)

Fans of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” may be wondering how Will and Jada made it on this list given that Jada was never on the show. Well, what you may not know is that Pinkett Smith actually auditioned in 1994 to play Will’s girlfriend. But she was too short and the role ended up going to Nia Long. Soon after their meeting at the audition, Will saw Jada on “A Different World” and knew she was the one for him. However, he was married to Sheree Zampino at the time and only pursued Jada once Zampino had ended things. And on December 31st, 1997 Will and Jada got Jiggy With It in Holy Matrimony.

#9: Kat Dennings & Nick Zano
“2 Broke Girls” (2011-17)

In 2011 Zano broke up with Haylie Duff and a couple months later rebounded into a relationship with Dennings - who he met on the set of “2 Broke Girls.” On the show, Dennings’ character Max and her friend Johnny (played by Zano) have more than just “friendly” feelings towards each other. And obviously it wasn’t difficult to find the motivation for their performances, as the crush was something both of them felt off set as well. Kat and Max dated for a little while and around the same time their onset characters decided to end their romantic involvement, so did they.

#8: Ryan McCartan & Dove Cameron
“Liv and Maddie” (2013-17)

Dove and Ryan started dating very early on in the run of their show, Liv and Maddie. In 2014 they even formed a band together, “The Girl and the Dreamcatcher”. After dating for three years, they got engaged in 2016. However, it was only six months after she said “yes” that the couple were announcing their decision to go their separate ways. Cameron was 20-years-old when she and McCartan split. As she told Seventeen, “It was my first ever real relationship, and it was on-screen and off-screen… A lot of what I went through in that first relationship, the very low-lows, I did not make public.”

#7: B.J. Novak & Mindy Kaling
“The Office” (2005-13)

On “The Office” Ryan and Kelly’s romance was very much an art imitating life situation. According to Novak, much of Kelly and Ryan’s relationship was most likely based on “an observation from the writers' room that Mindy and I were extremely close and constantly fighting.” B.J. and Mindy dated on and off for a few years, and while lots of celebrity couples claim that they are still friends after they break up, with Novak and Kaling it isn’t just talk. They’re still so close that many people continue to wonder if they’re romantically involved. Kaling described their friendship to InStyle Magazine as “romantically charged camaraderie with loud arguments.” Sounds like best friends to us!

#6: Megan Fox & Brian Austin Green
“Hope & Faith” (2003-06)

When Brian Austin Green agreed to guest star on the ABC sitcom “Hope & Faith” in 2004, he probably didn’t expect to meet his future wife. But that’s exactly what happened. Megan Fox was 18 and hadn’t watched “Beverly Hills 90210” but she did know, as she put it, “that he was gorgeous and I wanted to get to know him better.” The two dated on and off for years and got married in 2010. Their marriage, like their time dating, also had some off-again moments. They separated in 2015, but by 2016 Fox was pregnant with their third son and the couple was back together. However, in May of 2020, Green confirmed that they had split again. We assume it’s for good this time. But you never know.

#5: Rob McElhenney & Kaitlin Olson
“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (2005-)

Ever dated someone at work and kept it secret from your coworkers? Well, how about dating someone at work and keeping it secret for two years while also being roommates with one of those coworkers? That’s Rob and Kaitlin’s story. The couple fell in love on the “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” set and were together for a couple of years before the rest of the cast knew about it. Even Rob’s roommate, fellow cast member Glenn Howerton, didn’t know it was happening. It wasn’t long after letting everyone in on their romantic involvement that Rob and Kaitlin decided to tie the knot in 2008. They’re still together today and have two kids.

#4: Barry Williams & Maureen McCormick
“The Brady Bunch” (1969-74)

WARNING! You might never be able to watch The Brady Bunch with innocent joy again after you hear about the backstage lust between Williams and McCormick. On screen they played siblings, but behind the camera, the attraction was electric. After years of flirting the pair shared their first kiss behind the scenes during the filming of the Brady’s in Hawaii episodes. And things heated up even more when they returned to the mainland. In her book, McCormick opened up about filming the season 4 finale, writing: “I couldn’t read the word bedroom in the script without conjuring up fantasies of the two of us… It was as if bedroom had turned into a code word for something illicit and wonderful.” Puts a whole new spin on, “Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!” doesn’t it?!

#3: Johnny Galecki & Kaley Cuoco
“The Big Bang Theory” (2007-19)

For the first couple seasons of “The Big Bang Theory” Leonard spent most of his time pining for Penny. However, behind the scenes, Gelecki and Cuoco were doing more than just pining! The couple dated for a couple of years. But in an ironic twist of fate, as their offscreen romance was ending, onscreen Leonard and Penny were just getting warmed up. Which could have been oh so awkward. But Kaley said in 2020 that “Luckily, Johnny and I came out of it so brilliantly… I remember when we broke up, obviously it was a little sensitive for a minute, but I remember those weeks that Chuck had written these episodes where all of a sudden our characters were sleeping together like every other second.”

#2: Mathew Perry & Julia Roberts
“Friends” (1994-2004)

“Friends'' was a phenomenon like few other shows have been. And it changed the lives of its six lead actors forever. Just think, In 1994 prior to the airing of the pilot episode, most people wouldn’t have been able to pick Mathew Perry out of a lineup - unless maybe they were big fans of his one appearance on “Who's The boss” or his three-episode arc on “Growing Pains.” But, just one year later he was dating one of the biggest stars of the decade! Julia Roberts guest-starred in the “Friends” episode that aired on NBC after the 1996 Super Bowl and her time on set led to a very funny episode and a brief romance with Perry.

#1: Michael J. Fox & Tracy Pollan
“Family Ties” (1982-89)

In love, like in comedy, timing is everything. Not to say there wasn’t an offscreen attraction between the onscreen “Family Ties” couple. But both actors were in relationships at the time. Fox was taking the good and the bad with Nancy McKeon and Pollan was footloose and fancy free with Kevin Bacon. Cut to a couple years later on the set of the film, “Bright Lights, Big City.” They were both single and, as Fox said in a 1989 interview, “It sounds really horrible, but it was one of those things… Someone goes, ‘Did you hear that so-and-so aren’t together anymore?’ and you go, ‘Hmm, that’s too bad. Where’s the phone?’” They were engaged seven months later and have been married for over 30 years.