Secret Celebrity Relationships

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Many celebrities keep their dating lives private from fans' prying eyes. They may have relationships and go through heartbreak that the public never knows about. Sometimes, however, they decide to open up years after the fact.
Here are 23 celeb couples who kept their relationships secret for years:
On a 2025 episode of the podcast Pod Meets World, Elise Donovan revealed that she secretly dated Joey Fatone in the '90s. She said, "[*NSYNC] did an episode of Clueless. The studio said, 'This is a really big deal. These guys are coming out.' And I was just like, 'Right. Are you kidding me? These little boys? This, like, boy band?' I was literally making fun of them before they got to set... They're super professional. They're really kind. Incredibly talented. And I was like, 'Oh, I'm the jerk.'"
Elise began "hanging out" with the boys, and she started dating Joey "under the radar." Their relationship led to her being cast in the 1999 music video "Thinking of You (I Drive Myself Crazy)."
In her 2023 memoir The Woman in Me, Britney Spears revealed she had a short fling with Colin Farrell in 2003, following her breakup with Justin Timberlake. She alleged that Justin slept with "six or seven girls" after their relationship ended. Wanting to move on herself, she let a "club promoter friend" set her up with Colin. She said they "had a two-week brawl." Britney wrote, "Brawl is the only word for it — we were all over each other, grappling so passionately it was like we were in a street fight."
In 2024, Hunter Schafer confirmed to GQ that she and Rosalía dated for five months in late 2019. Hunter said, "I have really beautiful friendships with people that I was once romantically involved with. She's family no matter what."
In the '90s, many Full House viewers wanted John Stamos and Lori Loughlin to be together in real life, and in 2015, John told HuffPost Live that they "actually did date" years before the show. He said, "We went on a date to Disneyland before we were both married. In real life, when we were 18, 19 years old. No disrespect to her family and her husband now, I would say that she could be the one that got away. She's one of my dearest friends, and that's good enough. I really do adore her."
In 2018, Carrie Ann Inaba told The Talk that she dated John Stamos in the early '90s. She said, "We did date. When I was a Fly Girl [on In Living Color], the dreamiest thing happened. Somebody was like, 'Somebody wants to meet you across the room.' The room parted, and on the other side of the room was John Stamos."
She continued, "[We] dated for a little while, and I have to tell you, he's the loveliest human being in the whole world... I pushed him away, and then I was like, 'Uh oh, that wasn't a good idea.' So I went back to his house, and I was outside on his driveway with a little note in his mailbox."
When they crossed paths again years later, he made sure she knew there was no bad blood. She said, "Later on, he came to Dancing with the Stars, and he's so cool because he knew I was embarrassed. He was performing, and he came right up to me and said, 'I'm so happy for your success. I wish you all the best. It's great to see you.' And I was like, 'Oh my God.'"
During a 2013 appearance on Oprah: Where Are They Now?, Barry Williams confirmed decades-long speculation that he dated Maureen McCormick, who played his sister on The Brady Bunch. He said, "The second most-asked question in my world is, did Maureen McCormick, or Marcia Brady, and I date? Were we an item? And, yes, we did, definitely. In fact, I was her first kiss. And that was in Hawaii while we were filming those episodes. We snuck away. It was a full moon. Walked along the sand, and, well, I knew where that was headed. Course, I set it up."
On Oprah: Where Are They Now?, Barry Williams also revealed that he kissed Florence Henderson, who played his mother on The Brady Bunch. He said, "I had a crush on Florence Henderson. Like, who didn't? And she was twice my age. And we had a common interest in music. So I took her out to dinner, and we talked music and how I might be able to integrate it into my career. And I picked her up in my own car, and I took her home. And when we said goodnight, I gave her a little kiss. A little peck. Well, I kissed her lips, which was, like, big stuff for me."
Appearing on the Dumb Blonde podcast at the end of 2024, Kristin Cavallari revealed that she was "kinda dating someone else" following her recent breakup. Keeping his name under wraps, she shared that her secret love interest was a retired athlete who was 40 with kids. She said, "I'm not going to say who it is, and it's really new."
On an episode of her Let's Be Honest podcast three months later, Kristin finally revealed her mystery man's identity — Nate Thompson — along with the fact that they'd broken up. She said, "He is an ex-hockey player. He's been retired for a couple years now. He's a dad. He's someone who has done a lot of work on himself, and we really connected on such a deep level. Honestly, one of the deeper relationships I've had, especially in such a short amount of time... I really think he's such a great guy. In a really short amount of time, we didn't hold back anything. We told each other fucking everything. It was the most honest, pure, amazing, quote-unquote relationship I've ever had."
She also said that they "dated," but she didn't consider him her "boyfriend." She said, "That attraction piece for me has to be so on fire for me to want to be with someone This guy is a perfect example of that, where I'm like, 'Why can't I fall in love with you?' If I could choose who I want to fall in love with, I would pick you because you're such an amazing guy, and we are firing on all other cylinders... All the pieces were there, I just didn't wanna be in a relationship."
The same day Kristin revealed their relationship on her podcast, Nate discussed their time together on his podcast, Energy Line. Similarly, he didn't consider her his "girlfriend," but he had "nothing bad to say" about her. He said, "I knew it was only a matter of time before things became public — that's her world, that's what she does. Her podcast, obviously, as you know, is pretty big, and she talks about her relationships, so I knew it was probably gonna come out eventually... She's a cool person. We had a good time. Life is gonna life, and it just didn't work out."
During a 2020 appearance on the Armchair Expert podcast, Kaley Cuoco shared that she had a low-key two-year relationship with her costar Johnny Galecki during their early days on The Big Bang Theory. She said, "We got together and just fell mad for each other for two years, but then we broke up. Luckily, Johnny and I came out of it so brilliantly, and we're closer today than we ever were."
On 21 Savage and Metro Boomin's 2020 track "Mr. Right Now," Drake, who's featured, rapped, "I used to date SZA back in '08." On Twitter, SZA clarified, "So It was actually 2009 lol."
She continued, "In this case a year of poetic rap license mattered lol I think he jus innocently rhymed 08 w wait . Anybody who really knows me and was around during this time can confirm.. it's all love all peace... I just didn't want anybody thinking anything underage or creepy was happening . Completely innocent . Lifetimes ago ."
Saved by the Bell costars Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Elizabeth Berkley dated at some point during filming, which he confirmed in 2019. He told Entertainment Tonight, "We dated. If you want to call it dating, sure. You're in an environment, you know how it is when you're working on a set, and we were young, I mean, we were young. There's no one around, really. I mean, you work and live in a bubble. You're in LA, right? You're in your cars, and you come to set, and you do your work, and you're with these beautiful women, and then you go back in your car. You're not going to school, so you don't have a lot of choices. People say, 'Well, didn't you go out?' Not really."
Mark-Paul also quietly dated SBTB costar Lark Voorhies for three years. In 2009, told People, "All of us dated at one point or another — it was incestuous! Sometimes the girls would gang up on the guys. Tiffani and Elizabeth would hate me, and then they'd hate Lark because Lark was talking to me, and Mario was supposed to side with someone. All that stuff you did in high school, like, 'How could you talk to him?'"
And their costars Tiffani Thiessen and Mario Lopez also dated during their time at Bayside High. In his 2014 memoir Just Between Us, Mario reportedly wrote, "I thought that being loyal to Tiffani was the right thing to do. But I can't say that I was capable at that age of following through on my noble intentions."
In 2017, Nicole Kidman casually revealed she was previously engaged to Lenny Kravitz, her Big Little Lies costar Zoë Kravitz's dad. She told Net-A-Porter, "Well, I knew Zoë because I was engaged to her father. It's all in the family! I love Lenny; he's a great guy."
According to People, Nicole and Lenny dated in 2003. At the time, she was renting an apartment from him. They reportedly met through friends.
Janet Jackson secretly married René Elizondo, whom she worked with for many years, in 1991. They separated in 1999, and their relationship wasn't public knowledge until Rene filed for divorce the following year. In a statement, Janet said she kept their marriage secret "to have a normal family life." She said, "Since I was a child, my personal life has been lived in the public eye. At times, this has been very difficult. I hope my fans will understand."
In his 2023 memoir Pageboy, Elliot Page revealed that he dated Kate Mara while filming 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past. He wrote, "The first person I fell for after my heart was broken was Kate Mara. She had a boyfriend at the time, the lovely and talented Max Minghella."
Elliot also said that Max was supportive of Kate dating them at the same time. They alleged Kate told them, "I never thought I could be in love with two people, and now I know I can." Elliot and Kate have remained friends.
During a 2016 appearance on the podcast RuPaul: What's the Tee? with Michelle Visage, Aubrey Plaza revealed that she dated her Scott Pilgrim vs. the World costar Michael Cera for "a year and a half." She also said they almost got married in Las Vegas.
Then, in 2023, Michael told Rolling Stone, "Well, we were driving through Vegas, and we almost just spontaneously took a detour and got married... Like something where you get a certificate. I think the idea was to then get a divorce right away, so we could call each other 'my ex-husband' and 'my ex-wife' at like…20."
During a 2024 appearance on the podcast Obsessed with Brooke Averick, YouTuber Connor Franta seemingly confirmed decade-long speculation that he dated Troye Sivan in 2014. Connor said, "My, like, lore with [Chappell Roan] is that her first ever YouTube video she uploaded, I found it on YouTube with my boyfriend at the time. We found the song. It had, like, no plays, but her voice was unbelievable. So we started tweeting about it, like, 'This girl is incredible.' It had, like, a thousand plays. This was like 10 years ago. We, like, legitimately were like, she's the next — doesn't make sense now — but, like, Adele."
For context, when Chappell Roan was still performing under the name Kayleigh Rose, both Troye and Connor tweeted about her music. Screenshots of their old tweets and a picture of the two meeting Chappell resurfaced and went viral during her 2024 Coachella set.
During a 2023 appearance on the Hey Dude... The 90s Called! podcast, Melissa Joan Hart shared that she "had a little thing" with Ryan Reynolds, who played her love interest in the 1996 movie Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Previously, in 2014, she told Beyond Candid with Giuliana that the two kissed on the last day of shooting. She said that, that day, Ryan gifted her a Bulova watch. Melissa added, "I chased him down, got in front of his car, and just kissed him and then made out with him all night. Then I had to call my boyfriend the next day and explain it."
However, whatever spark Melissa and Ryan had between them ultimately didn't go much further. She continued, "He came to New York to visit me. But I think he wanted something more, but I decided I was going to stick with my boyfriend."
In 2009, Lucas Till told Atlanta's Star 94FM that he had a two-month relationship with his costar Miley Cyrus while filming Hannah Montana: The Movie the year prior. He said, "This is coming out now. Yes, I did. During the duration of the movie... I think it will make the movie a little better cause it was definitely real. [Our relationship] was before Justin [Gaston, Miley's partner at the time]. [We dated] about two months."
During his 2014 one-person stage show, Lovesick, Justin Guarini reportedly confirmed speculation that he dated his fellow American Idol Season 1 contestant, Kelly Clarkson, specifying their relationship began on the set of their 2003 movie, From Justin to Kelly.
In 2015, Kelly told Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, "We didn't date during Idol, which everybody thought we were dating. We did date during... I feel like we weren't dating during the movie. But I feel like maybe we did. We did date a little bit. I think any two people who are thrown together that much [would eventually date]. 'Timeless,' you put that song on From Justin to Kelly — you can't fight it!"
On a 2013 episode of The Talk, Sharon Osbourne shared that she had a brief fling with Jay Leno in 1978, before she started dating Ozzy Osbourne. She said that, after watching Jay perform at a club where her friend worked, she and her friend prank-called him. He liked her voice, so she kept calling him. She said, "One thing led to another. He came to my house and met me, and then we had a little fling. The fling was more fling for me and not fling enough for him."
Their fling ultimately fizzled, but they remained friends. She said, "A couple of months into it, he brought around the real love of his life for me to meet. She was lovely, and they took me to Fat Burger, and they showed me around town. They were so kind to me and continued the friendship over the years."
And finally, costars Vanessa Hudgens and Josh Hutcherson briefly dated while filming Journey 2: The Mysterious Island in late 2010. However, they didn't publicly acknowledge their relationship until a (low-key awkward) joint interview on Australia's Today in 2012.
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