5 ’90s TV Couples Who Dated in Real Life

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The ’90s gave us some of TV’s most memorable couples, but not all the romance was just for the cameras. Some co-stars took their on-screen chemistry into real life and started dating.

While some relationships lasted for years, others were short-lived. Here are some ’90s TV stars who dated in real life.

Katie Holmes & Joshua Jackson – ‘Dawson’s Creek’

Katie Holmes and Joshua Jackson played on-and-off couple Pacey Witter and Joey Potter on the hit show “Dawson’s Creek.” Off-screen, the co-stars dated for about a year while working on the show.

In a 1998 Rolling Stone interview, Holmes opened up about her relationship with Jackson. “I’m just going to say that I met somebody last year,” she explained. “I fell in love, I had my first love, and it was something so incredible and indescribable that I will treasure it always.”

Holmes continued, “And that I feel so fortunate because he’s now one of my best friends. He’s been in the business so long, and he’s really helped me. I respect him as a friend and as a professional.”

Holmes and Jackson broke up around 1999 but remained friends. Holmes later married Tom Cruise in 2006, and they welcomed daughter Suri before divorcing in 2012. Jackson married Jodie Turner-Smith in 2019, and they had a daughter, Juno, before eventually divorcing.

Most recently, Holmes and Jackson reunited in the film “Happy Hours.”

Jennifer Garner & Scott Foley – ‘Felicity’

Jennifer Garner joined “Felicity” during its first season, playing Hannah, the former girlfriend of Scott Foley’s character, Noel Crane. The two met on set and quickly hit it off, eventually starting a relationship.

Garner and Foley married in 2000 but divorced in 2003 as Garner’s acting career took off with ABC’s “Alias.” Despite their split, the two remained on good terms.

“No, you say hello. You’re very civil. I mean, we do not keep in contact because she has her own family, I have mine,” Foley said in an interview with SiriusXM’s “Andy Cohen Live” in September 2021. “It wouldn’t be something that we would search out, but I’ve seen her a few times, especially when we were living in L.A. Marika’s been with me and, you know, everybody says hi, and you’re cordial and you move on. That’s life right?”

Alexis Bledel & Milo Ventimiglia – ‘Gilmore Girls’

Milo Ventimiglia played Jess, one of Rory’s major love interests on “Gilmore Girls,” and his on-screen chemistry with Alexis Bledel carried over into real life.

The two dated for about four years before splitting in 2006. Despite their breakup, Ventimiglia continued to speak highly of his former co-star, and congratulated her after she earned an Emmy nomination for “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

“I’m very happy for her,” Ventimiglia told Bravo’s Daily Dish, via Us Weekly. “She’s always been a great actor.”

Scott Wolf & Alyssa Milano – ‘Double-Dragon’

Scott Wolf and Alyssa Milano met while filming Double Dragon in 1993 and quickly fell for each other. Their relationship moved fast, and they got engaged just six months later.

“I knew it the second I met him,” Milano told PEOPLE during their whirlwind romance. “I called my mom and told her, ‘This is the man I’m gonna marry.'”

Wolf agreed, “I could have asked her to marry me two weeks after we met. I’m convinced we’re like two halves of the same soul.”

However, the couple called off their engagement and went their separate ways in 1994. Milano later married David Bugliari, with whom she shares two children. Wolf has three children with his estranged wife, Kelley Wolf.

Tori Spelling & Brian Austin Green – ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’

Tori Spelling and Brian Austin Green played Donna Martin and David Silver on “Beverly Hills, 90210.” The two also had a real-life connection while filming the hit series.

In April 2024, Spelling revealed that Green was her first love and admitted that she cheated on her then-boyfriend, Ryan, with him.

“That was the first guy I was with, and he was great, and to be honest, I cheated on him with Brian,” she told her late “Beverly Hills, 90210” costar Shannen Doherty, via Us Weekly. “We broke up because I fell head over heels in love with Brian Green. I always say, Brian with a B was the first love of my life. But I was young and I was caught up in it.”