Grace Van Patten and Jackson White’s Love Story Started at Their ‘Tell Me Lies’ Audition
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Fans of Hulu’s Tell Me Lies recognized the captivating chemistry between stars Grace Van Patten and Jackson White immediately—and so did they. In the TV adaptation of Carola Lovering’s novel of the same name, Van Patten plays Baird College freshmen Lucy who meets playboy college junior Stephen, portrayed by White.
While their on-screen romance is pretty dramatic, Van Patten and White have talked about how much they rely on one another when the cameras are off. Here’s their complete relationship timeline so far.
September 2022
Tell Me Lies began production in 2022, and the couple met during the show’s audition process. As soon as the show premiered in September, fans noticed the chemistry between the leads and wondered if they might really be dating. That month, the pair walked the red carpet together for a Tell Me Lies red carpet screening event for the first time.
They also spoke with E! about filming sex scenes with an intimacy coordinator.
“It’s really amazing that we had our intimacy coordinator who really just discussed everything and created such a safe environment for us,” the actress said. “Because the scenes are very, very intimate.”
She added, “We were on the same page.”
White shared, “It’s not treated as this big, scary thing. It’s just another scene that we have to block out and that we have to figure out beforehand.”
October 2022
Beginning in October, the couple went from hinting at a relationship to confirming one. On October 13, they were seen at the Ralph Lauren spring/summer 2023 fashion show and then the Giambattista Valli dinner.
They also starred in a Bulgari commercial together.
A few weeks later, Van Patten was asked on E!’s The Rundown if White was her IRL crush. She replied, “Yes. Biggest crush ever.”
While talking to Entertainment Tonight’s Deidre Behar that month, she was playful about the dating rumors.
“Fans should just leave it up for mystery, keep it fun. Who knows?” she said. “It’s so fun getting to do all of this together. It’s just great. We never stop hanging out with the cast. We hang out all the time.”
But White got serious on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, saying, “All I’m saying is that I’m obsessed with her [Van Patten} because she’s fucking amazing. Our lives are built in together, we have so much to do together. I hope it happens...I have a huge crush on her.”
In another interview that month, White credited Van Patten for helping him on set.
“Stephen is so intense, so manipulative, so crazy at times that I had a hard time being that guy,” he said of identifying with his character. “Then when they cut, I would have to be myself, and that was really hard for me. Grace was so good about compartmentalizing the character and herself, and I just tried to follow that. She’s the best.”
November 2022
White shared a picture of him and Van Patten in a photo booth, seeming to block out a kissing photo with an emoji.
Van Patten then shared a photo of them touching tongues on her timeline, writing in the caption, “…just in the lick of time.”
They made their red carpet debut as a couple at the 2022 CFDA Awards in New York.
January 2023
They shared a mirror selfie of themselves with a dog.
February 2023
The couple shared a photo of themselves in matching Waffle House hoodies and joked about getting married in them.
March 2023
Van Patten wished White a happy birthday in her Instagram Stories.
She later shared a photo of White working on a car with the caption, “Fix me.”
January 2024
White’s mother, Katey Sagal, was interviewed on Rachel Bilson’s Broad Ideas podcast and shared a little bit about her son’s relationship.
“My son is on a television show, and his girlfriend is the lead [too]. They play love interests, and [they are dating in real life]. They have been for two years,” she shared, adding that they had been dating “since the audition.”
“They had such great chemistry,” she said.
August 2024
Van Patten told Only Natural Diamonds in an interview that she was “nervous” about filming season two.
“I was super nervous because he knows me better than anyone, and I know him pretty damn well,” she said. “My nervousness came from he’s going to know when I’m acting. He’s going to know when I’m being bad, and he’s going to be like, ‘Nope, that’s not how you do it.’ But also, I have never felt so safe and comfortable, like being able to try things.”
She continued, “And we work so well together, and I love working with him not just because he’s my boyfriend but because he’s so talented and giving and present.”
On August 31, they attended the US Open together in New York City.
September 2024
While talking to People, Van Patten said it was “trippy” to work with White now “because we are together in real life, and he knows me better than anyone.”
White agreed, adding, “It was super weird. It was hard. It was like, we put these people away for a while, [so] taking them back out was a little hard but really fun. We knew exactly how to do it.”
They were very clear, however, that their relationship is nothing like Stephen and Lucy’s.
“We’re wildly different, thank goodness,” Van Patten said. “I love Stephen and Lucy’s dynamic. Each scene is so loaded and so tense.”
She reiterated that to E!, saying, “Because we established that dynamic first season, the second season was a lot easier to switch on and off. And we’re so different from these characters, so it’s honestly just an opportunity to get all of our bad feelings out so that there’s none left by the time we go home.”
And White told Decider, “As for the relationship influencing the role—it helps because you’re so comfortable with someone. So you can go and feel free to try stuff, and there’s not a politeness to it. It’s just very all out there.”
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