Famous Gay Couples You Probably Didn’t Know Were Together

It’s not uncommon to hear stories about complicated relationships and messy love affairs between celebrities in Hollywood—and people feed on this news like paparazzi to gossip about.

But in the midst of this, there are still some who stand out from the rest and teach us valuable lessons about true love. Stars like Ellen DeGeneres, Neil Patrick Harris, and Jillian Michaels have demonstrated that love still exists and can thrive. So, let’s take a look at some of the most prominent LBGT couples in Hollywood and celebrate their love.

Jonathan Bennett & Jaymes Vaughn

Actor Jonathan Bennett played the heartthrob Aaron Samuels and Lindsay Lohan’s love interest in the comedy film Mean Girls. He and Daniel Franzese, who played Damian, Lindsay’s friend, came out to each other during the filming of the iconic movie. It wasn’t until 2014 that he would publicly come out after he published an open letter to a Mean Girls character.

In 2020, he announced his engagement to Celebrity Page host Jaymes Vaughn who proposed to him on the set of The Christmas House, which was supported by many fans. The couple married at the Unico Riviera Maya Hotel in Mexico in 2022.

T. R. Knight & Patrick Leahy

Theodore Raymond Knight, otherwise known as T. R. Knight, played the role of Dr. George O’Malley on ABC’s hit medical TV series Grey’s Anatomy. He didn’t know he was gay until a fellow co-star Isaiah Washington used a homophobic slur to refer to him during an on-set clash with Patrick Dempsey in 2006.

He later came out of the closet and said that he “learned so much” ever since. He met his future husband Patrick Leahy at a New York party hosted by a mutual friend and later married in 2013.

Elliot Page & Mae Martin

Umbrella Academy star Elliot Page came out in 2014 and as trans in 2020. In 2021, he ended his three-year marriage with Emma Portner and his love life remained quiet following his divorce until the 11th Annual LACMA Art and Film Gala in Los Angeles.

Page arrived at the red carpet together with Mae Martin as his date, which brought much speculation from fans. Martin’s caption on an Instagram picture with Page seemingly confirmed that the two are indeed dating.

Dot-Marie Jones & Bridgett Casteen

Fifteen-time world arm-wrestling champion and retired athlete Dot-Marie Jones is a recurring guest in the television series Glee as Coach Beiste. In 2010, Jones met her future wife Bridgett Casteen and romance soon followed. Jones proposed in 2013 and, three months later, exchanged wedding vows after they turned their holiday party at their Los Angeles home into a surprise wedding!

Despite her intense and driven character in Glee, Jones enjoys date nights, which she spends with her wife. In fact, they have a theater room just for that, and two love birds cuddle up, hang out, and watch movies. Jones said that that’s her ideal night with Casteen.

Don Lemon & Tim Malone

Don Lemon was a well-known American journalist and television news anchor for CNN and his husband, Tim Malone, works at Douglas Elliman Real Estate as a real estate agent.

In 2015, the two met at Almond in Bridgehampton in what Lemon described to be a “gay mixer.” A year later, the two officially started dating and got engaged on Malone’s birthday in 2019 after Malone popped the question. Lemon announced the wonderful news on his Instagram account.

Sarah Paulson & Holland Taylor

American Horror Story star Sarah Paulson and actress Holland Taylor first met at a party in 2005. They would later reconnect through social media almost two decades later before they started dating. 

In 2015, Taylor revealed during a radio interview with WNYC that she was in a committed relationship with a younger woman who was later revealed to be Paulson. The two women have been together since early 2015 and have supported each other through numerous life events.

Heather Matarazzo & Heather Turman

Heather Matarazzo, who played Princess’ Mia’s best friend in the series of movies Princess Diaries came out as a lesbian in a New York Daily News article three years after the release of the film’s first installment.

Back in 2016, the couple met on the set of the comedy film Stuck, where the two women worked together. After a secret beach-side proposal in 2018, they happily got married the same year. The couple live together in New Year, along with their fur babies.

Kristen Stewart & Dylan Meyer

On the set of a 2013 movie, actress Kristen Stewart and screenwriter Dylan Mayer met for the first time ever, but it wasn’t until 2019 when they reconnected that sparks began to fly. That year, dating rumors about the two began to circulate as they were spotted together in romantic situations.

It wasn’t long before they would go official by posting an Instagram photo of them kissing with the caption: “Find me under the covers hiding from the happiness police.” Two years later, the couple are engaged.

Raven-Symoné & Miranda Pearman-Maday

Sam Smith & Christian Cowan

After Christian Cowan and Sam Smith were photographed together at the White House with President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris in December 2022, rumors that the pair were dating began to surface.

Since then, the pair have regularly been spotted spending time together and getting cozy in New York. Sam sits in the front row at Cowan’s fashion shows and was even photographed meeting his parents ahead of a show.

Neil Patrick Harris & David Burtka

How I Met Your Mother stars Neil Patrick Harris and David Burke have been friends since 2004 and met when they were on Broadway, Hariss in Cabaret and Burke in Gypsy.

In 2007, they turned into something more than friends, a year after Harris came out as gay. Three years later, the couple welcomed their fraternal twins—Harris the biological father of one, and Burke the other.

Samira Wiley & Lauren Morelli

Actress Samira Wiley and writer Lauren Morelli met through the set of Orange is the New Black. They started out as friends before getting together in 2014. In 2016, they announced their engagement.

The year after that, the couple enjoyed their wedding in Palm Springs, California. In 2021, Morelli gave birth and the couple welcomed their first child named Elizabeth George.

Cara Delevingne & Leah Mason

During an interview for the cover of Vogue, Cara Delevingne shared a glimpse of her relationship with girlfriend Leah Mason, a musician known as Minke. The two women started dating a little over a year ago but met much earlier, as students at Bedales, a prestigious liberal arts boarding school in Hampshire, England.

After graduating, they lost touch but rekindled their friendship 12 years later at an Alanis Morissette concert and started dating. Cara credited Leah for being there during the early stages of her recovery from addiction.

Elton John & David Furnish

For the first time in ten years, iconic singer John Elton admitted to being sober and sought to enjoy his new lifestyle. It was 1993 when he met David Furnish, a Canadian filmmaker and former advertising executive, through a dinner party thrown by a mutual friend.

They hit it off ever since and entered a civil partnership in 2005. When gay marriage became legal in England in 2014, they made a legally binding union. Now, the couple are fathers to two sons named Zachary and Elijah.

Jodie Foster & Alexandra Hedison

Critically acclaimed Jodie Foster has notable works under her belt, including Silence of the Lambs. In 2014, she married photographer Alexandra Hedison after a year of dating in a private wedding. The couple never even announced their engagement.

Foster’s partner was an actress herself back in the day but found more joy in photography and designing. The two women’s relationship is very private, but they support each other on special occasions.

Luke Evans & Fran Tomas

Fast & Furious 6 star Luke Evans joked that people were often shocked when they find out that a gay man like himself played the villain of the said action movie. Evans has been linked with people before he was reportedly dating Spanish graphic designer Fran Tomas.

The couple met in 2021 while filming Hulu’s “Nine Perfect Strangers” in 2021 and have kept their romance quiet until their marriage.

George Takei & Brad Altman

It was a mutual attraction between Star Trek actor George Takei and Star Trek producer Brad Altman when they first met way back in the 1980s at an LGBT club called LA Frontrunners.

For over 18 years, the two men kept their relationship a secret until George came out in 2005. The couple married in 2008 and were the first same-gender couple to receive a marriage license in West Hollywood.

RuPaul & Georges LeBar

It was on the dance floor of the Limelight club in 1994 where famous drag queen RuPaul met his now-husband Australian-born rancher Georges LeBar. RuPaul noted that Georges was dancing like a crazy person before he went over to ask him what he was doing—and the rest was history.

They were together for more than two decades before they decided to officially tie the knot in 2017. The TV host rarely talks about his marriage as his husband prefers to have their lives low-key.

Ellen DeGeneres & Portia De Rossi

At a concert in 2001, former actress Portia de Rossi fell in love the moment she first laid eyes on famous TV host Ellen Degeneres. But it wasn’t until three years later that they would become more than just acquaintances.

From then on, romance blossomed quickly and Degeneres said that de Rossi was her soulmate a year later into reconnecting. The couple married in 2008 when gay marriage became legal in California. Now, they’re still in love more than ever!

Tan Safdar & Rob France

Long before Tinder and Bumble, another dating app brought Queer Eye star Tan Safdar and illustrator Rob France together in the early 2000s. Safdar is a Muslim from England and France is a Mormon from Wyoming—something they bonded over.

They dated for a bit before they decided to marry in 2007. They first married in London, but married again when gay marriage became legal in New York City. In 2021, the couple welcomed together their first child named Ismail.

Billy Porter & Adam Smith

Award-winning actor Billy Porter is the first gay black man who got nominated and won in any lead acting category at the Primetime Emmys, with numerous acting awards under his belt.

At the age of 16, he came out as gay during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. After having met entrepreneur and designer Adam Smith at a dinner party in 2009, the two men got engaged eight years later, and got married two weeks after.

Karine Jean-Pierre & Suzanne Malveaux

Jean-Pierre is the first Black person and openly gay to serve as the White House press secretary when Joe Biden named her as his spokesperson. Suzanne Malveaux previously covered news about the White House but resigned to avoid a conflict of interest. She currently works as a CNN national news correspondent.

Jean-Pierre has been open about her sexuality since coming out in Twitter during the Pride Month in 2021. While it is unclear whether the two are married or not, they are definitely dating. They live together in Washington DC together with their adopted daughter named Soleil.

Ali Krieger & Ashlyn Harris

Soccer stars Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris, who played in the 2019 World Cup, first met at the United States women’s national soccer team camp in 2010. Despite being friends at first, the two couldn’t deny the sparks happening between them.

From close friends to lovers, Krieger and Ashlyn kept their relationship a secret in fear of losing endorsements. They were spotted and photographed several times, but it was 2015 when their photographs started to look very cozy. In 2018, they secret got engaged and only announced it a year later, the same year they got married.

Matt Bomer & Simon Halls

During an acceptance speech in 2012, actor Matt Bomer suddenly revealed he has three sons with his publicist, Simon Halls, who he only revealed he has actually been married to since 2011 two years later.

Reportedly, they had an instant connection when Bomer initially hired Halls in 2008, and this eventually led to dating and marriage. The same year, they welcomed their twins, Walker and Henry.

Michael Kors & Lance LePere

Lance LePere was interning in Michael Kors’ company when he was introduced and met his future husband in 1990. Despite the 12-year age gap between the two men, the couple dated for over two decades and defied odds.

Shortly after the New York State Assembly legalized same-gender marriage, Michael and Lance married in 2011 and held the ceremony on Dune Beach in Tony Southampton, New York.

Jonathan Van Ness & Mark Peacock

Grooming expert on the Netflix series Queer eye Jonathan Van Ness and husband Mark Peacock fell in love out of the spotlight. While Van Ness was on a comedy tour, they went on dates which eventually turned to more dates. 

The pair ended up liking each other and ultimately started officially dating. In 2020, Van Ness revealed that he married Peacock earlier in the year.

Sex in the City star Cynthia Nixon and Christine Marinoni worked with the Alliance for Quality Education, an education non-profit Christine founded. Together, they fought for smaller class sizes in New York’s public school system in 2001.

Nixon previously dated men and shares two children with photographer Danny Monez. But in 2004, she started dating Marinoni the same year Cynthia came out. They married in 2012, a year after they had their first son.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson & Justin Mikita

Modern Family star Jesse Ferguson first locked eyes with Justin Mikita at a gym locker in West Hollywood. Despite the initial attraction, they opt to be friends as Justin was still in a relationship during that time. But ten months later, the couple reunited and the rest is history!

They began dating in 2010 and married in 2013. They raised more than $1 million dollars for LGBTQ causes courtesy of their nonprofit Tie The Knot all before officially exchanging wedding vows.

Jwan Yosef & Ricky Martin

Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin said that he first met Swedish artist and heartthrob Jwan Yosef on Instagram. “It was like love at first Insta click,” he recalled in an exclusive clip from revamp of the iconic Behind the Music documentary series.

They texted for six months, after which Martin flew to London and they finally met face-to-face for the first time. The couple married in 2007 and have four children, two of whom Martin fathered as a single parent in 2008.

Alex & Wanda Sykes

Wanda Sykes first spotted her future wife on a ferry ride to Fire Island and was instantly drawn to her. Despite her friends telling her to stop telling stories about her kitchen, she told someone about her kitchen.

Her story eventually led to her meeting her future wife, named Alex Niedbalski during that time, who also happened to be selling granite countertops. A kitchen remodel brought the two together and they got married in 2008. The two were blessed with fraternal twins named Olivia and Lucas a year later.

Jillian Michaels & DeShanna Marie Minuto

Jillian Michaels and DeShanna Marie Minuto met on Raya, the members-only dating app for celebrities. They started dating in late 2018, six months after Michaels confirmed her split from ex-fiancé Heidi Rhoades.

That Christmas, Minuto shared a black-and-white selfie of her and Michaels laughing and drinking wine on Instagram. In 2021, Michaels announced that she and Minuto were engaged and later tied the knot in the summer of 2022 in a private ceremony.

Jim Parsons & Todd Spiewak

Big Bang Theory actor Jim Parsons has been in a relationship with his boyfriend art director Todd Spiewak for the past ten years. Parsons and Spiewak meet for a blind date, orchestrated by two women who tagged along for the meet-up at a karaoke bar in 2002.

The couple made their first public appearance together at the 2013 GLSEN Respect Awards at Beverly Hills Hotel on October 18th, 2013 in Beverly Hills, California. They married in 2017 at the Rainbow Room in New York City.

Chely Wright & Lauren Blitzer

Country singer Chely Wright is one of the first artists in country music history to publicly come out in 2010. Two weeks after this, she met LGBTQ civil rights activist and novelist Lauren Blitzer.

The couple was married the following year in 2011 in front of 200 guests at Blitzer’s aunt’s house in Connecticut. They were married by a rabbi as well as a reverend to represent both of their faiths and served New York’s Blue Smoke barbecue for their guests.

Cheyenne Jackson & Jason Landau

Cheyenne Jackson, who plays villain Hades in Descendants, announced he was dating actor Jason Landau in an Instagram post in 2013, the same year Jackson divorced ex-husband Monte Lapka.

They announced their engagement and married in Encino, California in 2014. In 2016, Jackson and Landau welcomed twins, a girl named Willow and a boy named Ethan.

Robin Roberts & Amber Laign

Robin Roberts keeps her life as private as she could until she publicly acknowledged her sexual orientation for the first time in late 2013. It’s the same year she revealed her relationship with Amber Laign.

The couple met on a blind date in 2005 and hit it off ever since. While Roberts takes the media attention, Laign is camera shy and prefers to live a quiet life with their adorable dog Lukas.

Barry Manilow & Garry Kief

When Barry Manilow and Garry Kief married in 2014 in a private ceremony at their Palm Springs home in California, it was so secret that it wasn’t until a year later that the news of their wedding surfaced.

Manilow said that his life changed when he first met his longtime manager Kief in 1979. The two were together ever since, both romantically and professionally, and have dated for nearly 40 years before their marriage.

Nate Berkus & Jeremiah Brent

After the loss of Nate Berkus’s partner in the 2004 India Ocean tsunami, he found love again with interior designer Jeremiah Brent. They got engaged in 2013 after a year of dating and married in 2014 in Manhattan.

The couple has two children, a daughter named Poppy Brent-Berkus born in 2015, and a son named Oskar Michael Brent-Berkus born in 2018. The family of four currently lives in Manhattan.

David Hyde Pierce & Brian Hargrove

Days before same-sex marriage was banned in California in 2008, David Hyde Pierce and TV writer Brian Hargrove got married, nearly three decades after meeting each other in 1982.

Despite being together for so long, Pierce said that they didn’t start publicly talking about their relationship until he found fame on TV.

Ryan Murphy & David Miller

Ryan Murphy is married to L.A.-based photographer David Miller, who takes on a lot of high-profile projects per his professional Instagram.

According to The New Yorker, Ryan met David in 1996 at a gay hangout in L.A. called Muse. They befriended one another but it wasn’t until over 15 years later (in 2010) that they became involved romantically.

Matt Dallas & Blue Hamilton

In 2013, former ABC star Matt Dallas publicly came out as gay when he announced the news of his engagement with Blue Hamilton through an Instagram post. The picture was of the couple holding a marriage certificate outside the courthouse, along with the caption “Mr. & Mr. Dallas.”

In the summer of 2015, the couple finally met their soon-to-be son named Crow who they adopted five months later.

Tig Notaro & Stephanie Allynne

Before Tig Notaro, Stephanie Allynne had never dated women before. She thought she was straight — until she fell in love with Tig. Initially, Stephanie was confused about her feelings as she didn’t know how to identify them.

But eventually, the two gravitated toward each other and started dating six months later. In 2015, the couple got married and currently have twin sons a year later.

Alan Cummings & Grant Shaffer

Alan Cummins is a celebrated actor, writer, and human rights activist while Grant Shaffer is an artist and illustrator. The two met through mutual friends in New York in 2005.

They married two years later in a London civil ceremony and held their wedding at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, Bianconi. The two married for a second time in 2012, celebrating their fifth anniversary in New York.

Orlando Cruz & Jose Manuel Colon

As the No. 4-ranked featherweight by the WBO, Orlando Cruz became the first active professional boxer to come out as gay in 2012. The boxer proposed to his partner in a film posted on Facebook. This made headlines when it came out.

The couple tied the knot a year later in Central Park with New York City Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito officiating the ceremony. Pedro Julio Serrano of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and Shirley Casiano were witnesses.

Jonathan Knight & Harley Rodriguez

Jonathan Knight and Harley Rodriguez started dating in 2008 and got engaged eight years later. They tied the knot in private during the COVID-19 pandemic and have yet to celebrate their nuptials with friends and family.

In their Instagram bio, it appears they have taken on each other’s names—Jonathan Knight-Rodriguez and Harley Knight-Rodriguez.

Tom Daley & Dustin Lance Black

In 2013, Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black met at a “random dinner” in Los Angeles, just before the British diver came out as queer. When Dustin was about to leave, Tom put his phone number in his phone and they met up the following night at a hotel bar.

Many suspected that the two were dating that year, which was confirmed when they announced their engagement in 2015 on social media. In 2017, the couple held their wedding ceremony at Bovey Castle Hotel on Dartmoor, Devon.

Gary Janetti & Brad Goreski

TV writer Gary Ganetti and celebrity fashion stylist Brad Goreski first got together in Athens, Greece in 2001. While they got engaged in August 2014, they didn’t announce it until late December.

In 2017, since the couple got together, Gary and Brad finally tied the knot aboard a Caribbean cruise ship. The couple announced the special occasion on Instagram, complete with some plugs for the brands that made the happy occasion happen.

Lily Tomlin & Jane Wagner

Jane Wagner is a writer, director, and producer. She wrote the show The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe where award-winning actress Lily Tomlin, her then-partner at that time but now-wife, got her signature role.

The couple has been in love for over five decades. Since their first meeting in the 1970s, where it was love at first sight, the couple has been going on strong ever since.

Maria Bello & Dominique Crenn

Maria Bello is a well-known American actress who starred in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Empire and A History of Violence. She and French chef Dominique Crenn have been together since 2019.

Despite the sad news of Domonique’s breast cancer diagnosis in 2019, it ultimately brought them closer together. Love truly persists in both sickness and in health.

Abby Wambach & Glennon Doyle Melton

Abby Wambaugh is a retired athlete, an Olympic gold medalist, and a FIFA Women’s World Cup champion. She admitted that she was living fast and hard before she met author and activist Glennon Doyle.

But everything changed when the two met in Chicago at a launch event for writers in 2016. There was definitely an instant connection. Almost exactly a year later, the couple married. They currently have three children named Chase, Tish, and Amma.

Denis O’Hare and Hugo Redwood

American actor Denis O’Hare met his husband interior designer Hugo Redwood online in 2000 and hit it off since then. After same-gender marriage was legalized in New York, the couple married in 2011. 

Having kids wasn’t originally their plan, but now they’re proud fathers of a son named Declan who they adopted in 2012. It wasn’t until 2014 that they became the legal guardians of Declan.