Christine Baranski Slams Blue Origin Space Launch
Christine Baranski and King Princess are definitely not strangers.
However, the Nine Perfect Strangers costars have not taken their relationship from romantic to platonic despite recent speculation, Christine’s rep confirmed to E! News.
“Christine and King Princess are strictly friends and nothing more,” her rep said in an Aug. 22 statement. “They have never been in a relationship, nor are they now.”
Fans began to question what was going on between King Princess (real name Mikaela MullaneyStraus) and Christine when the 26-year-old joined the 75-year-old at the Broadway premiere of Mamma Mia Aug. 18. The two were seen holding hands on the blue carpet as they posed for photographers.
The “1950” singer—who identifies as a lesbian—then shared several photos from the outing to her Instagram Aug. 20, writing in the caption, “#loveislove.”
And of course, fans were quick to have questions.
“Obsessed with whatever is going on here,” one user wrote in the comments. Another joked, “My fave thing about this id idk if this is real or not.”
Still, Christine and King Princess have never been shy about sharing their extremely close friendship, which formed while filming the second season of Nine Perfect Strangers.
“We were connected somehow. There was an unspoken mind meld happening,” King Princess said during a conversation with Christine for Interview Magazine in May. “It didn’t need to be voiced.”
Bruce Glikas/WireImage
The Mamma Mia alum echoed the sentiment, saying the “greatest gift” she received from the show was “developing a friendship with this wildly talented young woman who’s so opinionated, deeply funny and witty.”
“We’ve curiously bonded,” she added, “and want to remain friends.”
And the two were aware that their bond could cause some commotion, with King Princess joking during the interview, “Be careful, Christine, because people will talk.”
But the Gilded Age star wasn’t phased, calling their first outing together “our first date” and adding, “Let’s give them something to talk about.”
Bruce Glikas/WireImage
“We actually got dressed up and finally had dinner,” she recalled of their hang. “I remember we went to this chic, French-y watering hole. We sat at the bar, ordered our martinis, and suddenly we’re talking about our grandmothers who deeply affected and influenced our lives. I think that’s where we profoundly bonded.”
Prior to the rumors of a relationship with Christine, King Princess briefly dated actress Amandla Stenberg in 2018 and director Quinn Whitney Wilson from 2019 to 2023.
Christine was married to actor and playwright Matthew Cowles from 1983 until his death from congestive heart failure in 2014. They shared daughters Isabel Cowles, 41, and Lily Cowles, 37.
Although romance isn’t in the air for these two, keep reading for costars who did find love on set.
NBC
Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer
The one where fans had no idea their favorite Friends couple actually had feelings for each other.
During the iconic NBC series’ HBO Max reunion special, Aniston and Schwimmer admitted they nursed crushes on each other during the first season.
As Schwimmer explained, “Yeah, the first season we—I had a major crush on Jen.” Aniston countered, “It was reciprocated.”
So why didn’t Ross and Rachel’s real-life counterparts ever officially get together?
“At some point, we were both crushing hard on each other,” Schwimmer explained, “but it was like two ships passing because one of us was always in a relationship, and we never crossed that boundary. We respected that. But we both—”
Matt LeBlanc then interrupted, saying, “Bulls–t. I’m kidding,” going on to suggest that the co-stars maybe did show a little PDA on set.
“Honestly, I remember saying one time to David, ‘It’s going to be such a bummer if the first time you and I actually kiss is going to be on national television,'” Aniston confessed. “And sure enough, the first time we kissed was in that coffee shop.”
But the co-stars did take advantage of their time on-set together, with Schwimmer saying, “I thought back on the very first year or two, you know, when we had breaks from rehearsal, like, there were moments where we would cuddle on the couch.” Aniston added, “Or we would spoon and fall asleep on the couch.”
Finally, Schwimmer admitted, “I’m thinking, how did not everyone know we were crushing on each other?”
Sonja Flemming/CBS via Getty Images
Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki
The Big Bang Theory stars dropped a big bomb in 2010 when it was reported they had dated for two years, with Cuoco revealing details about their romance only after they split.
“It was such a huge part of my life and no one knew about it,” Cuoco said of her relationship with Galecki in an interview with CBS Watch! magazine. “It was a wonderful relationship, but we never spoke a word about it and never went anywhere together.”
Though their offscreen flame flickered out, their characters, Penny and Leonard, continued to date throughout the remainder of the CBS hit sitcom’s run. But playing boyfriend/girlfriend was never an issue for the former couple.
“When you’re dealing with two professionals who have been working since they were both four—and who kept their lives extremely private—we didn’t want anything other than that,” she explained, going on to reveal their desire for privacy may have inadvertently caused their breakup.
“We were so protective of ourselves and the show and didn’t want anything to ruin that. But that also made it sad, too,” Cuoco shared. “That’s not the kind of relationship I want—I don’t want to be hiding.”
Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank
Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Lark Voorhies
If you thought the Saved By the Bell characters were romantically cliquish on-screen, it was nothing compared to all of the relationship drama going on behind-the-scenes.
“All of us dated at one point or another—it was incestuous!” Gosselaar told People in 2009. “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?'”
But SBTB‘s IRL couple that dated for the longest was Gosselaar and Voorhies, who were together for three years during the show’s later run.
NBC
Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Tiffani Thiessen
While playing one of TV’s most beloved pairings Zack and Kelly, the ’90s TV icons “liked each other a lot,” Ed Alonzo (aka Max from The Max) once dished to Entertainment Tonight of Gosselaar and Thiessen’s flirtations.
“It was very cute,” Alonzo shared. “It was hand-holding and looking over.”
In an interview with People, Thiessen revealed the first time she drank alcohol she was with Gosselaar, saying, “Mark-Paul and I got to go to Paris [for a press tour]. We ate crepes, and my first sip of alcohol was with him. It felt at times like we were Barbie and Ken.” Or, perhaps, Zack and Kelly?
Joseph Del Valle/NBCU Photo Bank
Mark Paul-Gosselaar and Elizabeth Berkley
Yep, Zack Morris dated all three of Saved By the Bell‘s leading ladies, admitting during a 2019 appearance on Anna Faris‘ Unqualified podcast that he briefly wooed Berkley.
“You’re in an environment—you know how it is,” he explained. “When you’re working on a set, and we were young, there’s no one around, really. I mean, you work and live in a bubble.”
No wonder Zack had to call so many time outs.
NBC
Mario Lopez and Tiffani Thiessen
While Lopez’s A.C. and Berkeley’s Jessie were OTP on Saved By the Bell, Lopez revealed he romanced Thiessen in his memoir, Just Between Us.
He wrote that they “went to movies, went out to eat, hung out at parties, danced together,” and eventually became an official couple. But Lopez admitted to being unfaithful, writing, “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.”
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Brian Austin Green and Tori Spelling
Just how serious was the Beverly Hills, 90210 co-stars’ off-set romance? Well, it depends on who you ask.
“Brian Austin Green, I mean David and Donna, we were on camera together and we are off camera, something,” Spelling explained on the Woman on Top podcast in 2020. “[Brian] and I have different perspectives of what that was. There’s the young girl version and the young boy version, so two different versions.”
She continued, “It’s so funny, because to me, I was like, ‘Remember that summer we were together? You said ‘I love you’ and I said ‘I love you.’ And he remembers none of that. He was like, ‘No, we hooked up. We were friends.’ And I was like, ‘Cool, OK.’ Even now I’m like, ‘OK, cool.'”
During a test on 2015’s Celebrity Lie Detector, Spelling admitted she was “always in love” with Green, while also revealing she once kissed Luke Perry and had a summer fling with Jason Priestley. (Priestley’s response? “I’m not getting into this… It’s nobody’s business… Either way…,” he tweeted at the time.)
Sonar Entertainment
Melissa Joan Hart and Ryan Reynolds
Long before he married Blake Lively, the Deadpool star made out with the ’90s TV icon after they co-starred in the 1996 TV movie, Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
In her 2013 memoir, Melissa Explains It All: Tales from My Abnormally Normal Life, the actress revealed Reynolds gifted her with a watch on his final day of filming as Seth, Sabrina’s crush. So, naturally, the co-stars ended up kissing in her hotel room.
“I remember that his lips were pretty wonderful, plus he has these big hands and shoulders that completely swallowed my petite frame,” she wrote. “It was a terrific distraction from how strongly he smelled of hair product.”
Jon Farmer/20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock
Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini
After years of rumors about a possible off-screen romance between the original American Idol finalists, Clarkson confirmed that the performers did date…just not while competing against each other.
“We didn’t date during Idol, which everybody thought we were dating,” she explained during a 2015 appearance on Watch What Happens Live, going on to reveal they did “date a little bit” while filming their 2003 box office bomb, From Justin to Kelly.
She continued, “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!”
Disney/Kobal/Shutterstock
Miley Cyrus and Lucas Till
While filming Hannah Montana: The Movie in 2009, Cyrus quietly dated her on-screen love interest.
Till spilled the news about their two-month romance while promoting the Disney flick, telling an Atlanta radio station at the time, “I think it will make the movie a little better cause it was definitely real.”
New Line/Kobal/Shutterstock
Vanessa Hudgens and Josh Hutcherson
Following her 2010 split from Zac Efron, Hudgens briefly dated her Journey 2: The Mysterious Island co-star. But the news of their relationship only came out after their breakup…while promoting their movie.
During a joint appearance on an Australian morning show in 2012, the former couple were asked, “How long have you two been going out?”
Cue a pause that lasted a lifetime and a confused exchange of looks, before Hutcherson answered, making things even more awkward.
“We’re not. We were at one point, but she broke my heart…no, I’m just kidding,” he trailed off, to nervous laughter from Hudgens.
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