Inside ‘Tell Me Lies’ Stars Grace Van Patten and Jackson White’s Romance: 6 Things to Know About Their Relationship

Grace Van Patten and Jackson White‘s real-life relationship is worlds apart from the one their Tell Me Lies characters share.

The hit Hulu show stars the real-life couple as Lucy Albright and Stephen DeMarco respectively. While it officially premiered in September 2022, the two main stars knew each other long before they auditioned for their respective roles.

“The first time we met was on Zoom for the chemistry [read] of Tell Me Lies,” Van Patten said on a BuzzFeed Celeb video, which White corrected.

“That’s wrong. We were at a birthday party and you were there with your godmother, and I was there…” he responded before Van Patten interrupted him.

She added, “He was in a movie with my friend. I met him when I was leaving, and then the first time we met, I told him that we met and you [White] clearly pretended to remember.”

During an October 2025 appearance on “Call Her Daddy,” Van Patten admitted she initially did not like White when they had the chemistry read.

“I was like, ‘Alright. It’s fine. Maybe we won’t get along. But, like, he’s perfect for the part, and he’s so talented and great,'” she said.

However, things changed when they “vibed instantly” during a dinner after the initial Zoom meeting.

“We were both like, we both have a crush on each other. This is probably the worst thing that could happen. And we sat on a stoop for I think, like, six hours and talked about every reason why we should not act on this. And then I kissed him,” she recalled.

After the September 2022 premiere of Tell Me Lies, White revealed he had “such a crush” on his costar.

“I hope [dating] happens. I don’t know. Our lives are built in together. It’s crazy, we have so much to do together,” he expressed on the “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast in October 2022.

Van Patten felt the same, sharing on The Rundown that White was her “biggest crush ever.”

Although Van Patten and White did not directly confirm their romance at the time, they showed off their chemistry at different gatherings and red carpet events, including at the Ralph Lauren spring 2023 ready-to-wear runway show, the CFDA Fashion Awards 2022, the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscars Party and the 2nd Annual Cameron Boyce Foundation Gala, to name a few.

While on Rachel Bilson‘s “Broad Ideas” podcast in January 2024, White’s mother, Katey Sagal, ended the dating chatter by confirming her son’s relationship with Van Patten.

“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.

Sagal revealed White and Van Patten’s relationship began following the Tell Me Lies audition, adding, “They had such great chemistry.”

In August 2024, Van Patten gushed about her lover while sharing her experience working with him on the second season of Tell Me Lies.

“I was super nervous because he knows me better than anyone and I know him pretty d— well,” she told Only Natural Diamonds.

She added, “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. 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.”

White also opened up about their connection, telling 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.”

Ahead of the Season 3 premiere of Tell Me Lies, Van Patten discussed the reason why she prefers to keep her relationship with White private and low profile.

“We’ve had the same schedule for the past four years. When we’re working, it’s lined up. When we’re not working, it’s lined up,” she spilled to NYLON. “It’s been really nice to go through that with someone, having the same anxieties and talking each other through it. We both handle it in different ways, but it’s the same anxiety.”

She elaborated that their “approach” to their romance is that they are “not going to flaunt anything and we’re not going to hide anything”

“We’re going to live our lives the way we would if we weren’t on a show together because the second you start making those adjustments and accepting it, that’s when I’d start to feel really strange about life,” she continued.

Van Patten concluded, “It’s easy because even if we were never on the show together, I wouldn’t be posting a million posts about my boyfriend. I’d so much rather be who I am and live my life how I live it and not adapt because now this part of me is under the microscope.”