With emotions (and libidos) already running high on our favorite daytime dramas, it’s purely natural that some of its stars carry all that passion beyond the set. And while their real-life romances (presumably) lack the melodramatic, kitschy twists of their characters’ storylines — no evil twins, secret crime cartels, or high-stakes kidnappings that we know of — these couples still found the kind of lasting love that soaps are famous for.
From Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos eloping while starring on All My Children to Arianne Zucker and Shawn Christian’s friends-to-lovers journey on Days of Our Lives, here are 15 of our favorite couples who met on the set of soap operas past and present.
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos
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Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos met on the set of All My Children in the ’90s, where they played onscreen couple Hayley Vaughn and Mateo Santos.
After secretly eloping in 1996 while filming, the pair went on to have three children and work together on various projects like Hope & Faith. In 2023, Consuelos joined Ripa as a cohost — replacing Ryan Seacrest — on her morning talk show. —James Mercadante
Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes
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The legendary daytime duo of Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes — honored as a pair with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2018 Daytime Emmy Awards — first met in 1970 when Bill joined Susan on Days of Our Lives. They were married in 1974 and spent 50 years together until Bill died at age 98 on Jan. 12, 2024. His final performance as Doug Williams on Days of Our Lives was filmed alongside Susan (who played his onscreen wife, Julie) and was released that July.
One year after his death, Susan paid tribute to her late husband on Instagram with a throwback photo of the couple. “The sun came out and the winds decreased over sad Los Angeles. I made myself a poached egg — Billy‘s favorite breakfast. His light still shines on me and all who knew him, near and far,” she wrote in her caption. “Lives end, stories finish… but the love they bring holds us all together, even through time itself. And what a light was Mr. Hayes.” —J.M.
Susan Walters and Linden Ashby
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Taking the show’s title as a directive, Susan Walters and Linden Ashby were immediately smitten with each other after meeting in 1985 on the set Loving, where they played onscreen cousins Lorna Forbes and Curtis Alden. After a six-month engagement, they tied the knot in 1986 and later welcomed two daughters, Frances and Savannah — while continuing to keep their creative partnership alive.
Though their characters rarely crossed paths, the pair starred on The Young and the Restless, originating Diane Jenkins and Cameron Kirsten in the early 2000s before reprising them decades later. However, their résumés go beyond daytime — with stints on Teen Wolf and Army Wives and codirecting two Lifetime films, The Wedding Arrangement and Nightmare Neighborhood Moms (both 2022). —J.M.
Kassie DePaiva and James DePaiva
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Kassie DePaiva and James DePaiva — who married in 1996 and have one son — first crossed paths in the late ’80s at a NYC bar, though they didn’t officially meet until the ’90s when they became costars on One Life to Live. Kassie portrayed Blair Cramer until the 2012 finale, while James retired his role as Max Holden in 2003, making a cameo in 2007. Despite their different time frames on the show, the couple look back fondly on their time working together.
“There’s so many moments with Jimmy I love, because we got to do comedy,” Kassie said during their February 2024 joint interview on The Locher Room podcast “We had a lot of comic stuff, schticky stuff…. His timing is impeccable and I just kind of just follow the lead. It was really fun.” —J.M.
True O’Brien and Casey Moss
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True O’Brien and Casey Moss met when they played love interests Paige Larson and JJ Deveraux on Days of Our Lives, beginning in 2014. Although O’Brien was let go from the series in 2015, she and Moss began dating that same year.
In 2022, the couple got engaged, and Moss revealed to Soap Opera’s Digest in October 2024 that they plan to set the wedding date for 2025 — marking a decade since they began their relationship. —J.M. and Mary Sollosi
Arianne Zucker and Shawn Christian
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Arianne Zucker and Shawn Christian worked together on Days of Our Lives and were friends for years before they began dating in 2014. After getting engaged in 2021, the two tied the knot on Aug. 17, 2024, in a rustic farm ceremony.
“After being together for 11 years and working through highs and lows of our relationship, I have become a better woman, mother and partner because of Shawn,” Zucker told PEOPLE that same month in 2024 — with Christian adding, “Marriage with Ari means we are honoring our devotion and commitment to bringing out the greatest gifts in each other to create a better world within us and around us.” —J.M. and M.S.
Mick Cain and Schae Harrison
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Mick Cain and Schae Harrison starred together on The Bold and the Beautiful — where Harrison had been portraying Darla Forrester since 1989, and Cain joined the cast as C.J. Garrison in 1998.
The couple married in 2001, and their son, Haven Jude — who briefly played Darla’s daughter on the show as a baby — was born in 2003. Harrison left The Bold and the Beautiful two years after Cain departed in 2004, though both have returned to reprise their roles multiple times throughout the years. —J.M.
Michael Saucedo and Rebecca Herbst
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Michael Saucedo and Rebecca Herbst met on the set of General Hospital, where they played Juan Santiago and Elizabeth Webber. While Herbst remains a regular on the soap (Saucedo left in 2001 — briefly returning in 2013 and 2014), the couple has kept their personal lives relatively private since they wed in 2001.
However, in March 2025, Herbst shared a rare moment of her family life on X, posting two photos of her with Saucedo and their three children — sons Ethan and Emerson and daughter Ella. “And since I’m in a sharing mood…The loves of my life,” she captioned. —J.M.
Crystal Chappell and Michael Sabatino
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Crystal Chappell and Michael Sabatino’s Days of Our Lives romance as Carly Manning and Lawrence Alamain carried over into real life in the early-’90s. The couple married in 1997 and later welcomed two sons, Jacob and Dylan.
Six months after Chappell revealed on X that Sabatino had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, she gave an update to Swoon magazine in February 2025, saying “He’s doing well” — with Sabatino adding, “I’m in really good shape. I’m pretty strong.” —J.M.
Cindy Fisher and Doug Davidson
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Doug Davidson’s love story with Cindy Fisher is close to outlasting his Young and the Restless run…literally. Daytime Emmy winner Davidson played Paul Williams for more than four decades — making him one of the soap’s longest-serving stars — while Fisher first ran into him on set in 1980 as Rebecca (later reappearing as Dana for a 1987 stint).
The two tied the knot in 1984. Together, they have two children — daughter Calyssa (a professional violinist) and a son named Caden. —J.M.
Vincent Van Patten and Eileen Davidson
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In 2000, Vincent Van Patten had a 12-episode arc as Christian Page on The Young and the Restless, where he crossed paths with Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Eileen Davidson — who has played Ashley Abbott since 1982 (with a decade-long break from 1988 to 1999).
The pair married in 2003 and went on to have a son named Jesse that same year. Patten also has two children from a previous marriage. —J.M.
Maura West and Scott DeFreitas
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Maura West and Scott DeFreitas met on the set of As the World Turns, where West portrayed Carly Snyder from 1995 to the 2010 finale, winning two Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. DeFreitas played Andy Dixon from 1985 to 2000 (with a brief hiatus in 1996) and received three nominations.
The couple married in 2000, and have five children — including West’s son from a previous marriage. —J.M. and M.S.
Melissa Fumero and David Fumero
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Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Melissa Fumero met her future husband, David Fumero — who began playing Cristian Vega on One Life to Live in 1998 — when she joined the soap as Adriana Cramer in 2004. Three years after their meet-cute, they tied the knot and later welcomed two sons, Enzo and Axel.
But, as it turns out, Melissa’s first encounter with David happened long before One Life to Live — she just didn’t realize it. “I was obsessed with the hot guy at the end of the ‘Honey’ [music] video,” she said during a March 2025 appearance on Today With Jenna & Friends, referencing Mariah Carey’s 1997 hit. “It came up when we were dating and he randomly said, ‘Oh, this Mariah Carey video I was in,’ and I was like, ‘I’m sorry, are you the guy at the end of the ‘Honey’ video?’… I was like, ‘We’re gonna lock this up and we’re gonna get married.'” —J.M.
Darin Brooks and Kelly Kruger
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There’s a twist to this soap-star duo: Though they would eventually appear together on The Bold and the Beautiful, they first met on the set of the Spike sitcom Blue Mountain State.
Since marrying in 2016, the couple has welcomed two daughters, Everleigh in 2019 and Gemma in 2022. —J.M. and M.S.
Terri Conn and Austin Peck
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Future QVC host Terri Conn had already spent eight years playing Katie Peretti on As the World Turns when Austin Peck — best known at the time for his Days of Our Lives role as Austin Reed (1995–2002, later reprised in 2017 and 2021) — joined the cast as Brad Snyder in 2007.
As the series neared its September 2010 finale, Conn and Peck made their offscreen romance official, debuting as a couple at the 37th Daytime Emmys. After marrying in 2011, they welcomed two daughters, Keira and Morgan. –J.M.
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