Is there anything quite like an on-set romance? We certainly don’t think so. While we swoon when our faves get together on screen, it seems to double when their actors are a couple off screen. While most of the time it doesn’t end well, at least it’s a nice ride. Nothing, however, is quite as sweet as an on-set Disney romance. For many of the young actors working with the House of Mouse, these are their first real relationships. Real or not, these relationships have struck a chord with audiences over the years, and the wave of nostalgia that follows Disney is undeniable.
Like many relationships, however, they did end. It does seem many of these Disney couples remained friends despite the break-up. Going on from that, a lot of these couples will definitely awaken some major nostalgic feelings for those of us who grew up during the ’00s, while others of the more recent cabal of Disney Channel stars will make fans have feelings all over again.
With that in mind, it’s time to take a nice, long look back at the romances that made up our younger years. Here are 15 Incredible Disney Couples You Didn’t Know About.
Bella Thorne and Gregg Sulkin
Bella Thorne’s breakout role was in Disney Channel’s dance focused show Shake It Up (co-starring Zendaya). During the three-season long show, she met Wizards of Waverly Place actor Gregg Sulkin.
The pair were friends, who then started dating after both of their shows on the Disney Channel ended from 2015 to 2016, breaking up during the summer of 2016. Despite the break-up, Sulkin and Thorne remain close friends with each other, which warms our hearts.
Currently, Thorne’s starring in the Freeform drama Famous in Love. Her romance film Midnight Sun was recently released in theaters. Sulkin, on the other hand, has joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he plays Chase Stein in Hulu’s Runaways and also starred on MTV’s Faking It.
14. Hilary Duff and Aaron Carter
Technically, Aaron Carter isn’t a Disney Channel star, but he and Hilary Duff met on the set of Lizzie McGuire, fulfilling every teen girl’s fantasy at the time. While Carter’s role was pretty minimal on the show, he and Duff ended up dating for two years following his guest spot.
Although, what everyone remembers from this relationship is the love triangle between Duff, Carter, and Lindsay Lohan.
Lohan and Carter dated for a few months before Carter went back to Duff, before it ended for good. Duff, however, seems to be having the last laugh by making a successful transition as an actor with her amazing role on TVLand’s Younger.
Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato
So much has happened in the past few years, it’s hard to remember the time Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas were some of the hottest Disney stars out there. Yet these Camp Rock co-stars both appeared in their own Disney Channel properties. It was on the set of J.O.N.A.S. where they first met, when Lovato guest-starred on the series, after which the pair dated for a couple months back in 2010 before breaking things off.
Currently, Lovato has released the YouTube Red documentary Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated, and in 2017, she released her sixth studio album Tell Me You Love Me. Jonas, meanwhile, has his own band DNCE and is a judge on The Voice Australia for its seventh season. He’s currently engaged to Game of Thrones and X-Men star, Sophie Turner.
Nick Jonas and Selena Gomez
Before Selena Gomez had her on-off again romance with Justin Bieber, the most talked about romance in 2008 was between her and Nick Jonas. The pair dated after Jonas left other Disney Channel star Miley Cyrus, but they didn’t last for too long. While the pair seems to be friendly, they’re perhaps not at the same level as Joe and Demi.
Earlier this year, Gomez got Jonas to admit that he wasn’t a very good date, specifically one time in Central Park.
The two of them, however, seem to be doing well either way. Jonas starred in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and has a role in Chaos Walking. Gomez, meanwhile, will be reprising her role in Hotel Transylvania 3 and is producing the second season of 13 Reasons Why for Netflix.
Olivia Holt and Luke Benward
Olivia Holt has starred in Disney Channel shows such as Kickin’ It and I Didn’t Do It. It was on the set of the Disney Channel Original Movie Girl vs. Monster that she met Luke Benward. Previously, Benward has had roles in DCOM’s Minutemen and Good Luck Charlie. After the film wrapped, Benward and Holt proceeded to date from 2012 to 2014. The break-up, like most on this list, appears to pretty amicable.
Following the split, Holt has released her own album Olivia and is set to star in Cloak & Dagger on Freeform as Tandy Bowen/Dagger. Benward, meanwhile, has guested on such shows as CSI and Girl Meets World. He has a role in 2018’s Life of the Party and Dumplin’.
Zac Efron & Vanessa Hudgens
Is there any Disney couple more iconic than Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens? Over the course of the High School Musical franchise, audiences fell in love with them on and off screen. The couple met on set of the first High School Musical back in 2005, and dated until 2010, when they officially broke things off.
Fans everywhere were crushed at the news of the break-up. It looks like things have remained awkward for Hudgens and Efron since the break-up.
In 2017, Hudgens admitted that she and Efron don’t really talk anymore.
Both, however, have been busy since the break-up. Hudgens had the lead role in the short-lived NBC-DC sitcom Powerless and has several movies in various stages of production. She’s also dated Austin Butler since 2011. Efron, meanwhile, has ascended to A-list status, recently starring in The Greatest Showman and The Disaster Artist.
Sabrina Carpenter and Bradley Steven Perry
Apparently, people in the Disney Channel fandom were shipping these two hard. The former Girl Meets World star and the former Good Luck Charlie actor knew each other from the lot. In May 2015, they made things Instagram official, only to call things off about three months later - it was more of a summer romance than anything else.
Since then, Carpenter has went on to star in Milo Murphy’s Law and The Hate U Give. She’s also been steadily releasing music. Perry starred in several other Disney Channel properties such as Lab Rats: Elite Force and Descendants: Wicked World. He recently guest-starred in an episode of ABC’s Speechless. No word on if Perry is dating anyone at the present, but Carpenter is dating former Girl Meets World co-star, Corey Fogelmanis.
Miley Cyrus and Dylan Sprouse
If Cole Sprouse hasn’t roasted his brother about this on Twitter, then we’re going to be shocked. Way back in the day, the Hannah Montana and Suite Life Of Zack & Cody stars decided to give dating a try - it lasted for approximately one date.
Apparently, Miley Cyrus took one look at Nick Jonas and was pretty much over Dylan Sprouse.
Since then, Miley Cyrus has had an off-on again romance with Liam Hemsworth. She’s also released a bunch of albums, her latest being last year’s Younger Now. She even joined the MCU as Mainframe in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
Sprouse took a break from acting to go to college but has rejoined Hollywood recently. He’s currently very happy on the indie film scene.
Cole Sprouse and Debby Ryan
Sprouse met Debby Ryan on the sequel series to The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody, The Suite Life On Deck. Since then, the two have been very, very good friends. Reportedly, however, the duo did try their hand at dating, but then decided that they worked better as friends in the long run.
Since The Suite Life On Deck ended, Sprouse took a break from acting to attend college. He returned in a big way by playing Jughead Jones on Riverdale. While he currently isn’t officially dating anyone, there are rumors that he’s dating co-star Lili Reinhart.
Ryan, however, remained with the Disney Channel. She’s played the titular nanny on Jessie and recorded music. Currently, she’s set to star on Netflix’s Insatiable.
6. Nick Jonas and Miley Cyrus
With the Sprouse brothers out of the way, let’s go back to Dylan’s ex, Miley Cyrus. After Cyrus left Sprouse after one date, the two of them did end up dating. The Hannah Montana and J.O.N.A.S. stars ended up dating for around two years. Many pre-teens/teenagers were alternating between jealousy and swooning over it.
Unfortunately, the break-up wasn’t very amicable - Miley’s song “7 Things” is reportedly about Nick Jonas.
In fact, the alternate title for the song is “Seven Things I Hate About You”. Make of that what you will, Cyrus has never confirmed through the lyrics that the song was about Jonas in particular. Since then, however, both parties have clearly moved on. “7 Things” isn’t a half-bad song though on a re-listen.
Emily Osment and Tony Oller
Emily Osment is best-known as co-starring in Hannah Montana as Cyrus’ best friend, Lilly Truscott. She also starred in the DCOM, Dadnapped. Tony Oller starred in the short-lived Demi Lovato show As The Bell Rings. The two of them started dating in 2009, and broke things off in 2010 - it’s hard to tell the status of their post break-up relationship though.
Following the end of Hannah Montana, Osment has appeared in Cleaners, Mom, and Young & Hungry. Her current project is a Netflix series from Mom creator Chuck Lorre called The Kominsky Method. She also appeared in several film projects.
Oller, meanwhile, has found success in the band MKTO with Malcolm Kelley, but the band broke up in 2017. He’s also had roles in Beneath the Darkness and The Purge.
Spencer Boldman and Kelli Berglund
Spencer Boldman and Kelli Berglund met on the Disney XD series Lab Rats, focusing on super-powered teenagers. While the duo played siblings on screen, sparks flew off screen - the pair ended up dating for a year and a half from November 2012 to August 2013 before they called things off.
The duo, however, appeared to remain on amicable terms following the split, even continuing to work together afterwards.
Following the end of their relationship and Lab Rats, Boldman went on to star in the DCOM Dadnapped. He’s also worked on the 2017 film Cruise. Berglund went on to star in the Lab Rats spin-off, Lab Rats: Elite Force and the DCOM How to Build a Better Boy. She also had roles in The Night Shift and the upcoming 2018 film Going for Gold.
Dove Cameron and Ryan McCartan
Dove Cameron and Ryan McCartan met on the set of the Disney Channel show Liv and Maddie. The pair started dating during the first season of the show back in 2013 and were together for three years. They even announced their engagement in April 2016, but sadly, the couple called it off in October of that year. According to McCartan in a Teen Vogue interview, they are still good friends.
Following the split, Dove Cameron went on to star in Descendants 2 and played Amber Von Tussle in Hairspray Live. She currently plays Ruby on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and has a role in the upcoming film Dumplin’. She also has a debut album in the works. McCartan has a recurring role in Hulu’s horror show Freakish and has guest-starred on Midnight, Texas.
2. Bridgit Mendler and Shane Harper
Bridgit Mendler and Shane Harper met on the set of the Disney sitcom, Good Luck Charlie. On the show, Mendler and Harper played characters in an on-off again relationship, but fireworks went off in real life for the pair as well.
They started dating back in 2011 after meeting on the show and continued to date until November 2015, when they officially broke-up.
Following the split and the end of Good Luck Charlie, Mendler went on to star in the NBC sitcom Undateable and she’s currently filming the movie Who Do You Think Would Win? In 2016, she released her second studio album Nemesis.
Harper went on to star in movies such as Flock of Four, and he also had a guest appearance in the now defunct CBS drama Wisdom of the Crowd.
Aly Michalka and Raviv “Ricky” Ullman
Considering how obsessed Hollywood is with relationships, this story is utterly insane. Raviv (Ricky) Ullman and Aly Michalka were co-stars on the set of the Disney time-travel sitcom, Phil of the Future. On the show, fans crossed their fingers that this doomed, unsustainable romance between Phil Diffy and Keely Teslow would somehow work. Behind the scenes, Michalka and Ullman dated from 2005 until 2011 - no one knew about the relationship until they broke up.
Following the end of the relationship, Michalka went on to have roles on Hellcats, iZombie, and Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes On Television. She’s also set to star in a modern film adaptation of King Lear.
Ullman went into theater acting after starring on Rita Rocks and he then starred in the 2015 film, The Other Side.
Who were your favorite on-set or off-set romances involving Disney stars? Let us know in the comments!
