The Gilmore Girls Cast's Real Life Partners

Not only did "Gilmore Girls" give us a dream of how life should look, thanks to the mother-daughter bond of Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Rory (Alexis Beldel) and their quaint Connecticut town filled with the most heartwarming residents, but the plot also frequently touched on the characters' struggles to find love. In real life, many of the stars got their happy endings.

The storybook town of Stars Hollow shepherded many residents into messy relationships, including Rory Gilmore's back-and-forth between her Stars Hollow High lovers — two of whom Alexis Bledel dated in real life, Lorelai's on-again, off-again romance with Luke, and Dean's affair, causing a split with his wife Lindsay. However, many sweet romances balanced the drama, including Sookie and Jackson, Lane and Dave, and the ultimate couple goals, Emily and Richard Gilmore (they had years on the other couples, so they get the number one spot).

The reality off-screen was a lot less dramatic and much more romantic. "Gilmore Girls" actors, including Scott Patterson, Milo Ventimiglia, Kelly Bishop, Jared Padalecki, and Melissa McCarthy, all eventually settled down with their own partners, some of whom you may recognize for their own claim to fame in the industry.

The unofficial male lead, Luke Danes, stole our hearts from the beginning. His wit perfectly matched the Gilmore girls' pithy remarks, and his grumpy, albeit loving demeanor is all a girl — specifically Lorelai — could ask for. As Luke gradually fell in love with Lorelai, Scott Patterson, the actor who played the diner owner, coincidentally found love on set when the cameras weren't rolling.

The "I Am All In" podcast host was introduced to his wife, Kristine Saryan, by a friend during the intermission of a play they were both attending, according to Patterson. The actor posted on Facebook in 2021 to clear up some rumors about him and his wife, who Patterson says is 20 years his junior — when they met, Patterson was 41 and Saryan was 21.

While the two knew each other before "Gilmore Girls" started filming, they started working together in the early 2000s when Saryan played the role of Chrissy, Miss Patty's dance assistant. It is unclear if they were seeing each other before that, but the two fell in love during the time the show was filming and were married in 2014. The couple has a son and it seems like they couldn't be happier. Patterson praised his wife's acting skills on Facebook, saying: "She is a far better actor than I, and that just goes to show how tough a business this is."

The "Gilmore Girls" matriarch Emily Gilmore was perfectly cast with Kelly Bishop, who was equal parts loving and cruel in her portrayal of the Hartford socialite. Bishop's boundless career has, for the most part, centered around her Gilmore identity, including her closeness with the cast and how she dealt with the 2016 death of Edward Herrmann, who played her on-screen husband Richard Gilmore. Her real-life marriage ended similarly to that of her character.

Bishop married TV host Lee Leonard in 1981 and enjoyed nearly 40 years of marriage with him before he passed away in 2018. When speaking to Forbes about her memoir "The Third Gilmore Girl," she said she wants people to understand her friendship with her husband, aside from the love they shared. "Yes, we're lovers — we're this, we're that — but when you can become a partner and a buddy and a pal — and laughing [...] If you can find a relationship like that, you have to love it. And love yourself and love your person and be happy that you have or had, at least, what you had."

While Rory was figuring out if she wanted to be with Jess or Dean, her boys were busy falling in love in real life. Milo Ventimiglia, who played Jess Mariano in "Gilmore Girls," is ironically married to a woman whose last name happens to also be Mariano. While it's unclear when the "This is Us" actor met his wife, Jarah Mariano, the couple officially announced their marriage on Instagram on September 23, 2024 — their first anniversary as husband and wife. Before that, the couple was extremely private about their relationship and never confirmed they were dating.

They haven't spoken much about each other, other than Mariano captioning her Instagram post: "There aren't enough words that exist to describe all the special qualities that make him who he is." Ventimiglia shared similar sentiments with Entertainment Tonight in early 2024, telling them it was love at first sight for him. "When I saw my wife, I was always just like, 'Oh no, she's my wife,'" Ventimiglia said. "Right away, I just kinda knew." In the same month that they celebrated one year of marriage, Mariano announced on Instagram that she was expecting their first child. "Baby on board!" she gleefully captioned the post.

Jared Padalecki, who played dream hunk high schooler Dean Forester on "Gilmore Girls," may have not found love on the set of the seven-season series, but his later career introduced him to his wife, Genevieve Padalecki (née Cortese). Padalecki met his wife on the set of "Supernatural" in 2008 when Genevieve joined the show's fourth season. The pair tied the knot in 2010 and have since welcomed their three children: Thomas Colton, Austin Shepard, and Odette Elliott.

The couple went on to play on-screen husband and wife Cordell and Emily, on the CW's "Walker," a reboot of the legendary 1990s series "Walker, Texas Ranger." Genevieve told The Wrap about the surreality of playing her husband's dead wife on TV. "It's definitely, like, you know, churned up different emotions for us, for sure, that we've sort of... like not want to talk about and that sort of thing. And there's definitely a gravity to it," she said, adding she still had fun with the role.

For Padalecki, the time Genevieve spent on set was exciting. "Being able to show her off to the cast and crew was awesome," he told People. He added that it was exceptionally great to see her back in action, as, for the most part, Genevieve has put her career on the back burner to raise their kids.

Master of comedy Melissa McCarthy got her big break as Lorelai Gilmore's sweet and talented chef friend Sookie St. James. In the series, Sookie falls in love with her co-worker Jackson Belleville, creating an adorable partnership of romance and business strategy. Similarly, McCarthy's real-life husband, Ben Falcone — a fellow actor — has collaborated with the "Mike & Molly" star on many of her projects. He's made appearances in McCarthy hits like "Bridesmaids," "The Heat," "Identity Thief," "Spy," "Life of the Party," and so many more.

The hilarious couple told Parade that they first met while performing in The Groundlings improv group in Los Angeles. "We met writing together and performing together, and before we were even dating [Falcone was] my favorite person to write with, and we love being on stage together," McCarthy said. The parents of two now have a scripted podcast together called "Hildy the Barback and the Lake of Fire," which is set in medieval times — hence why you may have seen them donning leather and fur in some interviews.