Working with your ex must be an awkward enough experience.
For those silly enough to cross that boundary and sh*t where they eat, it can then be a curse they are forced to live with for the months that follow.
Big Bang Theory co-stars Kaley Kuoco and Johnny Galecki not only crossed that boundary, they did so in a workplace where, even after breaking up, they had to continue to pretend to be in love with another.
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The pair played Penny and Leonard, two of the main stars of the nerdy sitcom which dominated TV throughout most of the late 2000s and all of the 2010s.
Their relationship started in 2008, and they would go on to date for two years after this.
Though they remained on friendly terms following the break-up, Kuoco did notice an uptick in a type of scene that everyone would be mortified to film with their ex: sex scenes.
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During an interview on The Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard in 2020, she said: “When we broke up, obviously it was a little sensitive for a minute, but I remember those weeks that Chuck [Lorre, the show’s creator] had written these episodes where all of a sudden our characters were like sleeping together every other second.
“Johnny and I talk about it and I think he did that on purpose — just to f*ck with us.
"If I was with [Chuck Lorre now], I would ask him, because that came out of nowhere. All of a sudden these characters were all up on each other.”
Lorre responded to these accusations in a book by Jessica Radloff, The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story.
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He said: “No. Not at all. Making a good show has no room for f**king with anybody,” “There’s no, ‘Let’s mess with Kaley and Johnny’. The goal was to make a great show and make every minute of every episode count. And that was the only goal.
He went on to add: “We don’t have that kind of freedom to risk a TV series that you put your heart and soul into to mess with somebody’s head. No.
“I think that’s charming that they think we had the mental capacity to mess with them. [Laughs] Penny and Leonard having difficulty sustaining a relationship was one of the reasons to keep watching – to see if they could make it.
“You were rooting for them to find happiness.”
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Galecki responded in the book upon hearing Lorre’s rebuttal and said: “I guess that was pretty egotistical of us to think that. [Laughs].
“We were reading into things a little too much. I’m going to sleep a little easier tonight.”
Topics: Big Bang Theory, Kaley Cuoco, TV, TV and Film, Celebrity
Michael Slavin