Grace Van Patten and Jackson White have people hooked into Tell Me Lies with their explosive (albeit toxic) chemistry as Lucy and Stephen. But once the cameras are off filming for the hit Hulu show, the duo's chemistry keeps rolling in their (much healthier) real-life relationship.
The Teen Vogue cover stars, who were both born in 1996, have been giving fans a glimpse at their relationship off-screen ever since the first season of Tell Me Lies premiered in 2022, progressively sharing more and more details about their real-life romance—from their first meeting, to their first impression of each other, and even their first kiss.
If you don't want to miss an update, check out Grace Van Patten and Jackson White's complete relationship timeline below. (If you'd rather see the timeline in chronological order, just click here and scroll up to get the full picture!)
January 28, 2026: Grace Van Patten and Jackson White open up about their relationship in their Teen Vogue cover story
Since making their relationship public, Grace Van Patten and Jackson White have remained rather tight-lipped about specifics, but the duo is sharing more and more about their private lives, speaking to Max Gao for their joint Teen Vogue cover story.
A little more than halfway through Tell Me Lies season 3, Van Patten and White took a moment to look back at their trajectory on the show and the journey it has taken them on in real life. The duo revealed they now split their time between their two residences in Los Angeles—White's house in the Valley and Van Patten's in Hollywood. “It's like a city home and a country home,” Van Patten reveals. “We go back and forth. When we need solitude and quiet, we go to his. Then, when we want life and energy, we go to mine. It's a really good balance.” White added, “We have a very similar way of existing. We like our comforts, but we also crave adventure.”
In the interview with Gao, Van Patten also recalled the ways her life has changed since meeting White. “I really appreciate being still in a way that I did not before I met Jackson,” she said. “I’d get very sick of a place and have to leave, and I was just always on the move and living out of a suitcase until two years ago.”
White, on the other hand, revealed he's feeling the opposite pull, bringing it back to balance. “I’m a homebody, so I’m learning to be more out of my comfort zone, and I think she’s learning to be more rooted. I think we’re getting that from each other.”
“This is the first relationship I feel really safe to be anxious in front of. He is so calming and makes me feel really listened to, and grounded, and okay. In the same way that I need my mom to tell me everything’s going to be okay, I feel like if Jackson’s like, ‘It’s all good, it’s going to be okay,’ then I really believe that,” Van Patten also shared.
Speaking to Gao, Tell Me Lies showrunner Meaghan Oppenheimer also opened up about Van Patten and White's relationship, which has blossomed alongside the hit Hulu show, calling it “very non-toxic.” She added, “I mostly see them laughing a lot together. We all know each other very well. We're all friends. I think that they keep their relationship off set, though. If you were to just walk into a scene with them on set, you wouldn't automatically say, ‘Oh, those two are dating.’ They're very professional in that sense. They keep work and personal life separate in a good way. They just know each other really well.”
January 22, 2026: Jackson White reveals that Grace Van Patten tattooed him while they were still in the “courtship phase”
During an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, Jackson White revealed that he let Van Patten give him multiple stick-and-poke tattoos while they were flirting. You can see White showing off some of the inks below:
January 20, 2026: Jackson White and Grace Van Patten star in Calvin Klein's Valentine's Day campaign
For Valentine's Day, Calvin Klein put a spin on their classic “My Calvins” tagline to celebrate love. Swapping it for “Our Calvins,” the campaign featured Jackson White and Grace Van Patten photographed together. In a press release, Van Patten said, “This campaign is about the easy, intimate moments—when you can be yourself, laugh, and just have fun.”
In contrast to their red-carpet style, the couple modeled pared-down looks, though they still included some matching outfits. In the campaign, they pose wearing Calvin Klein undergarments bearing the iconic logo waistband, white tank tops, and denim jeans, for example. White said, “There was something very intimate about this experience that made it different from other projects.”
January 12, 2026: Grace Van Patten and Jackson White kick off Tell Me Lies season 3 promotions in New York
Jackson White and Grace Van Patten rang in the New Year doing a bunch of promotions for Tell Me Lies season 3 in New York. The duo attended the official premiere together at The Corner Store, posing for photographers, and were all smiles as they made their way from commitment to commitment around the city, arm in arm.
December 7, 2025: Grace Van Patten and Jackson White attend a charity event together
To close out the year, Grace Van Patten and Jackson White attended the 2025 Best Buddies Celebrity Bowling Event in Studio City, California, which is right between their two houses. The couple showed off a more casual style for the event than they have us accustomed to, wearing jeans and a top.
October 18, 2025: Jackson White and Grace Van Patten attend the 5th Annual Academy Museum Gala together in matching black looks
Jackson White and Grace Van Patten stole the show as they arrived at the 5th Annual Academy Museum Gala together, wearing coordinating black looks. White opted for a monochrome take on the classic tux, rocking a black shirt and bow tie, while Van Patten embraced the viral “naked dress” trend, wearing a see-through gown with an off-the-shoulder neckline and a skirt finished with a feathered hemline.
October 1, 2025: Grace Van Patten reveals she “didn't like” Jackson White during their first Zoom chemistry read—but things quickly changed
Grace Van Patten and Jackson White began dating during the audition process of Tell Me Lies, but in an episode of Call Her Daddy, she revealed she actually “didn't like” White at first.
“Jackson, I had heard, was the favorite. And he gets on, and—I’ve told him this—I’m like, ‘Oh, this is like a serious actor, like, actor-y actor. So I was just like, ‘Ugh, God,’” Van Patten recalled. “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 continued.
However, as we already mentioned below, Van Patten said it all changed when the two met in person, saying the energy was “completely different.” She added, “We all had dinner, and we vibed instantly. 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.”
September 9, 2025: Grace Van Patten supports Jackson White at the premiere of Swiped
Jackson White brought Grace Van Patten along as his date for the premiere of his new Hulu project, Swiped, which took place at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. The couple graced the red carpet together, posing while hugging and smiling at each other.
August 19, 2025: Jackson White supports Grace Van Patten at the premiere of The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox
While Tell Me Lies season 3 was filming, White flew to NYC to support Van Patten at the premiere of The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, which took place at the New York Historical Society. White attended the event with Van Patten's family. Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Van Patten said, “I’m so happy Jackson is able to be here with me, and my whole family is here. It feels really special.”
September 4, 2024: Grace Van Patten and Jackson White attend the premiere of Tell Me Lies season 2 as a couple and open up about working together while publicly dating
On September 4, 2024, Grace Van Patten and Jackson White attended the premiere of Tell Me Lies season 2 at The Bungalow in Santa Monica, California, this time as an official couple.
Speaking to People, Van Patten said working with White was “trippy” since “we are together in real life, and he knows me better than anyone.” White added, “It was super weird. It was hard. It was like, we put these people away for a while, [so] taking them back out was a little hard but really fun. We knew exactly how to do it.”
They also opened up about their relationship for one of the very first times, saying: “We’re wildly different [to Stephen and Lucy], thank goodness."
Speaking to E! later that month, Van Patten said, "Because we established that dynamic first season, the second season was a lot easier to switch on and off. And we’re so different from these characters, so it’s honestly just an opportunity to get all of our bad feelings out so that there’s none left by the time we go home.”
August 31, 2024: Grace Van Patten and Jackson White pack on the PDA at the US Open
In the middle of Tell Me Lies promo, the couple made a pit stop at the US Open in Queens, where they packed on the PDA from the audience while enjoying the tennis.
August 28, 2024: Grace Van Patten and Jackson White are seen outside GMA together
After their relationship became public, White and Van Patten appeared on GMA to promote the sophomore season of Tell Me Lies, where they quipped that filming together is “great couple's therapy.” During the interview, the duo confirmed they had begun dating even before season one was shot.
January 8, 2024: Jackson White's mother publicly confirms the couple's relationship—and reveals how long they have been dating
While appearing on the Broad Ideas podcast, White's mom, actor Katey Sagal, who also plays his mom in Tell Me Lies, confirmed that his son had indeed been dating Van Patten since their audition. "My son is on a television show, and his girlfriend is the lead," Sagal said. "They play love interests and [they are dating in real life]. They have been for two years.” Sagal said Van Patten and White hit it off immediately during the audition process and added: "They had such great chemistry."
September 30, 2023: Jackson White and Grace Van Patten make their joint FROW debut at PFW
In September, Jackson White and Grace Van Patten made their joint FROW debut at PFW, sitting together at the Hermès spring-summer 2024 women's ready-to-wear show at La Garde Républicaine.
June 1, 2023: Jackson White and Grace Van Patten make their joint gala debut
On June 1, 2023, Jackson White and Grace Van Patten made their gala debut together, attending the 2nd Annual Cameron Boyce Foundation Gala at Citizen News Hollywood in Los Angeles, California.
March 12, 2023: Jackson White and Grace Van Patten attend the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscars Party together
On March 12, 2023, the two stars graced the red carpet of the popular Vanity Fair Oscars Party together, where Van Patten fully embraced the see-through trend, and White opted for a classic tux. The duo posed together, hugging each other's waists.
January 6, 2023: Jackson James White and Grace Van Patten cozy up at the Louis Vuitton and W Magazine's awards season dinner
To ring in the new year, Jackson White and Grace Van Patten attended a Louis Vuitton and W Magazine's awards season dinner, where they cozied up to each other, posing interlocking hands.
November 7, 2022: Grace Van Patten and Jackson White lock hands at a public event and post a photo kissing
After a month of teasing, the two attended the CFDA Fashion Awards together and were photographed holding hands. Van Patten further fueled relationship rumors after posting a photobooth strip of the two during the night, seemingly covering a photo where they appear to be kissing.
October 2022: Jackson White and Grace Van Patten attend their first events together while keeping their relationship status vague
After teasing a relationship, the two attended their first non-TML event together, the Ralph Lauren spring 2023 ready-to-wear runway show in California in mid-October.
Days later, the duo also attended a Giambattista Valli Dinner at Caviar Kaspia Los Angeles together, further fueling rumors. Speaking to Entertainment Tonight later that month, Grace Van Patten was asked about the romance rumors. "Fans should just leave it up for mystery, keep it fun," she said. “Who knows?”
October 2022: Jackson White says he has a “crush” on Grace Van Patten
Speculation was rampant after the premiere of the first season of Tell Me Lies, and it only got worse when White revealed he had "such a crush" on Van Patten during an episode of the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast.
When asked if the two were an item, White said, "I hope [us dating] happens. I don't know. Our lives are built in together. It's crazy, we have so much to do together." He also called Van Patten the “coolest, most grounded, amazing person IRL.”
September 8, 2022: Grace Van Patten and Jackson White attend the premiere of Tell Me Lies together
Grace Van Patten and Jackson White's first public sighting was at the premiere of Tell Me Lies. The pair were already dating but keeping their relationship private, despite speculation fueled by their on-screen chemistry.
Early 2022: Grace Van Patten and Jackson White reconnect while auditioning for Tell Me Lies and start their secret romance
You will find multiple articles saying that Grace Van Patten and Jackson White met on Zoom during their chemistry read for Tell Me Lies, but the couple themselves have revealed a few times, including in videos for Buzzfeed and Teen Vogue, that that was actually when they reconnected. They actually had met before at a birthday party in 2026. Speaking to Teen Vogue, Van Patten shared that the now-couple crossed paths at Carson Meyer's birthday party. (White and Meyer met filming SPF-18 together.) Van Patten spotted White leaving the party wearing “a big leather jacket and a lot of rings,” she confirmed to writer Max Gao in their cover story, and, well, White didn't quite remember their first meeting. (Fret not: Van Patten reminded him during the chemistry read.)
Van Patten and White had their first chemistry read together over Zoom and then two more in person, where sparks were palpable. “I wasn't sure if we would have gotten along if he got the part in that initial Zoom, but I knew he was the right person for the part immediately. After reading with everyone, he approached it in a very different way,” Van Patten revealed to Max Gao in the interview for their 2026 cover story. “He really had a vulnerability to him that no one else had, and I knew that was the only way to have Stephen be. White, on the other hand, believed Van Patten was “delightful” during their first chemistry read. “She was so great. She was so easy to work with and open,” he added.
The duo also shared that they read the scene from the series' pilot where Stephen approached Lucy at the frat party to tell her that she looks “really uncomfortable in that dress.”
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“We did it probably 40 times over the course of like eight months because it took me a long time to get hired,” White joked. Though the connection reached new levels when they met IRL, the duo admitted they had instant chemistry during the audition process. “I could tell there was instant chemistry when we were acting together,” Van Patten explained, “but it wasn't until after the chemistry reads, where I got to know him as a human being and realized there was more than just active chemistry.” White added: “The chemistry is just like that thing where you can complete each other's sentences and thoughts in a funny or whatever, kind of way. It's just what that is.”
“He was the last one I read with,” Van Patten shared. “I had done four Zoom reads before him, and I was feeling tired. I had said these lines a lot of times. I remember he came on, and it was totally a fresh thing. I think we Zoomed for three hours, because we would improvise and we would just go on tangents, and it was an extremely long Zoom chemistry read.”
“I don't know if you can feel the spark over Zoom. You can try. There's banter. [But] it's like when you log into a Zoom meeting in any capacity, even if you're joking around with someone, there's still that lag, so I think we tried our best, but it wasn't until we got in person where we felt the ping pong match. And that little ping pong match is what you're looking for,” White continued.
Between the two in-person chemistry reads, White traveled to NYC to hang out with Van Patten IRL. And during a rom-com-esque walk alongside the Brooklyn Bridge Park Promenade, Van Patten kissed White for the first time. “I hadn't gotten the job yet. I flew to New York to hang,” White said about letting Van Patten take the initiative. Talk about a memorable first kiss!
The duo started dating and, funnily enough, were together when Meaghan Oppenheimer called White up to inform he had gotten the role of Stephen. (In fact, Oppenheimer and Van Patten confirmed to Gao that she broke the news to both actors at the same time, but since White was in the shower, Van Patten saw the message first and broke the news to her partner before the show's creator could!)
