Why Did Adam Brody & Rachel Bilson Split? Looking Back at Their Real-Life Romance
Years before Adam Brody was making us swoon as Noah on Nobody Wants This, he was making us swoon as Seth Cohen on The O.C. While starring on the teen drama from 2003 to 2007, he dated Rachel Bilson, who also played his onscreen love, Summer Roberts. The two split in 2006, shortly before they finished filming the beloved series.
With Brody back in the spotlight with his now-wife Leighton Meester on Season 2 of Nobody Wants This, we’re looking back at his relationship with Bilson, including why they broke up, where they stand now, and more.
Did Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson date in real life?
Yes, Brody and Bilson did date in real life. Their relationship started while filming Season 1 in 2003, although they knew each other before working on the show. In the 2023 book Welcome to the OC: The Oral History, Bilson recalled thinking Brody was “cute and funny” but “kind of a d**k” when she first met him.
However, that changed after they filmed their first kiss early in Season 1. “I remember after shooting the scene where I kiss him, like, I remember thinking, ‘Do I like Adam?'” she recalled on the Welcome to The OC, Bitches! podcast. “And I remember thinking after work, because I feel like it was the last scene I shot that day, being, like, ‘Wait, do I like Adam?’ That’s when those wheels started turning.”
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Not much later, they began a relationship and even moved in together before things ended.
Why did Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson split?
While the two have never explicitly stated the reason for their breakup, they hinted that Brody’s disinterest in working on The O.C. during Seasons 3 and 4 took a toll.
“I started to be creatively less interested,” Brody said in the book. “I blame myself for a lack of professionalism, and a disrespect to the work.” As his girlfriend, Bilson said it was difficult to “balance” the situation.
“You want to be supportive of the person you’re with, but also I’m a firm believer in always being grateful, and gratitude comes first,” she explained. “And I think there were probably times where that went by the wayside. You grow up, you look back, and you can realize when you’re young, you might behave in certain ways you wish you hadn’t.”
During another podcast episode, she also reflected on feelings of jealousy during the relationship, particularly when Brody had to kiss Samaire Armstong during a scene.
“I see Samaire, like, slip tongue!” Bilson recalled. “I’m watching it and she slipped the tongue and I get transported back to 18 years ago and I get a little jealous. And I’m like, ‘What are you doing slipping tongue in his mouth?’ It was like the real-life triangle playing out as I’m watching it. I saw the tongue and I was like, ‘There’s no tongue in television!’ I feel like it definitely played out a little bit in real life for a minute. Not really, really, but I remember the tension with Samaire and I, a little bit.”
Luckily, the two “broke up at the very end, so there wasn’t much [to film] after the breakup,” Bilson confirmed on the Armchair Expert podcast in 2021. “We did get married [on the show] after we broke up. That’s always fun! They totally did that on purpose. That was the only scene left to shoot, was the wedding. They’re like, ‘You broke up? Let’s give you a wedding.’”
Where do Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson stand now?
Brody and Bilson are on cordial terms today. The former couple famously crossed paths at an airport in 2019. “Ran into my ol buddy from jfk to lax #californiaherewecome,” Bilson captioned her Instagram photo.
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They reunited virtually when he appeared on the Welcome to the OC, Bitches! podcast in 2021 and looked back fondly on their time together.
During her Armchair Expert appearance, Bilson confirmed, “I had so much, and still do, love and respect for Adam. We went through so much together, being so young and everything with the show. And I’m so happy for him with his family and his beautiful wife and kids and everything.”
She also praised her ex amid the success of Nobody Wants This Season 1 in 2024, telling People, “He is awesome. He’s the best. I hear everyone loves [the show] and I couldn’t be more excited because literally Kristen [Bell] and Adam both I love, and are, like, my people. So I’m really excited about it and excited for them.”
Nobody Wants This, Season 2, Streaming Now, Netflix
