How Did ‘Tell Me Lies’ Couple Jackson White & Grace Van Patten Meet? Their Surprising Meet-Cute
What To Know
- Grace Van Patten and Jackson White are a couple on Tell Me Lies and in real life.
- The two met before filming for the Hulu series began.
- They tried to keep their relationship a secret from their costars at first, but it didn’t last long.
Jackson White and Grace Van Patten play the most toxic couple — ahem, Stephen and Lucy — you’ve ever seen on Hulu’s hit show Tell Me Lies, but they’re also in a relationship in real life. The two have been an item since the show first premiered in 2022.
The romance didn’t begin with sparks immediately flying, and they actually started dating before production on Season 1 of Tell Me Lies even began. Scroll down for everything to know about White and Van Patten’s relationship.
How did Jackson White and Grace Van Patten meet?
Van Patten and White first met at a birthday party “years” before they were cast on Tell Me Lies, he revealed during an interview with BuzzFeed. “You were there with your godmother,” he recalled, speaking to his girlfriend.
“He was in a movie with my friend,” Van Patten explained. “I met him when I was leaving.” However, when they reconnected during a chemistry read for Tell Me Lies (which took place in 2021 or early 2022), White didn’t remember the birthday party event when Van Patten brought it up.
The chemistry read was what ended up sparking their relationship, though. Van Patten already had the role on Tell Me Lies and was reading with a bunch of potential male leads over Zoom. White was the “favorite” for the part, and when he hopped on the call, Van Patten immediately got the vibes that he was a “serious actor,” she said on the Call Her Daddy podcast
“He was so good, so I was like, ‘Alright, it’s fine, maybe we won’t get along, but he’s perfect for the part and so talented and great,'” she revealed. “So I was half really excited that we found the Stephen, but the other [half], I kind of rolled my eyes a little bit.”
Disney/Ian Watson
In fact, Van Patten said she “didn’t like” her now-boyfriend at first, but when they actually met in person, there was a “completely different energy.”
It didn’t take long for romance to blossom. Van Patten’s friend’s boyfriend was working with White on another project, and the foursome got dinner together when that wrapped. “We vibed instantly,” she confirmed.
“That night, we were both like … we have a crush on each other. This is probably the worst thing that could happen,” Van Patten remembered. “And we sat on a stoop for, like, six hours and talked about every reason why we should not act on this. And then I kissed him.”
When did Jackson White and Grace Van Patten confirm their relationship?
When filming for Tell Me Lies began in early 2022, Van Patten and White were already dating, but they didn’t tell anyone else who was working on the show. However, Van Patten admitted that the “cast knew pretty immediately,” even though she and White tried to keep it a secret.
By the time the show came out in September 2022, the public was still unclear about Van Patten and White’s IRL status. “Fans should just leave it up for mystery,” Van Patten teased to Entertainment Tonight that fall. “Keep it fun. Who knows?”
Speculation about the relationship intensified in November 2022 when White shared a photo booth strip of pictures with Van Patten, including one that was covered by an emoji and appeared to show them kissing. Later that month, Van Patten hard-launched the romance by posting a photo of her and White touching tongues.
Do Jackson White and Grace Van Patten live together?
During her October 2025 appearance on Call Her Daddy, Van Patten revealed that she lives alone, which meant that she and White were not living together at the time, which was over three years into their relationship.
Van Patten said she moved to Los Angeles more than two years prior and was living by herself.
Tell Me Lies, Season 3 Premiere, Tuesday, January 13, Hulu
