The casts of Chicago Med, Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. continually bring the heat on screen — and some of the stars have equally as fiery romances off camera.
Chicago P.D.’s Jesse Lee Soffer and Sophia Bush, for example, dated from 2014 to 2016. Their red-hot relationship seemed to mirror their TV characters’ Jay Halstead and Erin Lindsay’s romance. Following their split — and Bush’s exit from the series — Soffer briefly dated Chicago Med’s Torrey DeVitto.
It’s not an easy game — but someone’s got to play it! Survivor first debuted in 2000, quickly becoming a fan-favorite and ratings juggernaut for CBS.
The reality series, which awards one sole Survivor the $1 million each season after lasting 39 days outside, has come a long way over the years. Host Jeff Probst, who has been at the show’s helm since the premiere, has been open to changes as well, with formatting and twists constantly being added in.
Survivor found its first champion with Richard Hatch in Survivor: Borneo. Three years later, Richard returned to compete on Survivor: All-Stars but did not take home the crown. Years later, Sandra Diaz-Twine made history and became the first-ever two-time winner.
Sandra wouldn’t be the only two-time victor for long. For Survivor’s 40th season, Winners at War, 20 former champions returned to the game to compete for a $2 million prize. Tony Vlachos ultimately took the crown and the cash.
Changing the way people view beauty pageants. Hit 2000 film Miss Congeniality follows FBI agent Gracie (Sandra Bullock) as she goes undercover at a beauty pageant in order to prove herself at work to her male counterparts (played by Benjamin Bratt and Ernie Hudson).
Since she’s been a tomboy her whole life, the head of the pageant, Kathy Morningside (Candice Bergen), enlists expert Victor Melling (Michael Caine) to get Gracie ready for competition through quite an intense makeover process. Throughout the movie, the cop forms unexpected friendships, romances and is shocked when she’s able to uncover the life-threatening events happening at the pageant.
In 2000, Ellen DeGeneres revealed in an interview that the rom-com was actually based on her.
“When I was getting ready to cohost the Emmys, the writer saw me [on TV] learning how to walk in a dress and heels,” she shared with Parade magazine at the time. “My stylist at the time — a man — was teaching me, and it was hilarious. The Miss Congeniality writer saw it and thought it was brilliant.”
Despite it being based on the TV host, Bullock also closely related to Grace, later admitting that doing the combat scenes — and she did many of her own stunts — were easier than the pageant scenes. Additionally, she told Entertainment Tonight that she tried to cut the swimsuit scene.
“That was a huge bone of contention for me. I was trying to get it written out so many times,” the Speed actress shared. ‘It’s in the script. We already shot it—outside in San Antonio.”
Scroll through the gallery below to see what the cast is up to today.
The Voice quickly became a success after it debuted on NBC in 2011, with Carson Daly as host and a group of successful coaches ready to find the next superstar.
Kicking off the first season, Blake Shelton, Christina Aguilera, CeeLo Green and Adam Levine filled the coaches’ chairs, each bringing their different expertise to the table. Aguilera and Green left before season 4 and were temporarily replaced by Shakira and Usher. The original judges returned for their chairs in season 5 before leaving again in season 6.
Aguilera briefly appeared as a part-time adviser on season 7 and returned as a coach twice more — for seasons 8 and 10 — officially exiting in 2016. She later referred to the show as an “energy sucker” in her life.
“It became something that I didn’t feel was what I had signed up for in season 1. … You realize it’s not about music. It’s about making good TV moments and massaging a story,” she told Billboard magazine in 2018. “I didn’t get into this business to be a television show host and to be given all these [rules]. … Especially as a female: ‘You can’t wear this, can’t say that.’ I would find myself on that show desperately trying to express myself through clothing or makeup or hair. It was my only kind of outlet.”
Scroll through the gallery below for all the coaches through the years and why they left the show:
Blue Bloods premiered on CBS in September 2010, introducing the world to the Reagan family of cops — and fans had to say goodbye at the end of season 14.
Len Cariou leads the family on the show as the retired New York police commissioner, Henry Reagan; his son, Frank (Tom Selleck), plays the current PC; Frank’s son Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) plays a detective and his younger son Jamie (Will Estes) is a sergeant; Frank’s daughter, Erin (Bridget Moynahan). When the series began, Frank and his family were mourning the loss of his eldest son, Joe Reagan, whom is only featured in flashbacks.
Although the show began with many other stars — including Jennifer Esposito as Detective Jackie Curatola — the six actors above are the only ones that have been part of the show from the start to finish.
CBS announced in November 2023 that season 14 will be the show’s last. Viewers were treated to the first batch of episodes beginning in February 2024 with part two ending in December of that year.
Scroll through the gallery below to see the cast in season 1 and now:
Many Bachelor Nation couples struggle to stick together after the show, but the original Bachelorette, Trista Sutter, seems to have found her happily ever after with husband Ryan Sutter.
“I decided going in that I needed to give myself wholeheartedly to the experience in order for it to work,” Trista recalled to Us Weekly exclusively in 2020. “I still believe that for anybody who’s the lead, if a person is not willing to be vulnerable and willing to express themselves and be truly themselves without fear of criticism or skepticism or whatever, I don’t think it’ll work out.”
The then-physical therapist and the firefighter were always true to themselves. On the 2003 finale of the show, they got engaged, and one year later, they got married in a TV special. Trista and Ryan now share two children and continue to fight for their romance.
“We’ve had our bumps in the road, just like anyone else, but it’s really about staying focused on each other and dedicating time to each other,” Trista said on the Today show in 2015.
Scroll down for a full timeline of their love story:
It’s tough to win Big Brother without some sort of alliance — but it’s even more difficult if you’re one half of a showmance. However, that doesn’t stop competitors, time and time again, from pairing up while in the house.
“The secret no one knows about Big Brother — I think it’s really a marriage show,” host Julie Chen Moonves said during Entertainment Tonight‘s Big Brother 25th Anniversary Special in July 2023. “We’ve had more successful marriages than The Bachelorbecause when you are locked away from society, you bond, and you get to see every side of that person.”
Keep scrolling to see all the Big Brother showmances over the years and find out who’s still together
The reality show focused on the personal lives of then-high schoolers Stephen Colletti, Lauren Conrad, Kristin Cavallari, Lo Bosworth and more. Laguna Beach was originally set to be a high school drama but was not allowed to film inside the actual high school, meaning that it was completely shifted to focus on the cast’s home life.
Conrad led the first season as the narrator, as the main storyline focused on a love triangle she found herself in with Cavallari and Colletti. In season 2, Conrad went away to college, with Cavallari taking over as the narrator. When her season ended, a new group was introduced but fell flat without the series’ original cast.
Scroll through the gallery below for an update on where the cast is today:
Underwood fell fast for Olympian Aly Raisman after being set up by a friend. “Aly was easy to talk to. She was open, funny, bright, honest, and inquisitive. She laughed easily and had a smile that I would’ve been happy to simply gaze at for the rest of the night, no further conversation necessary,” he wrote in his 2020 memoir, The First Time: Finding Myself and Looking for Love on Reality TV.
Two weeks after she told him she loved him, she ended the relationship over FaceTime.
After competing on Becca Kufrin’s season of The Bachelorette in 2018, Underwood went on to lead season 23 of The Bachelor the following year. He found love on the show with Cassie Randolph. They twosome had a very messy breakup when they called it quits in 2020.
Underwood came out as gay in 2021 and began dating his now-husband, Jordan C. Brown, that same year.
Scroll through the gallery below to look back at his dating history:
Over the years, many members of Bachelor Nation have joined Dancing With the Stars after their search for romance — but not all have taken home the mirrorball.
Melissa Rycroft was the first Bachelor contestant to compete in the series in 2009. While she didn’t win her season, she was asked back for an all-stars season and took first place.
Following her success, many more women from the reality series have gone on to make it to finals, including Hannah Brown, Kaitlyn Bristowe, Gabby Windey and Charity Lawson. Both Brown and Bristowe ultimately won their respective seasons, while Windey came in second place.
In June 2005, ABC launched the U.S. version of the U.K. series Strictly Come Dancing. Each season, a celebrity is partnered with a professional dancer as they tackle a new style of ballroom dance.
Carrie Ann Inaba,Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman have served as judges since the series’ debut, with pro dancer Julianne Hough briefly joining the table for seasons 19-21, then again for seasons 23 and 24. During season 29, Goodman was also replaced, since he was unable to travel to L.A. due to the coronavirus pandemic. Former pro Derek Hough became the third judge and has become a staple of the panel since.
At the end of each season, one star claims the iconic mirrorball trophy. After Goodman’s death in 2023, the competition series renamed its coveted prize after the late judge.
Scroll through the gallery below to see every star who has won the reality show and where they are today:
When soap opera stars leave their roles, it can be as shocking as their shows’ plotlines.
Alison Sweeney surprised longtime Days of Our Lives fans in 2014 when she announced she’d be exiting the series after 21 years.
“I’ve been on Days of Our Lives since I was 16 years old, and I have never had more than a two-week vacation in that whole time,” the actress, who joined Days in 1993, said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show at the time. “I’m celebrating my 21st year, and I decided that it’s going to be my last year with the show.”
However, not all soap stars move on of their own accord. In 2019, Daniel Goddard revealed that he’d been ousted from The Young and the Restless.
“I am as shocked and gutted as you are,” Goddard, who played Cane Ashby on the daytime TV show, wrote via social media at the time.
Keep scrolling for more shocking soap opera exits through the years.