Lea Michele disclosed in her memoir that she once dated a second Glee co-star.
The revelation landed in her 2014 autobiography ‘Brunette Ambition,’ released less than a year after the death of her boyfriend and fellow cast member Cory Monteith. Michele, 43, wrote that she and Matthew Morrison, 47, had been romantic partners long before they shared the screen as student Rachel Berry and teacher Will Schuester.
The pair’s history stretched back to their Broadway days. “When we shot the pilot, I met Cory Monteith, Kevin McHale, Amber Riley, and Chris Colfer for the first time,” she wrote in the book, per the outlet. “I had worked on Broadway with Jenna Ushkowitz and Matthew Morrison before. Matt had been a friend of mine for years, and in fact, we’d actually dated back in the day for a Broadway beat.”
Morrison had already dismissed speculation about a Glee-era romance years earlier. The rumors reached him in 2010 while he was on set, prompting a call to his publicist and a bewildered exchange with Michele. “We were literally on set and I got a call from my publicist [about Lea], and [Lea] got a call a minute later and we looked at each other like, ‘What the [expletive]?'” he told Parade at the time. “It’s so laughable.”
The actor added that the gossip machine held little power over him. “I feel like I can handle this stuff because I don’t really care,” he continued. “I’ve never gotten into tabloids and I don’t really care about it now, but I just feel bad for other people in my life who are getting dragged into it. It just kinda sucks.”
Michele’s book devoted more space to Monteith than to Morrison. She described her late boyfriend as her “biggest fan” and noted that he had read nearly all of ‘Brunette Ambition’ before his death.
The Canadian actor died in July 2013 at age 31 from an accidental overdose of heroin and alcohol. His death came three months after he entered rehab for substance addiction, a period during which Michele publicly stood by him. “I love and support Cory and will stand by him through this. I am grateful and proud he made this decision,” she said via the BBC in April 2013.
Michele and Monteith had begun dating in late 2011, three years after meeting on the Glee set, and made their red carpet debut at the Do Something Awards in August 2012. She paid tribute to him on the 10th anniversary of his death in 2023.
Both Michele and Morrison have since married other people. Morrison wed Renee Puente in 2014, while Michele married Zandy Reich in 2019.
