The Truth Behind Kevin McHale's Role in Fueling Lea Michele and Cory Monteith Relationship Speculations
Kevin McHale unknowingly sparked rumors of Lea Michele and Cory Monteith's relationship by innocently posting a photo of them looking affectionate on the 'Glee' set Little did he know, his actions would lead to the confirmation of their real-life romance
Kevin McHale made a surprising confession about starting a rumor regarding Lea Michele and Cory Monteith dating, before the Glee stars went public with their relationship.
McHale, 35, shared on the December 18th episode of iHeartRadio's "And That's What You REALLY Missed" podcast that their ratings had begun to decline slightly. He and Jenna Ushkowitz reminisced about filming the season 3 Christmas episode, noting that they had experienced two successful years with great ratings before seeing a significant drop for the first time. As the one responsible for monitoring the ratings, McHale kept the team informed about the situation.
During the filming of the final number, where the glee club serenades a homeless shelter with the song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, the cast had plenty of time to brainstorm ideas. "I don’t know who came up with it, it might’ve been a group thing," McHale said. "So I talked to Lea. I don’t know if I talked to Cory, I think we did. And you [Jenna] were part of it."
Ushkowitz, 37, struggled to remember the details, but McHale vividly recalled the plan during the podcast. "I was like, ‘I’m sitting across the room. What if I pretend to take a picture of Jenna and in the background, the very edge of frame, are Cory and Lea being a little extra snuggly?'," he recounted. "I said, ‘I’ll put it up and wait a little bit for people to notice, and then I’ll delete it, like I did something wrong.’ Because the intention was we were gonna get rumors started that Cory and Lea are dating, and people will watch the show."
McHale added, “We were all very nervous. Lea was like, ‘Yes, absolutely, let’s do it.'”
Courtesy of Kevin McHale/Twitter
The actor shared on Twitter, and his fellow cast members were eager for updates. “Everyone’s asking, ‘What’s happening? Have people noticed?’ And I’m like, ‘No, no one’s noticed. No one’s saying anything.’ And then, when one person did mention it, I deleted it… but then it went viral and became a big deal.”
Any dedicated Gleek who spent time on social media in November 2011 will recall what fans referred to as the “Monchele riot” after the photo was posted. While Damian McGinty and Ushkowitz posed for the camera, Monteith and Michele were seen sitting closely together in what seemed like an unposed moment.
McHale was taken aback to discover that the snap was planned, but he was even more surprised when Michele revealed to him in January that she and Monteith were in fact in a relationship.
Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
"We were at the [SAG Awards] afterparty when Lea pulled me aside and said, 'Did you know? We had actually started dating then.' No one had any idea!" McHale revealed. "Of course, everyone found out shortly after. But she said, 'We actually started dating that week again.'"
"We had no clue at that time," Ushkowitz said. They guessed that it took another two months before the cast found out that Monteith and Michele were in a relationship."
Michele was in a relationship with the actor from late 2011 until his passing at the age of 31 in July 2013 due to an accidental drug overdose. Following Monteith's death, the show Glee continued for two more seasons. Michele, who is now 37 years old, married businessman Zandy Reich in 2019, and they have a 3-year-old son named Ever.
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Each year, the actress commemorates Monteith's death on Instagram. In July, Michele posted a throwback photo of herself with the late actor, writing: "Hey you. 10 years. It feels like only yesterday that you were here and yet a million years ago all at the same time. I hold all of our memories in my heart where they will stay safe and never forgotten. We miss you every day and will never forget the light you brought to us all. I miss you big guy. I hope you found Taylor Hawkins up there and are playing the drums together."
