'One Tree Hill' co-star says he wanted to date Bethany Joy Lenz but cult got in the way
Another day, another "One Tree Hill" revelation.
Singer Tyler Hilton, who had a recurring role on the teen drama, revealed this week he had tried to date co-star Bethany Joy Lenz, but her cult got in the way.
"We were getting closer and closer and then I started getting the vibe that she was in a cult," he told audience members at a Nov. 18 concert in a video captured via TikTok.
Lenz, who played Haley for the show's 2003-20212 run, shared last year that she was a member of the "Big House Family" cult. In her memoir "Dinner for Vampires," the actress describes a harrowing 10 years as part of the group that lost her both friends and money.
"The book talks about a lot of personal stuff," Hilton said at his concert. "I went through a lot of that with her."
Lenz and Hilton began getting close off-set, bonding over music, Hilton says in the video. Taking notice, producers wrote it into the show. Seasons 2 and 3 of "One Tree Hill" see Chris and Haley enter into a lover's tryst and head out as touring musicians together.
The real-life Lenz and Hilton did that too, and fell for each other in the process. "We had so many beautiful deep conversations about religion and stuff," Hilton says in the video. "Every once in a while I would just get cult vibes, you know?"
Hilton went on to joke that he was so into Lenz that he said he didn't mind, but then she stipulated if they were going to date the group would have to vet him first. "We were actually on tour in Portland, and they came out to the show and they like sussed me out," he recounted.
Hilton did not pass the test. "I had never been broken up with by a cult before," he joked.
In her book, Lenz takes a more somber tone in describing the incident. “Tyler always treated me normally from then forward, but I hated having it hang over me. He had become a good friend, crush or no crush, and it hurt to have people keep distancing themselves from me," she wrote in the book, People reported.
Lenz has since built herself back up from the financial and mental hole the cult dug for her. "I hope that by me telling my story, that less people will be susceptible to him, and people like him," Lenz told Paste BN in October of the group's leader.
Contributing: David Oliver