The OC may have left our screens 17 years ago, but we millennials still remember it as though it was yesterday, with Marissa, Ryan, Summer and Seth, and their on-off relationships, getting us through our teenage years.
Rachel Bilson (Summer Roberts) and Adam Brody (Seth Cohen) famously dated during the cult classic show. And while there was speculation of an off screen romance between its stars Mischa Barton (Marissa Cooper) and Ben McKenzie (Ryan Atwood), the rumours were never confirmed.
This week however, Mischa Barton did just that, confirming that she and McKenzie dated offscreen in a rare interview on podcast Call Her Daddy - going on to open up about the complications of their break up and their age gap. Barton is thought to have been 17-years-old at the time, while McKenzie was 25.
“It wasn’t just on-screen either," the now 38-year-old said of the pair's chemistry on the podcast. "It was kind of complicated for me because I went into that a virgin, a kid, really feeling like I needed to grow up quickly. I had no idea about relationships at all or sex, so it was kind of just a whole learning curve for me."
She continued: "We threw ourselves all into it very fast, and then when you break up and things don’t work, they see you dating other people. It was definitely tricky that it happened right out of the gate. And that I felt overwhelmed and not ready for any of that."
"I think he was like really angry with me to begin with, and I felt the punishment of that," she continued. "I felt that from the producers as well that they were not happy about that. But there was such great chemistry between the characters, and I think people did fall in love with them because there was genuine friendship and love there on some level.
“That sexual tension was there - it reads. Even when you’re looking at the scenes on the Ferris wheel and stuff, I think we kind of hated each other at that point, but there was still this intense kind of tension there, and so it really worked for the show."
We will continue to update this story.
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