These days, The Bold and the Beautiful and The Young and the Restless’ troublemaking Amber Moore is married (to Guiding Light grad Scott Bailey) with children. But in the early 2000s, the apple of her eye — or should we say “Iris”? — was Johnny Rzeznik, the lead singer of the hitmaking rock band the Goo Goo Dolls. “He’s a good balance for her,” B&B castmate Susan Flannery (ex-Stephanie) observed to People. “He seems able to calm and reassure her.”
Grayson McCouch and Betty Buckley
Long before he played Dusty Donovan on As the World Turns, much less Kyle Sloane on General Hospital, McCouch spent three years on the arm of much-older Tony winner Betty Buckley — yes, the stepmom from Eight Is Enough, the gym teacher from the original Carrie and the Broadway legend who sang “Memory” in the original New York cast of Cats. “True women-lovers like myself go through this evolution,” McCouch explained to Soap Opera Digest in 2003, “where when they’re younger, they go for older, and when they’re older, they go for younger.”
Pierson Fodé and Victoria Justice
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI
Matthew Atkinson’s predecessor as The Bold and the Beautiful’s Thomas Forrester fell hard for the Victorious songbird while they were working together on the movie Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List. “I had no idea who Victoria was,” he admitted to Teen Vogue at the time. She had no clue who he was, either. “I met him at the audition,” she told E! News. “He’s a great guy… really sweet and just a great, really tall person.” Sadly, his sweetness and height couldn’t keep the romance on track. Seventeen reported their breakup in 2015.
Josh Duhamel and Fergie
Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI
After a decade of marriage and the birth of son Axl, the All My Children alum (who played Leo du Pres) and Transformers action hero called it quits with wife Fergie, the eight-time Grammy winner who went from Kids Incorporated to the Black Eyed Peas. Following their separation, Duhamel pointed out to the Armchair Expert podcast that “I’m not 30 years old anymore. I want to have more kids in the next few years. So it’s more about finding someone young enough to have kids. It’s not as if I’m out there trying to just [bleep] anything.” Good to know, Josh. Good. To Know.
Christopher Douglas and Jewel
Soap fans know Douglas as One Life to Live’s Dylan Moody, The Young and the Restless’ Sean Bridges and/or Passions’ Antonio Lopez-Fitzgerald. But outside of daytime, he was known, at least in the late 1990s. as the person to whom folk-pop star Jewel was likeliest to sing “You Were Meant for Me.” Ironically, the actor, once chosen as one of YM magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful Guys, didn’t appear in a music video for his girlfriend but for alt-pop goddess Tori Amos (that’s him cutting carrots in “Cornflake Girl” on YouTube).
Max Ehrich and Demi Lovato
If any couple can break the soap star/singer curse, it’s gotta be The Young and the Restless’ former Fenmore Baldwin and the “Sorry Not Sorry” powerhouse. As he put it on Instagram after they became engaged in the summer of 2020, “I cannot spend another second of my time here on Earth without the miracle of having you as my wife.” Responding to a post of his future bride’s, he added, “You make me want to be the best version of myself. I’m honored to accept your hand in marriage. I love you more than a caption could express.” Even a really, really long caption!