Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki Got the Best Happy Ending After Their Real-Life Romance Ended

Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki played one of television's most popular couples on The Big Bang Theory for over a decade, and their characters ultimately got their happy ending when the series ended in 2019. The actors didn't end up together in real life, but they did date for two years. Long after their split and the end of their show, they remain on friendly terms, and they're still entertaining fans with interactions that are hilarious and endearing. In other words, they got their own unique happy ending.

It all started with a big crush

Cuoco confessed to having feelings for her costar from the beginning of their working relationship. During a 2020 episode of Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast, she revealed that she fell head-over-heels for Galecki when they were filming the pilot for The Big Bang Theory, but he was not romantically available at the time. "When we did the pilot, I was crushing so hard on Galecki but he had a girlfriend," Cuoco recalled. Meanwhile, on their show, it was Galecki's geeky character, Leonard Hofstadter, who became smitten with Cuoco's aspiring actress character, Penny, immediately upon meeting her.

It would take some time for Leonard to win Penny over, but, luckily for Cuoco, she didn't have to wait too long to get a chance at romance with her crush. According to Entertainment Tonight, their relationship began in 2007, which is when the first episode of The Big Bang Theory aired on CBS.

They tried to keep their relationship secret

Sparks flew between the pair when they first got together, with Cuoco saying that "they just fell mad for each other." However, they didn't let they hid these feelings when they were out together in public. Like many Hollywood couples, Cuoco and Galecki desired to have some modicum of privacy while they were dating. Instead of turning their relationship into a promotional tool to make The Big Bang Theory even bigger, they decided to keep their romance under wraps.

During a 2010 interview with CBS Watch, Cuoco divulged that the couple didn't go out on dates because they were both "so protective" of their relationship. She explained that one of their reasons for being so private was that they didn't want their real-life romance to have any effect on their jobs. "We knew how to keep it deep inside and never bring it on that set, ever," Cuoco said.

The secrecy took its toll on the couple

All the sneaking around eventually made Cuoco realize that a relationship she had to hide was not what she wanted, and the secrecy was not as exciting and romantic as fans of a good love story might expect. "I don't want to be hiding. We couldn't do anything. It wasn't as fun as we wanted it to be," she said. Cuoco confessed that she got tired of constantly denying that she and Galecki where an item whenever she was asked, and she began to question why she "was denying this person that I love."

They had a good reason for not talking about their relationship

During his own 2013 interview with CBS Watch (via Us Weekly), Galecki explained his reticence to talk about his romance with Cuoco and their subsequent split, and it had nothing to do with bitter post-breakup feelings. He expressed his fear that doing so would "conflict with people’s acceptance of Leonard and Penny," whose love story had a much different endgame. "I get the curiosity, but I don’t want to distract from the story," he said.

Their decision to break up was a mutual one

Cuoco and Galecki's split was amicable, with the former saying that they came to realize that they were "weren’t destined to be together." She also said that she considered herself "lucky" that they didn't "hate each other" after coming to the mutual decision to call it quits, and she even described the pair as "closer today than we ever were." As for Galecki, he referred to himself and Cuoco as "dear friends" four years after their 2009 breakup.

Their friendship survived a lot

Their newfound friendship was tested soon after their split when they had to shoot sex scenes for The Big Bang Theory. During her Armchair Expert interview, Cuoco said that the series' cocreator, Chuck Lorre, wrote three episodes that included lovemaking scenes. The consummate professionals filmed them for the sake of the show, but Cuoco and Galecki had an inkling that Lorre added them because they had broken up. They came to this conclusion after discussing the suspicious circumstances. "Johnny and I talk about it, and I think [Chuck] did that on purpose just to f–k with us," Cuoco said, per Us Weekly.

The couple's friendship also managed to outlive some of their romantic relationships, including Cuoco's marriage to Ryan Sweeting in 2013. Just days before her September 2015 announcement that she was divorcing Sweeting, Cuoco spoke about her then-husband's feelings about Galecki during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live. "He’s one of my dearest friends and Ryan loves him. Johnny loves [Ryan]. I got lucky," Cuoco said, per Entertainment Tonight. A few weeks after her split from Sweeting, Galecki showed that he and Cuoco were still on very friendly terms by sharing an Instagram photo of himself biting her shoulder.

Galecki's friendship with Cuoco outlasted his two-year relationship with The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe actress Kelli Garner. According to People, the couple began dating in 2012 and broke up in 2014. One of Galecki's other high-profile romances came in 2018 when he was linked to model Alaina Meyer. A year later, they welcomed a son named Avery. Their relationship ended one month before Avery's birthday in November 2020, as reported by People.

Galecki likes to tease his ex on social media

Galecki proved that he was in good spirts after his split from Meyer on Valentine's Day when he commented on Cuoco's Instagram post paying tribute to the man she married in 2018, equestrian Karl Cook. "I don't remember a moment before you entered my life.. what a boring life that must have been! I love you @mrtankcook !" she wrote.

In the comments section, Galecki responded to Cuoco's seeming suggestion that she didn't remember him at all, and that her life was "boring" when they were together. His one-word response read, "Um."

Galecki's comment was seemingly all in good fun, and it wasn't the first time that he commented on one of his ex's photos. In April 2020, he responded to a pic of Cuoco and Cook posing outside their home. Cook was rocking a long, bushy beard. "If, God forbid, something happens to me, can my child live in Karl’s goatee?" Galecki wrote, as per The Sun.

So Cuoco and Galecki's relationship started with a big bang that couldn't be sustained, and it's since evolved into a beautiful friendship that gives fans of their long-running show a reason to keep on loving it after its sad end.