Skip to main content

One Tree Hill is an early 2000s TV show that starred Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray. Several of the cast members are still friends and have reunited several times. However, people might not see Bush and Murray together often. 

Bush and Murray dated and married each other during the show’s production. Their divorce was not pleasant, and their characters had a similar fate. Some fans might recall whether the separation happened before or after the protagonists dated. 

How long were Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush together?

(L-R) Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray smiling in front of a dark background
(L-R) Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray | Matthew Simmons/Getty Images

Murray and Bush met on the set of the teen drama One Tree Hill, and they portrayed Lucas and Brooke. Their characters eventually get into a romantic entanglement, much to the fans’ enjoyment. However, love did not blossom solely between Lucas and Brooke. 

According to MsMojo, Murray and Bush formed a relationship in 2003 and dated for over a year. The two took things to the next level and married sometime in 2005. However, some fans were likely disappointed to hear that their marriage did not last long.

Murray and Bush were married for about five months before they called it quits. Bush petitioned that they get an annulment, but the court denied her request. The reason could be that she may not have met the eligibility requirements for a successful annulment.

As a result, Murray and Bush had to split using the regular divorce route. They officially separated in 2006, and fans have noticed the similarities between the actors and the characters. In the show, Lucas ends up choosing Peyton over Brooke.

Brooke and Lucas were dating when the actors divorced

Brooke and Lucas started their relationship in the first season of the teen drama. The love triangle involving them and Peyton continued for a couple of more years. The characters dating happened well before the actors who play them had gotten a divorce. Their first kiss occurred in the ninth episode of season 1.

Lucas and Brooke’s romance might have begun before Murray proposed to Bush. However, Murray and Bush’s separation did happen before Lucas and Brooke broke up in the series. Their divorce is likely the reason why the fictional pair broke up.

Brooke and Lucas had a couple of breakups in the series but eventually ended things for good. They never made it to the altar as their actors did. The press did not help lessen the drama surrounding Murray and Bush’s divorce.

Bush even mentioned how the producers did not behave appropriately. Ads began to circulate on TV to take advantage of the situation to promote One Tree Hill. The promotional material likely teased the end of Lucas and Brooke’s romantic relationship.

What the actors have said since the divorce

Related

‘One Tree Hill’: Chad Michael Murray Has an Idea For a Reboot and ‘Can’t Imagine’ Not Doing It

Brooke and Lucas managed to remain friends, but Murray and Bush did not leave on good terms. The pair live their separate lives and do not speak to each other much. There is a possibility that the show’s producers had a hand in the former co-stars’ rivalry.

“Everybody’s been 22 and stupid. You know?” Bush explained on Radio Andy in a discussion about her marriage with Murray. “It was not a thing I actually really wanted to do.”

In another interview, Bush said they were young and had “no business being in a relationship in the first place.” After she and Murray divorced, the latter dated Kenzie Dalton. The couple stayed engaged for seven years before breaking up after One Tree Hill ended.

Bush was in a relationship with co-star Austin Nichols from 2010 to 2012. A couple of years ago, several people spotted her with a businessman named Grant Hughes.