Summer and Seth forever! Rachel Bilson and Adam Brody might not have been endgame, splitting in 2006, but their characters on The O.C. still have fans cheering.
The duo played Summer Roberts and Seth Cohen, respectively, on the Fox drama for four seasons from 2003 to 2007. The characters were high school sweethearts who got married before the show went off the air.
Off screen, Bilson and Brody dated for three years before calling it quits ahead of the show’s final season. The Hart of Dixie alum then dated Hayden Christensen on and off for 10 years before separating for good in 2017. The exes share daughter Briar Rose.
The Jennifer’s Body actor, on the other hand, married Leighton Meester in 2014. The pair share two children, daughter Arlo, and a son, whom they welcomed in 2020.
Though it’s been more than a decade since their real-life romance fizzled out, Bilson and Brody have teased their friendship on many occasions. In July 2013, the Promising Young Woman actor revealed whether his ex-girlfriend was a better kisser than Olivia Wilde, who played bad girl Alex Kiley on the teen drama.
“I was dating Rachel at the time, so there were less barriers,” Brody said on Watch What Happens Live at the time. “So, Rachel.”
The following year, the Single Parents alum doubled down on Bilson’s kissing skills, calling her “one of the all-time greats” when it came to making out while doing an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit in August 2014.
Five years later, the former flames reunited at the airport and documented the moment via Instagram. “Ran into my ol buddy from jfk to lax #californiaherewecome,” Bilson captioned the snap in August 2019, referencing the show’s theme song.
While their romance didn’t last in the real world, the How I Met Your Mother alum had a strong feeling her O.C. character would still be married to Seth. “Yeah, sure. Why not? You always want a happy ending,” she told Us Weekly exclusively in December 2019, noting she “loved” doing the show and would be open to a revival.
As for her relationship with Brody now, Bilson told Dax Shepard in March 2021 that they “still get along really well” after all these years.
“I had so much, and still do, love and respect for Adam,” she said during an episode of Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast. “We went through so much together, being so young and everything with the show. And I’m so happy for him with his family and his beautiful wife and kids and everything.”
Scroll down to see what Bilson has said about working with Brody over the years: