Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz have denied dating for over two decades, despite rumors that started almost the moment Buffy and Angel began falling for each other on screen. Here’s where the speculation actually came from, and what both of them have said about it since.
Where the Rumors Started
The timing alone made this an easy rumor to believe. Boreanaz joined Buffy in 1997 as Angel, Buffy’s brooding vampire love interest, and the two actors had instant, easy chemistry both in front of the camera and off it.
Some outlets have reported the two went on a couple of low-key dates around 1998 or 1999, though neither Gellar nor Boreanaz has ever confirmed specifics, and both have consistently described whatever happened in those early days as nothing more than two young costars getting close while filming a show about falling in love.
What Actually Fueled the Speculation
If it had just been on-screen chemistry, the rumors probably would’ve faded fast. Instead, the two kept doing things that poured gasoline on it.
Boreanaz showed up as a surprise guest when Gellar hosted “Saturday Night Live” in May 1999, alongside fellow costar Seth Green. And when Boreanaz left Buffy to headline his own spinoff in 2000, Gellar dedicated her Teen Choice Award that year to him directly, telling the crowd it was for her Angel, and that she already missed him.
Both actors have talked openly over the years about how much they genuinely enjoyed filming Buffy and Angel’s kissing scenes, which didn’t help quiet anything, even though their actual on-set ritual argues the opposite.
Before shooting those scenes, the two reportedly ate tuna fish or pickles specifically to make kissing each other as unromantic as possible, and Gellar has said she’d sew or pin her costumes shut just to make his job harder. It’s less the behavior of two people hiding a secret romance and more two friends actively trying to keep things platonic on a show that kept forcing them not to be.
What They’ve Actually Said
Both have shut the dating rumors down directly and consistently, describing their bond as closer to siblings than anything romantic.
Gellar has said she always felt protected by him and that they’ve been each other’s best friends since day one. Boreanaz has echoed that, describing genuine affection for their friendship without ever suggesting it was more.
In a 2026 interview with People, Gellar went further, explaining that their off-screen dynamic was actually the opposite of Buffy and Angel’s, goofy and silly rather than intense, and that keeping it that way may be exactly what let both of them lose themselves fully in the characters without anything bleeding over.
The Truth, Then and Now
More than two decades later, the two are still close. They’ve stayed in each other’s orbit through Gellar visiting Boreanaz on the set of “Bones,” joint appearances, and the kind of easy, ongoing friendship that’s outlasted the show itself.
So no, by every account either of them has ever given, Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz never actually dated. What they had, and clearly still have, was a friendship close enough to make a fictional vampires and their Slayer look believable for seven straight seasons.
All seasons of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel” are available for streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.
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