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Former Glee co-stars Lea Michele and the late Cory Monteith, who played Rachel Berry and Finn Hudson, respectively, met on the set of Fox's hit musical comedy-drama television series in 2009. They dated from 2012 until Monteith's tragic death at the age of 31 in July 2013 from an apparent overdose.
Every year, on Monteith's death anniversary, Michele makes it a point to pay respects to her late co-star and boyfriend by posting touching flashback pictures or penning emotional messages. The Scream Queens actress honored her late boyfriend with several tattoos. In April 2016, she had his jersey number on her side and had "Finn" tattooed on her lower back.
The Monte Carlo actor died from an accidental alcohol and heroin overdose. In July 2013, he was discovered unresponsive in a hotel in Vancouver, Canada, about three months after a rehab stint.
An upcoming docuseries on Investigation Discovery, titled The Price of Glee, will revisit Cory Monteith's heart-rending death, among other scandals and tragedies, including Naya Rivera's accidental drowning and the case against Mark Salling and subsequent suicide that surrounded Glee cast members.
The Price of Glee premieres on Monday, January 16, 2023, at 9 pm ET.
Lea Michele opened up about her romance with former co-star Cory Monteith after his tragic death
Glee co-stars Lea Michele and Cory Monteith took their love off-screen and soon became television's "It" couple in 2012. The power couple, who performed the show's lead vocals, even saw their rendition of Journey's Don't Stop Believing climb to No. 4 on the Billboard Top 100 chart.
Michele, who played Rachel on the hit Fox series, claimed that on-screen couple Monteith's Finn and Rachel were "very much in love." Their real-life romance blossomed shortly after, with fans dubbing them "Monchele." However, on July 13, 2013, Monteith's accidental death from a drug overdose in a Vancouver hotel room abruptly ended their romance.
The unfortunate event made it clear that Monteith and Michele's relationship may have been more complicated than what they initially portrayed. After her boyfriend passed away, Michele did her best to establish an atmosphere of secrecy about their relationship.
In late 2013 she reportedly told Elle that there were many "personal" parts about their relationship "that people are not invited to know." But in the years that followed, the actress has been more open about her past relationship.
According to Life & Style, Michele told Glamour US in 2014 that they "talked about a lot of things" like "children and what we would look like when we grow old, and who would be fat and how we would stay thin."
Lea Michele further said,
"We talked about where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do. We were done. We were it."
Cory Monteith's fear of becoming tabloid gossip initially stopped him from publicly announcing his relationship with Lea Michele
While Cory Monteith was secretive about the start of their relationship, Lea Michele spoke out about what transpired between them when the show first debuted. The Broadway actress reportedly told Elle that she and Monteith started dating back in the early days of Glee. But they kept their romance a well-guarded secret that "nobody really caught on."
According to The List, their initial relationship was short-lived, and they broke up, going back to being just friends due to the struggles they faced with their new-found stardom and Monteith's desire to remain particularly private and be able to avoid becoming tabloid gossip.
The couple, however, got back together in late 2011 and made their relationship public the following year. In an interview, Lea Michele even admitted to Ellen DeGeneres how difficult it was for her partner to make the announcement, given that "he was such a private person." She added,
"I lived every day feeling like the luckiest girl in the whole world."
Nonetheless, Michele is now happily married to Zandy Reich and gave birth to their first child, Ever, in August 2020.
ID's The Price of Glee will further discuss in detail Lea Michele and Cory Monteith's relationship before the latter's untimely death.
