Did Leonard and Penny from The Big Bang Theory date in real life? Kaley Cuoco had a crush on Johnny Galecki, reveals Jessica Radloff

The Official Big Bang Theory Podcast host Jessica Radloff has revealed details about the real-life romance between Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco in the latest episode of the podcast. Released on April 28, it features Radloff dissecting episode six of The Big Bang Theory's first season (The Middle Earth Paradigm) with director Anthony Rich.

The Middle Earth Paradigm also features the first time Leonard Hofstadter kisses his new neighbor Penny. The crux takes place inside Penny's place, where Leonard and his friends are invited for a Halloween party. Leonard, who is head-over-heels for Penny, feels intimidated when her macho ex-boyfriend, Kurt, arrives at the party.

Matters deteriorate for Leonard when Kurt picks him up following a verbal altercation over Penny. Realizing her mistake of calling Kurt to the party, an inebriated Penny apologizes to Leonard and the two share their first kiss. However, Leonard stops her advances because she's drunk.

While dissecting this sequence, Jessica Radloff revealed that Kaley Cuoco had a massive crush on Johnny Galecki before shooting this scene.

"Of course, this was before Johnny and Kaley started dating in real life, but she was crushing hard on him. And I remember when I talked to Johnny about it, he was like, ‘Come on, Kaley Cuoco in a kitty cat uniform. Come on. Of course, I was,’" Radloff said in the podcast.

According to a report by Vanity Fair, Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki dated exclusively from 2008 to 2010. However, Kaley Cuoco revealed in an interview with CBS that the two were extremely private about their off-screen romance and always kept it under wraps. Despite their mutual breakup after two years, the two were on friendly terms and kept things professional on set.

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The Big Bang Theory stars Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki reveal the on-screen moment they fell in love in real life

The Big Bang Theory final scene (Image via Instagram/@bigbangtheory)

In an interview with Vanity Fair (published on October 3, 2022), Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco revealed that they "fell a little in love" while shooting an intimate elevator dream sequence during the season 1 episode, The Nerdvana Annihilation.

In the episode, Leonard had a dream in which he carried Penny down an elevator shaft. It was also the first scene in which fans saw the two sharing an intimate moment. Speaking about the sequence, Cuoco claimed that it "was not an enjoyable experience" for her because it was getting difficult to hold back her feelings.

"We had to be in each other’s arms—and for quite some time, because it was a bit of a stunt that we were doing. It was a whole thing, and it was a pretape since it took a little while. Kaley didn’t look freaked out at all. In fact, she looked extremely happy in those arms," Galecki shared.

Cuoco added on, saying:

"I think we fell a little in love in that elevator shaft."

Galecki inferred that the moment was a "massive turning point" in their relationship as "something mutual was felt."

"I was like, Uh‑oh. I was crushing so hard on him. So much so that I was like, Get me out of here, because he had to hold me up and we had to do this really close thing. Even my cheeks were really red. I was super nervous and kept thinking, Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. I was just a nervous wreck being that close to him in the moment," Cuoco shared.

A curious fact about the above mentioned dream sequence is that a snapshot of it became Penny's fridge magnet later on in The Big Bang Theory. However, it could never have existed as it was shown to be imaginary in the sitcom.

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