While Kaley Cuoco is currently pregnant with beau Tom Pelphrey’s child, she famously dated her Big Bang Theory co-star Johnny Galecki while the CBS sitcom was still on the air. The two dated for around two years before calling it quits in 2009, though the onscreen romance between Penny and Leonard lasted longer. Galecki and Cuoco are still close to this day, which is probably why the actress was comfortable sharing a makeout story recently.
In the new book The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series a slew of set stories about The Big Bang Theory were shared. Among them was this story from the actress from the time she was still dating Galecki. In the 2022 book, the actress opened up about getting “busted” hooking up in the parking lot!
One time Chuck [Lorre] busted us hiding behind a car in the parking lot. It was after a show ... and we ducked down, like kids hiding from their parents! And he totally busted us, but he was classy about it and didn't say anything. We just didn't want anybody to worry.
While Kaley Cuoco very vividly remembers being busted by her showrunner boss, he seemed to be very preoccupied with whatever was going on with the show, and joked he didn’t have the “emotional bandwidth” to deal with seeing his actors hook up. He also said in the book:
I can't remember that. That might be one of those things I compartmentalized like, ‘I can't deal with this, I don't have the mental, emotional bandwidth to deal with an on set romance.’
Cuoco seemed amused by the story and called it “such a Chuck answer,” which makes me think there are probably other incidents in the history of The Big Bang Theory in which the showrunner simply buried his head in the sand.
Both the Penny and Leonard actors opened up about the “chemistry” they’d experienced on set, which led them to explore a relationship outside of the scripts that were being written for them. (And which often had them in bed together.) In fact, after Cuoco broke up with her onscreen partner, she wrote about how there was a period after in which Lorre awkwardly had them filming bedroom scenes at a much higher rate than normal.
Luckily, Johnny and I came out of it so brilliantly. We're closer today than we ever were… I remember when we broke up, obviously it was a little sensitive for a minute, but I remember those weeks that Chuck had written these episodes where all of a sudden our characters were sleeping together like every other second.
Given Cuoco’s mention of Lorre's on-brand response, above, when it came to paying attention to the romantic shenanigans of his actors, this story also checks out. Meanwhile, while the two were seen making out on set, the actress would like everyone to know the PDA stopped there. As she bluntly put it, “[we] never even had [sex] in our dressing rooms.”
Kaley Cuoco went on to marry and divorce Ryan Sweeting (while Big Bang was still on air) and then Karl Cook after dating Johnny Galecki. She and Cook split back in 2021 and finalized their divorce this year, after which she started seeing Pelphrey. The two announced their pregnancy in October. Meanwhile, Johnny Galecki had a child with partner Alaina Meyer, though the two have since split. As for the two Big Bang Theory co-stars, the two still remain in touch through sweet birthday messages and more.
