‘Tell Me Lies’ Season 3 Is Coming and It’s ‘As Toxic as Ever’—Plus, All About the Show’s IRL Couples!
Plus, what to expect in the anticipated new season
Dark academia vibes, long-buried secrets and toxic romances take center stage in Hulu’s hit TV series Tell Me Lies. The buzzy coming-of-age show released Season 2 in September 2024 and remains one of the streamer’s most-watched original series. Based on Carola Lovering’s bestselling novel of the same name, the series has more than 200 million views on TikTok and fans can’t help but speculate about the cast relationships—both onscreen and off!
The plot follows students Lucy and Stephen during their first year of college. As the pair and their peers get caught in a web of lies, lingering betrayals and turbulent romances ensue. And in real life, the show’s creators and stars lead almost as interesting personal lives. Here, we’re taking a look at some of the real-life love lives of Tell Me Lies—including the stars of the show who are dating IRL. Keep reading to find out who’s dating, who’s married and what’s coming in Season 3!
But first, what is the book ‘Tell Me Lies’ about?
Carola Lovering released her debut novel, Tell Me Lies, in 2018. In 2020, the adaptation was announced as a first-look deal between Hulu and Emma Roberts’ production company, Belletrist TV.
The book follows Lucy Albright, who is escaping her troubled family past and distant relationship with her mother and starting over again at her small California college. Here, she meets Stephen DeMarco, a charming yet complex guy who sees something in her no one else has. As their intense—almost obsessive—relationship deepens, Lucy is drawn in, despite sensing Stephen’s dark secrets. Alternating between their perspectives, the novel chronicles their toxic connection through college and into post-college life in New York City. It’s a twisty, complicated coming-of-age story about love, hate, desire, betrayal and the difficulty of letting go.
Grace Van Patten (Lucy Albright) and Jackson White (Stephen DeMarco)
In the show, Van Patten and DeMarco’s characters bring a new level of toxicity to on-again-off-again TV couples. But here’s the twist: These two are actually dating IRL—and their relationship is quite the opposite of their on-screen connection!
The pair kept their real-life romance under wraps for a while, but earlier this year Van Patten opened up about their connection on an episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast. In fact, the first time she officially “met” her future boyfriend, White, was on a Zoom chemistry read. (Although there are some reports that the two first met at a party in LA, but DeMarco reportedly didn’t recall the encounter.) “I didn’t like Jackson at first,” Van Patten said on the podcast. “We talk about this all the time. Jackson, I had heard, was the favorite. And he gets on, and—I’ve told him this—I’m like, ‘Oh, this is like a serious actor, like, actor-y actor. So I was just like, ‘Ugh, god.’” Luckily, White impressed everyone on the call—including Van Patten. “I was like, ‘Alright. It’s fine. Maybe we won’t get along. But, like, he’s perfect for the part, and he’s so talented and great,’” she recalled. “And so, I was half-really excited that we found our Stephen. But the other half just kinda rolled my eyes a little bit.”
When they met up in person, Van Patten discovered it was White’s nerves coming through on the Zoom call that day. “He just told me he was really nervous for the Zoom, and now I know him so well, and I know that part of him,” she continued. “And I’m like, ‘Oh! That’s what I was seeing.’ But it really took me to meet him in person to be like, ‘This guy’s the best.’”
White, who is the son of Married…with Children and Sons of Anarchy’s Katy Sagal, has also sung Van Patten’s praises. Before the two were publicly dating, he appeared on an episode of The Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast and fans went wild over his romantic revelations. “Our lives are built in together. It’s crazy, we have so much to do together,” he said on the podcast. “She is the coolest, most grounded, amazing person IRL that you’ll ever meet. She was the fearless leader on our show. She’s 25 years old and runs a set like she’s been doing this for 30 years. She’s so consistent and good at this.”
Are there any other IRL couples working together on the show?
Well, technically yes! The series’ showrunner, Meaghan Oppenheimer, cast her husband, Tom Ellis (Lucifer), as the alluring new professor in Season 2. “It was actually not my idea originally. Someone else pitched the idea of him playing the part after we’d already sort of conceived it. And I was like, ‘Oh, that actually could be really cool,’” Oppenheimer said in an interview with Decider. She went on to say that after they talked through the vision for the character, Ellis joined Season 2.
Ellis also shared how pleased he was with the whole process in another interview with Decider. “It was a pleasure. Genuinely. I’ve worked with Meaghan before, a few years ago on our show, Queen America. And any sort of feelings I had of ‘I wonder what it would be like working with my wife?’ were extinguished during that experience,” Ellis told the outlet. “I think we’re able to separate church and state quite easily. We have a huge amount of respect for each other creatively. And I just was thrilled to be part of it, because she’s such an amazing writer and gives really amazing notes as well when you’re working. It’s a privilege.”
‘Tell Me Lies’ Season 3: plot, release date, more!
Oppenheimer sat down with Variety in October 2024 and detailed her process of mapping out the show “way in advance.” “I think by the third season, we will still have some 2008 because there’s stuff that we have to wrap up there,” she explained in the interview. “But I think it would be a little bit shifted in the sense that there will probably be more 2015 than 2008.” She also said “there would probably be a time jump” for Season 3.
Ellis also weighed in on what fans can expect ahead of the new season at CBS Fest in L.A. in May of this year. “It is as dark, toxic, and funny as ever,” he said. “And just when you thought our characters couldn’t do anything more ridiculous to themselves, they ended up doing it.”
The show reportedly wrapped filming Season 3 in May 2025 and sources estimate the new season will release in early 2026.
Want to catch up on the juicy drama and romantic toxicity before Season 3? Watch Tell Me Lies on Hulu now.
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