Mischa Barton Reveals Her Secret Relationship With Co-Star Ben McKenzie

Barton finally admitted that an early romance sprouted between her and her co-star Ben on a podcast Wednesday. The actor appeared on the podcast Call Her Daddy on 21 February, Wednesday. Barton has been denying the news of her first romance for a long time.

The Early Romance On Set

Finally, Barton admitted that the rumors regarding her first romance were true. She said that an early romance developed between Ben McKenzie and Barton on the sets of her first show The O.C, a popular Fox teen drama. Barton addressed it as her first romantic relationship, which was complicated for her. 

The actress was 17 when she dated her 25-year-old co-star, who performed the romantic pair Marissa Cooper and Ryan Atwood respectively, on the show. On her appearance on the podcast, Barton said that the romance was not just on the screen. She also admitted that the relationship was complicated for her as everything was new to her. She was clueless about her situation then. 

Barton said that she was the youngest among the cast and crew of The O.C. She revealed that she went to the show as a virgin and as a kid. The kid in her felt the urgent need to grow up. The thought of being a late bloomer in school also made her abruptly run into a relationship She was thrown into a new atmosphere, leaving her clueless about her actions. Barton also shared her difficulty in acting with older people.  She was amazed thinking that, unlike her, they knew what they were doing. The feeling of catching up with her elders in terms of experience made her fall into a relationship which she was not comfortable with. 

Barton said that the set was the place where she experienced many of the firsts. She also shared that being the kid on the set, the crew was concerned about her relationship with McKenzie mainly due to their age gap. 

Breakup And The Chaos That Followed

Barton shared the chaos that followed her breakup. She said that the breakup happened right out of the gate. She felt like she was not ready for any of the things that were happening in her life, whether it be the relationship or the breakup. 

Barton shared how overwhelmed she was when the producers of the show went to her parenting showing concern for her relationship, which made her feel like a whole ordeal. She shared that all these affected her as she was so much into it. 

The actress said that a lot of people dated on the set, making her situation worse. She recalled that so much happened in the three seasons as she faced the breakup while the show was not even halfway.  

Barton has earlier talked about the unhealthy environment she had to face on the Fox set. She said she had to face bullying from some men on the set which was complicated for her to deal with. The actress said that as she loved the show she couldn’t quit it but had to build walls to deal with them.

Read more: 10 Ways To Deal With A Breakup And Move On – Pick Yourself Up!

The O.C

The O.C. is an American teen drama series originally aired by Fox Network. It ran for four seasons from 2003 to 2007. Barton was on the show till the season 3 finale in 2006 completing 76 episodes. But McKenzie continued till the end with 92 episodes.