Chuck Lorre Was Completely Unfazed By On-Set Romances On The Big Bang Theory Set

Everyone loves the chemistry between Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Penny (Kaley Cuoco) on "The Big Bang Theory," but did you know that the actors behind them actually dated too? As Cuoco revealed in "The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series" (via Vanity Fair), they were both in relationships with other people when they started filming the show but felt an instant attraction to each other.

Cuoco and Galecki's off-screen romance was jump-started while filming the Season 1 episode "The Nerdvana Annihilation," in which Leonard dreams that he saves Penny in the elevator shaft. The actors had to be very close together, with their bodies tangled up with each other. "I think we fell a little in love in that elevator shaft," Cuoco recalled to author Jessica Radloff.

And once the actors finally did get together, Galecki insisted on not telling anyone about it, which didn't sit well with Cuoco. "I would have told everybody the next day at the table read. I would have announced it and said, We're together! But he was like, 'We can't tell anyone!' So we kept it quiet," Cuoco explained, who went public with their relationship about a year after it ended in an interview with CBS Watch! (via LiveJournal).

Naturally, the decision to keep their relationship a secret led to the two of them having to sneak around a lot, and at one point, they were spotted by series co-creator Chuck Lorre. However, the "Big Bang Theory" co-creator was completely unfazed by what he saw.

In the same book on the history of "The Big Bang Theory," Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki recalled getting caught red-handed by Chuck Lorre. "It was after a show when we went outside, and we saw Chuck walk solo out of the stage," Galecki revealed. "We were by some cars, 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."

For his part, Lorre doesn't remember the incident, speculating that it may have been because he simply couldn't handle it at the time. "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," he admitted. Luckily for the cast and crew (and Lorre's sanity), Cuoco and Galecki remained the best of friends after parting ways.