Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray’s Divorce Was Used In Ads For ‘One Tree Hill’
It’s not often that our favorite actors spark real-life relationships, but it was the case for One Tree Hill fans when Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray took their love affair off-screen. Fans couldn’t get enough of them and enjoyed their on-screen romance that much more. The problem was when the real-life couple decided to call it quits, so did ‘Brucas.’ And it was not a coincidence. As it turns out, Bush and Murray’s divorce was used in ads for One Tree Hill for promotional purposes and Bush wasn’t happy about it.
‘One Tree Hill’ stars Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray
Before catching her big break on One Tree Hill, Bush made a few appearances on shows like Nip/Tuck as Ridley Lange and Sabrina the Teenage Witch as Fate Mackenzie. However, after being hired on to the WB/CW series as Brooke Davis, the One Tree Hill star started moved her talents to the big screen with notable movies like John Tucker Must Die, The Hitcher, and Stay Alive. Bush has recently appeared on popular series like Chicago P.D. and This is Us and is now working on a post-production horror film called False Positive that is expected to hit the big screens in 2021.
At the young age of 18, Murray was cast into his premiering role in Gilmore Girls as bad boy Tristan Dugray. The actor went on to also make appearances in Dawson’s Creek before landing a leading role in One Tree Hill in 2003 as Lucas Scott. This is when his acting career really began to take off and Murray started to make money and a name for himself in the industry. As he did, he moved to a bigger screen, earning spots on films like House of Wax alongside Paris Hilton, A Cinderella Story opposite Hilary Duff, and Freaky Friday with Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Their ‘One Tree Hill’ relationship led to a real-life marriage
Bush and Murray met on the set of One Tree Hill as Brooke and Lucas. Their characters get entangled in a steamy love affair that is dubbed by OTH fans as ‘Brucas.’ They started on a bad foot, with Lucas going back and forth between her and Peyton for a while before started a meaningful relationship with Brooke that fans obsessed over when the couple started dating in real life.
Around the time of their back-and-forth love affair, the two eventually make it to the altar like some fans thought they would in the show. As it turns out, their marriage is short-lived (5 months to be exact), and Lucas chooses to marry Peyton in Vegas rather than Brooke. The major difference — the couple remained best friends in the show and aren’t on talking terms in real life.
‘Brucas’ broke up when Murray and Bush divorced in real life
As Bush’s character once said to Lucas, “I think we have to go through all this stuff, you know, to get to the places we wanna be.” It seems that place just didn’t include each other because both romances ended at the same time in 2006 — and not by coincidence. US Weekly reports Bush’s take on the whole experience and how she felt the producers were “deeply inappropriate” to her and Murray’s divorce.
“There was no space to self-reflect. … They ran like TV ads about it, it was really ugly. They made a practice of taking advantage of people’s personal lives,” Bush revealed. “Not just for me and for my ex, for other actors on the show who would share as you do when you get close to people. Deeply personal things that were happening in their lives, and they would wind up in storylines. It wasn’t OK.”
Whether or not One Tree Hill producers played a part in their rivalry today, the two actors live completely separate lives and aren’t on talking terms. Chad Michael Murray is now happily married and has kids, while Sophia Bush is getting cozy with Grant Hughes. Fans can only hope the two stars can reconcile their differences and be friends at least.
