Taylor and Lascher are teaming up with their iHeart Radio podcast, 'Hey Dude... the 90s Called!'
Christine Taylor is opening up about why it was only until recently that she and David Lascher decided to reveal they dated while filming the Nickelodeon show, Hey Dude.
The 51-year-old actress tells ET's Deidre Behar that it didn't dawn on her that anyone would care as their individual profiles grew and they engrained themselves in Hollywood. Taylor and Lascher made the revelation last month in a preview of their iHeart Radio podcast, Hey Dude... the 90s Called!. Lascher told Taylor she was his "first real love" and that "it was full of teen angst."
As for Taylor, she revealed Lascher was actually her second boyfriend but they were "head over heels for each other." Now, Taylor opens up to ET about their real-life romance that transpired on a show that aired for five seasons from 1989 to 1991. The show featured Taylor as Melody Hanson, the blonde and fun lifeguard, and Lascher as the affable Ted McGriff, who always ran into trouble at the fictional Bar None Dude Ranch in Arizona.
"Well, to be honest, we didn't really think anyone cared," said Taylor when asked why they kept the relationship a secret all these years. "Now, we know that [people care]."
Taylor says it wasn't until nearly a decade ago for the 25th reunion when, while onstage for a panel discussion, they were asked if there had been any onset romances.
"And everyone just was like, 'No, we were all just great friends. We were like a family,'" Taylor said.
But, as the duo got the wheels in motion for their Hey Dude... the 90s Called! podcast, Taylor said it was actually Lascher's wife, Jill, who suggested they spill the tea.
"Jill was the first person to say, like, 'You guys should definitely talk about that,' and I was like, 'Let's, like, what better for the fans than to hear the real good behind-the-scenes comedy and drama behind the scenes," Taylor said.
Lascher said his relationship with Taylor ebbed and flowed, but more than anything, he remembers the laughs he had with Taylor.
"For me, it was for sure Christine was absolutely my first love, and it was intense 'cause we were living together. There wasn't that space to breathe," he said. "We were working every day together, so when we would fight, apparently the whole cast and crew knew and they could hear us going on our little roller coaster. But as much turbulence as there was -- and Christine had a boyfriend from high school, so I wasn't her first love -- but all I remember are so many great times and laughs. And Christine's like family to me."
They can laugh about it now, but Taylor recalled a particular episode following their split.
"The universe works in those ways where there would be episodes where David and I or Melody and Ted wouldn't even be working together," she explained, "but I remember specifically the episode that we shot right after the split and it was where we were handcuffed together in every scene. And it's just like, 'Really, universe?!'"
The teens tried to keep it professional, but then again, they were only 17 years old.
"I mean, as professional as you can be at 17 years old," Taylor quipped. "I bet if we go back and look at that episode, we could probably pin point moments where there's just no connection."
Lascher married Jill London in 1999, and he has two children, including 13-year-old daughter Chelsea, who is a TikTok star with more than 1.1 million followers.
Taylor will soon be celebrating 23 years of marriage in May with Ben Stiller. The comedy co-stars met on the Fox set of Heat Vision and Jack in 1999 before tying the knot less than a year later. Stiller and Taylor went on to build a family with their two children, Ella and Quinlin. Taylor and Stiller separated in 2017 but reunited in 2019 before officially reconciling in February 2022.
"I feel like relationships grow. I feel like for us, for me, I was in my late 20s when we met and now I'm 51, so you grow and you ebb and flow, and I really think it's just about constant communication," Taylor tells ET. "You ride the waves of the up and downs and you figure it out. I'm really lucky. Twenty-three years goes by fast."
As for their new venture, Lascher and Taylor are cooking up a whole lot of '90s nostalgia, and fans can catch it all when new episodes drop every Monday.
Hey Dude... the 90s Called! podcast is available on the iHeart Radio app and everywhere podcasts are heard.
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