Tyler Hilton is offering new insight into what led to the demise of his short-lived romance with “One Tree Hill” co-star Bethany Joy Lenz.
Performing in Portland, Oregon on Monday, the actor and singer recalled how he and Lenz “really fell for each other” while working on The CW series, which aired from 2003 to 2012.
As seen in video footage of Hilton’s concert, the actor and musician said he and Lenz developed a close friendship, even though their characters “weren’t really supposed to be hanging together.”
Over time, Hilton and Lenz’s relationship took a romantic turn, only to be thwarted when members of Lenz’s religious “cult” didn’t approve.
“They were like, ‘Yeah, he’s not the vibe.’ And she was like, ‘Yeah, the cult said no,’” he told the crowd. “I didn’t have an answer for that one, because normally you can tell a girl, ‘Is there something I can do?’ But if the cult says no, you’re fucked. I’d never been broken up with by cult before.”
Gregory Pace via Getty Images
Lenz has yet to comment publicly on Hilton’s remarks. However, the actor detailed her decade-long involvement with an insular Christian group called The Big House Family ― which she readily described as a “cult” ― in her new memoir, “Dinner for Vampires.”
Lenz, who reportedly left Big House Family in 2012, accused the group’s members of squandering much of her Hollywood earnings and pressuring her into marrying the son of one of its leaders.
Appearing on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast last month, Lenz also claimed that Big House Family leaders put her and her ex-husband on what she described as a “sex schedule” in an effort to foster a deeper connection between the two.
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“Because I was so disinterested in sex, I was then asked to go on a schedule, basically, of like, ‘Here’s how you can — you just have to do it. Just do it. This is your duty. This is your job as a wife. Your emotions will fall in line,’” she told “Call Her Daddy” host Alex Cooper.
“It was a routine that I had to participate in, in order to keep the peace in my marriage,” she added.