Entertainment

Lucy Hale Might Be Dating Her 'Life Sentence' Co-Star

by Tolly Wright
Theo Wargo/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Lucy Hale has a new television series and possibly a new boyfriend to go with it. E! News reports that Lucy Hale is dating actor Riley Smith. The pair were spotting kissing on Valentine's Day and the outlet even has the picture to prove it. Hale and Smith are currently working together on the upcoming CW series Life Sentence, where she plays the lead character and he has a recurring role. The new romance comes after her split from long-time boyfriend Anthony Kalabretta.

Hale and Kalabretta, a DJ and music producer, met in 2015 through mutual friends, but over the years their relationship withstood plenty of rumors of them splitting up. Back in 2016, US Weekly reported that the two had broken up, though Hale was quick to deny the rumor. The two allegedly really did call it quits in May 2017, but the Pretty Little Liars actor didn't seem too upset by the break-up. Just a few months after they parted ways, Hale posted a picture of herself with Kalabretta on Instagram. The picture from last July showed the two of them standing side-by-side with their arms around each other in front of a helicopter. At that time many people wondered if they had gotten back together.

If they did, it looks like it didn't last for that long. Hale's smooching picture with Smith certainly seems like more than just two co-workers greeting each other. She's also holding a rose in her hand, a pretty solid traditional Valentine's Day gift to get from your sweetie.

It also sounds like their characters will share some romantic chemistry in Life Sentence, which premieres on March 7th. According to Deadline, the series is about a young woman named Stella (Hale) whose terminal cancer is cured, leaving her to figure out how to move on with her life after she previously spent the last 8 years with cancer living each day as if it could be her last. This means she has to figure out how to get a job and return to a normally paced existence. It doesn't help that her family is no longer keeping up the false positive facade that they gave her when they thought she way dying.

Smith plays her oncologist, Dr. Will Grant, who has a "soft-spot for his patients." According to Deadline, he has a romantic spark with Stella, which is problematic since she's already has a husband, Wes, played by Elliot Knight — a man she married "on a whim" when she thought she way dying. Drama!

Though Smith's character doesn't make an appearance in the official First Look Trailer for the series, it's is evident that there might be trouble on the horizon for Stella and Wes regardless of the doctor's involvement. They are six months into their marriage and there's a lot of secrets West has been keeping from his wife — like his feelings about Love Actually and his desire to add some kinky elements to their sex life.

Smith was in a picture Hale posted of the cast on Instagram in December. The photo was of the Life Sentence cast with the caption, "This group of remarkable humans and I just had our last table read for season one of Life Sentence. I’m so excited to introduce you into our world we’ve been creating these last 6 months."

Previous to his role in Life Sentence, Smith had roles on several television series including Frequency, Nashville, and True Blood. He was also in movies like Not Another Teen Movie and Radio. And for all the Disney fans out there, Smith starred in Disney's original 2001 movie, Motocrossed, as the dreamy love interest to the lead.

While Hale and Smith have not officially announced their relationship, you can certainly ship their characters when Life Sentence premieres on March 7.