NEED TO KNOW
Characters in ABC’s The Rookie face the unexpected on the streets of Los Angeles while also navigating challenges in their personal lives.
Fans are in for even more drama (including relationship shake-ups) when the show returns for season 8 on Jan. 6.
In real life, though, many members of the cast are in happy marriages and engagements. Jenna Dewan and Steve Kazee have been engaged since 2020 and share two children. The actress told Variety in February 2025 that she was “excited” when her fiancé first joined the show in season 4, adding that playing volatile exes on-screen was a “fun” switch-up for the couple.
“[There’s] nothing like going through the daily motions of parenting 24/7 at home and then getting to go and play these really extreme moments together,” Dewan said. “It was fun for him to play a really bad guy — just truly, outright bad — and it was fun for me to be able to unleash on him.”
Dewan isn’t the only cast member who has appeared on The Rookie with her romantic partner. In 2020, Eric Winter’s wife and fellow actor, Roselyn Sánchez, appeared in season 2.
Here’s everything to know about the real-life partners of The Rookie cast.
Alyssa Diaz and Gustavo Galindo
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Alyssa Diaz, who plays Angela Lopez on The Rookie, is engaged to musician Gustavo Galindo. The couple met on Bumble when they were both working in Mexico City.
Diaz and Galindo share two children. The actress became pregnant with their first child while filming season 3 of The Rookie, and instead of strategically concealing her pregnancy to play Angela, creator Alexi Hawley simply wrote it into Diaz’s character’s storyline.
“Ultimately, it’s been a great storyline for [Angela]. It really does add a level of reality to her experience to finally get this job that she wanted so much, but to be pregnant going into it,” Hawley told Entertainment Weekly in 2021.
Shawn Ashmore and Dana Wasdin
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Shawn Ashmore, who portrays Wesley Evers on The Rookie, has been married to Dana Wasdin since 2012.
The pair met on the set of the 2010 drama Frozen, where she was an assistant director, and got engaged a year later. Ashmore and Wasdin now share a son, Oliver, whom they welcomed in 2017.
In October 2024, Wasdin celebrated Ashmore’s 45th birthday with a sweet post on Instagram.
“Happy Birthday to my best friend! @shawnrashmore my world is so much more fun with you!” she wrote.
Nathan Fillion and Tania Raymonde
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Though Nathan Fillion, who portrays John Nolan in the police drama once described himself as “unlucky in love” while speaking to Women’s Health in 2010, recently, his luck seems to have changed.
Girlfriend Tania Raymonde made their relationship Instagram official in July 2025, when she shared a photo of the two of them at the Superman premiere.
Jenna Dewan and Steve Kazee
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Dewan, who plays Bailey Nune, started dating actor Steve Kazee in 2018, and he popped the question two years later.
Shortly after announcing their engagement, the couple welcomed their first child, son Callum Michael. A few years later, their daughter, Rhiannon Lee Kathryn, was born. (Dewan also shares daughter Everly Elizabeth Maiselle with her ex-husband, Channing Tatum.)
While speaking to Variety in February 2025, Dewan discussed the “surreal” experience of having Rhiannon on set while she and Kazee were filming their intense scenes for season 7, episode 5 of The Rookie.
“We were thrust into this crazy car fight … all the while our newborn was in the trailer, and I was going back and forth to breastfeed,” she explained. “We had every color on the emotional spectrum together.”
Eric Winter and Roselyn Sánchez
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Winter, who portrays Tim Bradford, is married to Sánchez, who made a one-episode cameo on The Rookie in 2020.
The couple first met at a party in L.A. in 2005 and wed three years later. They’ve since welcomed two children together: daughter Sebella and son Dylan.
In addition to being partners in parenting, Winter and Sánchez also collaborate professionally. They starred opposite each other in the 2019 Hallmark movie A Taste of Summer and launched their podcast, He Said, Ella Dijo, that same year.
Sánchez told PEOPLE in December 2022 that she loves working with her husband and described their podcast as therapy for the couple.
“It’s a blast. We really have a laugh doing it,” she added.
Richard T. Jones and Kristy Jones
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Richard T. Jones, who plays Wade Grey, has been married to his wife, Kristy Jones, since 2022, according to Instagram.
Jones often pays tribute to Kristy on social media. In October 2023, he dedicated a sweet message to her. “I love my beautiful wife,” he penned. “Thanks for loving me Kris. You’re my heart.”
The actor was previously married to Nancy Jones, with whom he shares children.
Mekia Cox and Britt Leach
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Mekia Cox, who portrays Nyla Harper, wed basketball analyst Britt Leach in 2018, according to The Knot.
The couple now share two daughters. Like her costar Diaz, Cox’s second pregnancy was written into her storyline on The Rookie.
The actress isn’t shy about expressing her love for Leach on Instagram.
In honor of Father’s Day in 2024, she paid tribute to her husband, writing, “Heart, soul, passion, tenacity, intelligence, bravery and kindness. To @bleach37 my husband, thank you for embodying each of these characteristics so beautifully. I love you with all my heart.”
Melissa O’Neil
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While Melissa O’Neil is single, her character, Lucy Chen, is in the midst of a sultry entanglement with her co-worker Tim Bradford on The Rookie.
The actress hasn’t spoken publicly about her dating life, aside from a few TikTok videos poking fun at her singleness.
In September 2024, O’Neil jokingly suggested that she “forgot how to flirt” and that she doesn’t “trust nobody.”
