Coming clean. Johnathon Schaech, who revealed that he once pretended to date Ellen DeGeneres in a Reddit Ask Me Anything on Monday, April 4, elaborated on his former relationship with the talk show host during a Thursday, April 7, appearance on Access Hollywood.
“There’s all these pictures of me and Ellen, and people were curious about why. I thought it was just cute, but it really comes down to it that it was when she had her first show,” the actor, 46, explained to Access hosts Billy Bush and Kit Hoover. “My manager and her manager were the same. So my manager came and asked me to walk down the red carpet with her and hold her hand and make sure that I took care of her as if we were out together.”
As fans reminded Schaech during his AMA, he and DeGeneres, 58, were photographed together at several red carpet events in the mid-’90s prior to the former sitcom actress coming out as gay in 1997 on her self-titled TV series.
“That was in the beginning of her show,” he continued. “At the end of it, she had the coming out episode, which changed everything around, and now she’s one of the most beloved people in America.”
When pressed about the pair’s PDA away from the cameras, a shy Schaech hesitantly revealed: “There was a couple of sneaky kisses that I wasn’t ready for and she wasn’t ready for.”
However, Schaech assured that it was all for show. “We just played a little, just make sure people saw pictures,” he said. “It was all about the pictures.”
During his Reddit AMA, in which he first copped to covering for DeGeneres, the Legends of Tomorrow star opened up about his personal ties to the LGBT community and his admiration for the Emmy winner.
“I grew up with two gay aunts and a gay uncle. My aunt died of cancer. She was a proud woman, and she didn’t get proper care, because she didn’t want to be away from her partner. Hospitals didn’t allow partners the same rights as a spouse. When you have someone you love in your life that is gay or a lesbian it’s very clear that they deserve the same rights as anyone else. It’s not about religion,” he shared. “If you don’t love Ellen now — you don’t watch her show. She’s a great example for the human race.”
