Kevin McHale Started a Rumor About Lea Michele & Cory Monteith That Turned Out True

Glee star Kevin McHale got up to a little mischief by starting a rumor while filming the show that he later learned to be right on the money.

On the podcast And That’s What You Really Missed with his Glee co-star Jenna Ushkowitz, McHale recalled how he had tried to drum up some buzz for the show in its early years by starting a rumor that Lea Michele and Cory Monteith, who played couple Rachel and Finn in the show, were dating in real life.

McHale detailed his plan to Ushkowitz.

“What if I pretend to take a picture of Jenna, and in the background, the very edge of frame, are Cory and Lea being like a little extra snuggly, or kissing or holding hands or something,” he recalled. “I said, ‘I’ll put it up, and wait a little bit for people to notice, and then I’ll delete like I did something wrong.’ Because the intention was, we’re going to get rumors started that Cory and Lea are dating, and then people will watch the show, and then we’ll get to make more seasons of it.”

“Lea was like, ‘yes, absolutely. Let’s do it,” he added.

Soon, McHale’s plan was working perfectly.

“And so I do it. I post it. And I’m like, updating, and everyone’s like ‘no, no one’s noticed, no one’s saying anything,’ and then at the first reference, one person said something, I deleted it,” he said. “And I remember checking Twitter, and then it got picked up, and was like all over.”

McHale was proud that his rumor had legs, and then was surprised when his co-star pulled him aside at an award show.

“In January was the SAG awards, and we were at the afterparty, and Lea sits me down, and she’s like, ‘Did you know we had actually started dating then?’”

Michele and Monteith dated until Monteith’s death in 2013.

Watch McHale talk about starting the rumor below.