Lauren Morelli and Samira Wiley have a true Hollywood relationship: The two met, became instant friends, and eventually fell in love on the set of "Orange Is the New Black. The future couple first met when they began filming the Netflix series, where Morelli was a lead writer and Wiley played the character Poussey Washington. Morelli was writing a few scenes for Wiley, and after spending time together to discuss it, they found they had an immediate connection. At the time, Morelli was married to a man, but she later told Out magazine in that after seeing Wiley's audition tape, she "immediately had a crush on her.
Morelli and Wiley became friends because Wiley β who came out when she was in her 20s β was helping her work through her feelings about her sexuality. Feeling like she picked me as the person she was going to talk to about all of it," Wiley told Bust in There was something deeply intimate about that, whether there was sexual tension there or not. After spending a year working on her marriage, Morelli filed for divorce from her husband in September That year, she and Wiley also started dating.
Wiley later told Cosmopolitan UK in March that they had "built the relationship backwards," explaining that their friendship, in the beginning, was "more of a confidante kind of relationship" that became something more. She added, "Lauren is the most lovely person, and [we were] able to have that relationship blossom from being scared of what was happening in her own marriage to being on the other side and [realizing], 'Oh, this is more than this, we actually really love each other.
About a year into their relationship, the couple went on a vacation to Thailand together, which they described to Out magazine in as "a total disaster" that "just exposed everything.
The couple realized how different they were, Morelli said, "I'm so neurotic and Samira could not be more laid-back. Wiley added, "We always say it's amazing we survived that trip, but however horrible it was, it helped me know I want to be with herβbecause she could see all these parts of me and still want to be with me, and I could see all these parts of her and still want to be with her. She continued, "I would rather have the worst day with Lauren than the best day with someone else.
