Awkward! TV Couples Forced To Work Together After Splitting IRL

It's the best time of year! Why? Because all of our favorite TV shows are finally back with new episodes. 

While we're still counting down the days for The Vampire Diaries return (Oct. 3 can't get here soon enough!), we started to think about the major awkwardness of Delena sizzling this season while IRL Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder have fizzled. Nian broke our hearts when they called it quits earlier this year, and now it's all about being a "professional" as they return to work on the fifth season of VD with their characters in a full-blown steamy love affair.

Of course, Nina and Ian aren't the only Hollywood stars to find real-life love with their on-screen boyfriends and girlfriends. Many of our other favorite TV couples of the last decade dated IRL, only to break up as their characters' flame kept on burning. Take a look!

1.Blake Lively and Penn Badgley The drama of Serena and Lonely Boy couldn't keep up with the gossip about Blake and Penn The two dated from 2008-2010, and Gossip Girl ended just last year. In the time since they broke up, Blake dated Leonardo DiCaprio and married Ryan Reynolds (lucky girl!), although Penn has been clear that he didn't buy his former love a wedding gift.

2.Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson We will always miss Summer and Seth At least those two found happily-ever-after together on The OC. Their real-life counterparts, however, did not. Adam and Rachel broke up in 2006, a year before the show ended. She found love with another co-star, Hayden Christensen, and they have been dating on and off since 2007. Adam Brody is currently dating Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester.

3.Sophia Bush and Chad Michael Murray We remember how ecstatic we felt when these two tied the knot But just a few months later, it all came crashing down. The One Tree Hill co-stars met on set in 2003 and married in 2005. Less than five months later, Sophia was filing for divorce. The show ended last year, and the two were still working alongside each other. Chad Michael had found love again on the OTH set with extra Kenzie Dalton, though the two have just called off their 7-year engagement.

4.Michael C Hall and Jennifer Carpenter The Dexter co-stars met on set in 2006 and eloped on New Year's Eve 2008. A year later, Jennifer filed for divorce and rumors hit the gossip columns that Michael had a wandering eye for fellow Dexter star Julia Stiles. The actors are true professionals as they've been sharing the screen as siblings until last month when Dexter aired its series finale (and don't even get us started on that!).

5.Jennifer Garner and Michael Vartan If you're going to find a fling after your divorce, might we suggest not looking at your place of work? Before she was Mrs Affleck, Jennifer was Mrs. Scott Foley. They divorced in 2003, and Jen rebounded with her sexy Alias co-star Michael Vartan. The couple didn't even last a year, but the show stayed on until 2006. The two continued to act alongside each other, even filming a wedding scene when Jen was preggers with Ben Affleck's baby!

6.Jessica Szohr and Ed Westwick Yes, there were many hook-ups on the Gossip Girl set For a hot minute, Jessica Szohr and Ed Westwick were a thing. Then, they weren't. Then, they were again. It was confusing for about four years. Jessica did eventually leave the show before it ended, but there were many moments when she and Ed were off, but still sharing the small screen.

7.Joshua Jackson and Katie Holmes Way back when Dawson's Creek was must-see TV every week, we dreamed of the day Joey would choose Pacey But before that happened, Katie chose Joshua and the two dated briefly during the first season of the show. Katie called him her "first love," and even turned to him after her marriage to Tom Cruise fell apart.

8.Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco Let's hope there's no Big Bang for these exes To everyone's surprise, these co-stars were able to keep their entire two-year relationship out of the public eye and only confessed to the off-screen romance after they split. The show is still going strong and the two seem to be complete professionals while working together.