Prince or not, Katie Cassidy fell for Stephen Huszar whereas working facet by facet on Hallmark Channel’s A Royal Christmas Crush.

The costars — who play architect Ava and Prince Henry, respectively, within the 2023 rom-com — knew their connection couldn’t be denied after assembly in March 2023 on set in Canada.

“We obviously [were] professional and kept it that way. However, I felt as though it’s almost like there was this layer because he and I kind of knew this secret thing that nobody else knew,” Cassidy solely instructed Us Weekly in June 2023 whereas selling the movie. “And we could let our guard down when our characters were supposed to and allow space to fall into one another. I almost feel like that added a certain type of element to it. We just couldn’t help it.”

Despite having an prompt attraction, Cassidy instructed Us she was hesitant to work intently with one other “pretty Canadian [and] really attractive” actor “named Stephen.” She beforehand starred reverse Canada native Stephen Amell, whom she known as a “brother,” on The CW’s Arrow from 2012 to 2015 as Laurel Lance/Black Canary and later Black Siren from 2016 to 2020. (Huszar, for his half, is a Canadian actor identified for his position as Luke Tatum on Hallmark’s Chesapeake Shores.)

Cassidy, nevertheless, pushed her reservations apart and discovered herself beneath Huszar’s spell partially on account of their mutual connection to crystals. The twosome formally hit it off throughout certainly one of their A Royal Christmas Crush scenes earlier than going public with the connection in May 2023.

“I remember there’s this one scene in the barn where I literally am looking at him, and that was the moment for me. I’m not kidding you. I’m, like, leaning on the table and he’s saying his lines and I just like, I think I like almost fell over,” Cassidy recalled to Us, sharing that she and Huszar later realized they first started falling for one another “30 seconds apart’ while filming the “same scene.”

Scroll all the way down to see Cassidy and Huszar’s love story from the start:

March 2023

Cassidy and Huszar started filming Hallmark’s A Royal Christmas Crush. The pair documented their winter wonderland adventures by way of Instagram, with Cassidy sharing behind-the-scenes moments from the snowy setting.

May 2023

Cassidy sparked romance hypothesis when she tagged Huszar in a number of trip snaps everywhere in the world, together with an image of a full moon in Fiji and a solo picture standing on a dock in Monaco.

June 2023

“Welp, cats out of the bag …,” Cassidy wrote by way of Instagram, confirming their relationship. “Happy Monday! 😂❤️😍.” Later that month, she teased their Hallmark undertaking by way of social media and identified that Huszar is “so handsome” within the film.

July 2023

The pair’s first Hallmark collaboration, A Royal Christmas Crush, premiered as a part of the community’s “Christmas in July” programming.

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“When chemistry is there, it’s just there,” Cassidy solely instructed Us forward of the movie’s launch, noting that sparks flew early into filming. Huszar, for his half, defined to Us, “It’s certainly important to keep it professional. As we did, but, you know, feelings come up.”