Sophia Bush Claims 'OTH' Creator Told Her Brooke Wouldn't Date Julian

Sophia Bush claims that she was promised that her character, Brooke, would not date her boyfriend Austin Nichols' character, Julian, when he joined the cast One Tree Hill for season 6 – only for the characters walking down the aisle two years later.

“They said it would stay there for a while and might break [Peyton and Lucas] up,” Bush, 41, told cohost Hilarie Burton Morgan during the Monday, January 29 episode of their “Drama queen“podcast. “There were a lot of excuses from the boss [Mark Schwahn] which was like, “I had no idea this overlapped with your real life, how weird.” And I was like, 'Dude, I've dated three people in ten years. What do you mean you had no idea? You are my nightmare.” And he said, 'Promise you'll hardly ever have any scenes together, but it will definitely never be romantic.'

Nichols, 43, joined the cast of OTH iIn season 6 as Julian Baker, a Los Angeles cop who wants to make a movie of Lucas' (Chad Michael Murray) novel. However, once he arrives in town, it is revealed that he and Peyton (Burton Morgan) were once an item. Despite Schwahn's alleged promises, Julian begins a romance with Bush's Brooke before the end of season 6, with the pair tying the knot in season 7 and even welcoming twins for the series finale in 2012.

While discussing Julian's first appearance in season 6, episode 8, Bush claimed that the initial intention was to make the character a “bad boy movie producer” and “super cool” guy, until Schwahn, 57, reportedly decided that this would jeopardize his status on set.

Related: The dating history of the cast of 'One Tree Hill' through the years

In the words of the great Peyton Sawyer, sometimes you only need one, but it may take a while to get there. The characters on One Tree Hill found themselves in countless love triangles, went on romantic excursions, and even got married in high school. In real life, things weren't always so magical. although […]

“When they changed it and did what they were going to do anyway and Julian of course becomes the person Brooke marries, it was hilarious that there were different dynamics at play and our creepy boss didn't want all the cool things about Julian Baker. hot friends of movie star characters coming to town,” she continued. “He didn't want any more attractive young male cast members on our set to distract from him.”

Bush claimed that Schwahn ultimately decided to “emotionally castrate” Julian once he started dating Brooke. So much so that the character became someone who “didn't know how to give a high five” and had to ask Nathan (James Lafferty) and Haley's (Bethany Joy Lenz) 6-year-old son, Jamie (Jackson Brundage), to be the best man at his wedding because “he had no friends.”

“We were all like, 'What's going on?'” Bush joked as he recalled the storyline, to which Burton Morgan responded, “Wild.”

Bush and Nichols dated for six years before calling it quits for good in February 2012, just two months before the election. OTH series finale aired. Bush revealed during an October 2023 episode of “Drama Queens” that Nichols was her first date following her public split from her other costar Murray, 42, in 2006.

“Back in the early days of our show [OTH]We were all in partnership, but I very publicly wasn't,” Bush explained. “The first date I went on was with a really sweet guy named Austin Nichols when I was 23. We dated for years.”

Nichols joined the show after Bush told him that long-distance dating was “too hard” to maintain.

“Bold, beautiful, romantic gesture,” Bush said. “We laugh about it all the time. We are still good friends.”

Related: 'One Tree Hill' Cast: Where Are They Now?

It's hard to look back at teen dramas without remembering One Tree Hill, and decades later fans are still talking about the explosive cast. Created by Mark Schwahn, the series aired for nine seasons from 2003 to 2012. The series premiered on The WB and then moved to The CW in 2006, when The WB aired. […]

Nichols also formed a bond with Burton Morgan, who shared during Monday's podcast episode that the actor really took the time to connect with her and the people she cared about once he moved to town. OTHs filming location of Wilmington, North Carolina.

“I've really enjoyed getting to know Austin all these years at this point. He's a great actor. He’s really nice,” she shared. “We hung out a lot after work, and he really made a point of making friends with my friends in town. And I appreciated that. He appreciated them. I really respected that about him.”