We recently learned that Skeet Ulrich and Lucy Hale are dating. It’s notable for a few reasons, mostly about their age difference and life/romance experience. I never realized before now that Ulrich, who is 51 years old, is sort of a serial monogamist who has spent the past thirty years cycling out of major relationships, including one eight-year marriage, one three-year marriage and one broken engagement. Dude likes to propose. Meanwhile, Lucy is 31 years old and she has never been married, but she’s dated around and been in some Hollywood relationships. As for the age difference, apparently Lucy and Skeet don’t think it’s an issue.

Age is just a number! Lucy Hale and Skeet Ulrich have “both fallen pretty hard for each other,” a source exclusively reveals in the new issue of Us Weekly.

“Lucy and Skeet have been dating for a little over a month now,” the insider says. “While it’s very new, they spend a lot of time together.” The Pretty Little Liars alum, 31, and the Jericho alum, 51, “try to see each other as much as possible,” the source explains, adding, “it’s clear they’re very into each other.”

The new couple met thanks to their “mutual friends through the Archie universe,” the insider notes. Ulrich starred on Riverdale for five seasons while Hale was the lead on spinoff Katy Keene, which ran for one season on The CW.

The Life Sentence alum and the Craft actor may have friends in common, but their age difference — Hale is 20 years younger than Ulrich —has still raised a few eyebrows among some fans. The source tells Us, however, that although the duo does “have a huge age gap, it doesn’t bother them.” They’ve instead connected over their similar interests. “They are both kind and have a funny, but dark sense of humor,” the insider adds.

The Truth or Dare actress was first linked to Ulrich last month when the duo were spotted kissing on February 21 while out in Los Angeles. They were seen holding hands across the table before Hale kissed her man’s hand.

Ulrich shares 19-year-old twins, Jakob and Naiia, with ex-wife Georgina Cates, whom he split from in 2005 after eight years of marriage. He was then married to Amelia Jackson-Gray from 2012 to 2015 and engaged to Rose Costa from 2016 to 2017. Hale, for her part, was most recently linked to Colton Underwood in July 2020, after his split from Cassie Randolph. She’s also dated actors David Henrie, Chris Zylka and Ryan Rottman.

[From Us Weekly]

Honestly, when I was 31 years old, a man twenty years older than me wasn’t a dealbreaker either. There are some nice-looking and lovely dudes in their 50s! Would I have married one of them? Eh. Probably not, but different strokes for different folks (and no one says Lucy and Skeet will get married either). I would totally feel differently about this is she was 20 and he was 40 though – I think the fact that Lucy is in her 30s, she’s worked in the industry for a while and she’s not some naif (romantically or professionally) is what makes this story not all that scandalous. She knows what she’s doing, he’s not taking advantage of her, etc. All that being said, I do hate the “age is just a number” thing.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red.