Mischa Barton just admitted that she and Ben McKenzie did date on set of The O.C. after years of denying the romance due to age gap concerns. The actress, 38, candidly revealed what she called “the whole ordeal” while appearing on Alex Cooper’s popular podcast Call Her Daddy.

Barton is eight years younger than McKenzie and was 17 when she joined the show to play Marissa, a love interest of McKenzie’s character Ryan, who was 25 at the time. Barton admitted, after decades of speculation, that their romance wasn’t “just on screen.” She stated: “It was kind of complicated for me,” and explained that being cast on the show at a young age forced her to “grow up quickly.”