Did Lana Condor date Noah Centineo? 'Fake fling' led to drama in her real relationship with Anthony de la Torre
The year was 2018 when Netflix decided to zhuzh up the rom-com genre and presented 'To All the Boys I've Loved Before'. It was a classic concoction of all we loved about the '90s romcoms with a touch of millennial cynicism in its undertones that made not just the film a favorite, but it's lead actors – Lana Condor and Noah Centineo – a sensation overnight. Since then the two have gone on to present some impeccable chemistry alongside heavy flirting in every promo for the debut part of what's soon going to be a trilogy. What was even more amusing is that Condor later admitted to faking the flirting the whole time as part of a pact, that would soon cause drama for her IRL (in-real-life) long-term relationship with Anthony De La Torre.
Did Lana Condor and Noah Centineo date?
To answer that, no, the two were most certainly not together. It all started with the release of 'To All The Boys I've Loved Before', where Condor played Lara Jean who fake dates popular school jock and her ex-crush Peter Kavinsky to save embarrassment after her younger sister mails her old love letters to all of her old crushes. It was a fake love transforming to real kinda dramedy that saw its match in the sequel 'To All the Boys I've Loved Before: PS I Still Love You', as Lara and Peter's relationship braves a third party love triangle. And now, as we stand on the brink of the third part releasing this February, titled 'To All the Boys: Always and Forever', it's hilarious how taking their on-screen plot off-screen for promos backfired.
Turns out all the heavy flirting, the awe-inspired gushing that Condor and Centineo shared for each other during every promo and press meet was planned. "Noah and I definitely encouraged the speculation,” Condor had told Cosmo shortly after the release of the first film. "You can truly love someone in a very platonic way," she said. Encouraging online rumors and flirting on social media more as people wanted them to be together IRL. Lana explained, "We believe in the story and the characters and we genuinely love each other."
What were the ground rules of the fake-fling?
Condor, who was already dating De La Torre at the time, set some clear ground rules about how it's 'not going to happen' between her and Centineo, even before they had begun filming. "We had just come back from a hot yoga class and went to his apartment and we ordered pizza," she said on 'The Tonight Show' with Jimmy Fallon. "And it was kind of like, oh, hot yoga, pizza, what's happening? It was right before we shot the movie, just trying to get to know each other. And I felt something! I looked at him and I was like, 'Noah, it's not going to happen between us.'" Taking inspiration from the film they were about to be in, she told Fallon "We kind of made a contract and set boundaries."
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Are they going to date in the future?
While the "not happening" bit was a little discouraging, Condor still told Fallon "We still have that spark. Absolutely." And that's what must have sailed the sequel the year after, and is expected to set afloat the third and final part of the franchise this year.
Who is Lana Condor dating?
Believe it or not, Condor and de la Torre have been together for ages. It was a classic 'Taylor Swift'-type romance, the way they met at a party in 2015, she told Cosmopolitan in February 2019. She refused to leave the party without getting his number, and he had introduced himself saying "Hey, I’m Anthony. I thought I’d make a friend." The rest as they say is history, as the couple went on to be all kinds of cute and adorable on social media for five years now. When they are not busy showering each other with affection, they also make love songs and covers that are bliss to the ears.
Condor told US Weekly in 2018 about how the two “try to keep the spark alive” in their relationship. “He writes me love letters, actually!” she gushed. “He’s done that since we started dating and I keep them all.” The couple also has a puppy together, called Emmy.
What relationship troubles did the Noah Centineo rumors cause?
Soon after 'To All The Boys...' released, and de la Torre had made his debut on Condor's Instagram page, fans started attacking him with negative comments. This was following all the "fake flirting" with Centineo, and Condor addressed the uncalled for hate in an interview with Teen Vogue. "I love Noah with all my heart, but the switch was when people started attacking Anthony online,” she said, adding “That was when I realized as much as I can show my love and my friendship to Noah … I can’t be that private with Anthony, because people are starting to be really hurtful to him. He’s been by my side through everything. He’s such an amazing person and has been an integral part of me staying literally sane.”
Water has been under the bridge since, because, by February 2020, Condor and de la Torre released the couple's first song together, a new single called 'Raining in London'. Centineo has since dated model Alexis Ren, and more recently, is rumored to have cozied up with Kylie Jenner's BFF, Anastasia Karanikolaou.
'To All the Boys: Always and Forever' releases this February 12, available for streaming worldwide, only on Netflix.