Meet the Real-Life Loves of the “Scrubs” Cast (Including One Couple Who Met Through Zach Braff)
Meet the Real-Life Loves of the “Scrubs” Cast (Including One Couple Who Met Through Zach Braff)
Skyler TrepelWed, March 4, 2026 at 12:00 PM UTC
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Donald Faison and wife CaCee Cobb in 2016; George Valencia and actress/producer Judy Reyes in 2014Credit: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic; Michael Bezjian/WireImage
Scrubs features plenty of hospital romances, but many of the cast members have found love in their own lives.
The heartfelt medical sitcom — which aired from 2001 until 2010 and was rebooted in February 2026 — follows the lives of a group of doctors who work in a hospital, primarily through the perspective of J.D. (Zach Braff). He gets through his days with the help of best friends Turk (Donald Faison), Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes) and Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke), all while trying to perform under intense pressure from his superiors Dr. Kelso (Ken Jenkins) and Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley).
While Braff is currently single, he ended up helping his costar, Faison, find love: Faison met his future wife, CaCee Cobb, at Braff’s 30th birthday party in 2005. The two got engaged in 2011 and married at Braff's home in 2012, where Braff served as a groomsman.
Here's everything to know about the real-life loves of the Scrubs cast.
01 of 06
Zach Braff
Zach BraffCredit: Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty
Though his character has been on-and-off coupled up with Elliot (Chalke) in Scrubs for years, Braff is currently single.
The actor has had a few high-profile romances. He was in a relationship with Mandy Moore from 2004 to 2006 and model Taylor Bagley from 2009 to 2014. Most recently, he dated Florence Pugh from 2019 until 2022 after first connecting on social media.
However, Faison wants to change Braff's single status. “This is a single man who is very, very handsome,” Faison told PEOPLE in December 2025 for the Sexiest Man Alive issue. “Someone out there is going to see this [issue] and be like, ‘What a handsome young man this is!’ "
In a potential partner, Braff said he's looking for attraction and banter. “I mean obviously there’s the initial ‘Am I attracted to this person?’ " he said. "But then I’m so aware that for me now it’s being funny and laughing with the person. To me that’s the sexiest thing. Beyond the initial ‘Oh you’re cute,' is ‘Do we laugh?’ "
02 of 06
Donald Faison and CaCee Cobb
Donald Faison and Cacee Cobb in 2022Credit: Phillip Faraone/Getty
On Scrubs, Faison plays J.D.'s best friend, but in real life, Braff played a part in Faison meeting his wife. Faison and Cobb met at Braff’s 30th birthday party in 2005 and got engaged in 2011 before marrying in 2012 at Braff's home.
Braff served as a groomsman, while one of the bridesmaids was Jessica Simpson, whom Cobb once worked for. Since then, Faison and Cobb have welcomed two children together: Rocco, born in 2013, and Wilder Francis, born in 2015. Faison is also a dad to four children from previous relationships: sons Sean and Kobe and twins Dade and Kaya.
In September 2019, Faison has told PEOPLE that he loves being a father, but he misses “being able to go anywhere I wanted to go with my wife and not [having] to worry about a babysitter.”
03 of 06
Judy Reyes and George Valencia
Judy Reyes and George ValenciaCredit: Judy Reyes/Instagram
Reyes' Carla Espinosa ends up marrying Turk on Scrubs, but her real-life love story is different. She’s in a long-term relationship with director George Valencia. They have one child together named Rey, whom they welcomed on Nov. 27, 2009.
The couple co-founded the nonprofit organization Sound of Gol Foundation. Valencia told The Guardian in October 2024 that their mission is to “educate and empower the Latina woman, so they can educate and empower the Latina girl.”
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The Hollywood couple still finds time to celebrate each other. When wishing Valencia a happy 50th birthday in December 2022, Reyes shared a photo of him in sunglasses on Instagram.
“Happy 50th to my ride or die, my right hand man, my baby daddy, the love of my life, my best friend. I love you G$. ♥️🤎♥️🤎,” Reyes wrote in the caption.
04 of 06
Sarah Chalke
Sarah ChalkeCredit: Monica Schipper/Getty
Chalke was engaged to Jamie Afifi for more than a decade before their 2022 split.
Afifi popped the question in 2006, and the two remained engaged until 2022, when a rep for Chalke told PEOPLE that they'd "separated some time ago." During their relationship, they welcomed two children: Charlie, born on Dec. 24, 2009, and Frances, born on April 28, 2016.
05 of 06
Ken Jenkins and Katharine Houghton
Katherine Houghton and Ken JenkinsCredit: Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty
Jenkins may be known for playing the hard-nosed chief of medicine Dr. Bob Kelso, but in his personal life, he goes by “husband” for actress and playwright Katharine Houghton.
Jenkins has been married to Houghton since 1970. He has three children from a previous marriage, including Tony Award-nominated actor Daniel Jenkins.
Houghton has been a successful actress for decades, earning a 1967 Golden Globe Award nomination for her performance as Joanna “Joey” Drayton in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner alongside her aunt, Katharine Hepburn.
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John C. McGinley and Nichole McGinley
John C. McGinley and Nichole McGinleyCredit: Tom Cooper/Getty
McGinley portrays the sarcastic, cynical and unwilling mentor to J.D., Dr. Perry Cox, who’s “married but not married” to the equally sardonic Jordan Sullivan (Christa Miller). In reality, John is married to yoga teacher and birthing doula Nichole McGinley.
The couple first met in 2004 — all thanks to McGinley's son, Max. McGinley and his ex, Lauren Lambert, welcomed Max, who has Down syndrome, on Aug. 31, 1997.
“I come back [to the beach] and Max is sitting in this lady’s lap and I’m like, ‘Oh boy.' Because at the time we were working on a personal space… I asked the woman, I said ‘Are you okay with this?’ " he told PEOPLE in October 2025. "And she goes, ‘You have no idea how much I need this.’ I’m like, ‘Great, who are you? And she had [a] poncho on and I didn’t know she was this beautiful siren. And she takes the poncho off, and she goes, ‘I’m Nichole, I live around here.’ ”
He continued, “I think I thought I had a notion of what love looked like and I didn’t. I didn’t have a clue until Maxie came along. He introduced me to love and he introduced me to my wife.”
John and Nichole have since welcomed two daughters together: Billie and Kate.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
