The 15 Most Shocking Secrets & Scandals of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ Cast Revealed
Dec. 29 2017, Updated 3:27 p.m. ET
The Big Bang Theory has been on the air for a decade and the only thing equally as entertaining as watching the sitcom is keeping up with the cast’s secrets and scandals off-camera. From their secret love flings on set to their odd filming rituals, click through the gallery to reveal what the cast has been hiding.
It’s no secret two of the show’s biggest stars, Kaley Cuoco and Johnny Galecki, have great chemistry. Fans have loved watching Penny and Leonard for years. But the stars took their relationship one step further in real life, when in late 2010, Cuoco confessed that she secretly dated her costar Galecki during the first two years of the sitcom.
Since Galecki, though, Cuoco’s love life has been up and down. Her short engagement to addiction counselor Josh “Lazie” Resnik in 2011 didn’t last. In 2015, Cuoco wed Ryan Sweeting but divorced him after just 21 months. Cuoco, 32, is currently engaged to Karl Cook, 26.
The high-pitched voice of Big Bang character Bernadette Rostenkowski belongs to another blonde, Melissa Rauch. But the New Jersey native revealed the iconic voice is inspired by her mom, Susan. Rauch became a mother of her own this month. She gave birth to a baby girl, Sadie, after reflecting about her heartbreaking miscarriage earlier this year.
The show’s executive producer and creator, Chuck Lorre was responsible in watching the young cast audition for the hit show – and still remembers some awkward moments today. Lorre revealed that his favorite audition for the show was Jim Parsons’. He told Glamour it was “one of the most startling auditions I’ve ever seen in my life.”
The CBS comedy, which focuses on physicists Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter, played by Galecki and Parsons, respectively, was an ironic plot when actress Mayin Bialik showed up for her audition. The Emmy-nominated actress actually has a doctorate in neuroscience from her UCLA days. Bialik shocked Lorre when he noticed it on her resume when she showed up to audition!
Everyone who watches the show knows that Parsons' character, Cooper, is obsessed with Star Trek. Parsons shocked everyone on set when he revealed a deep dark secret of his: he’s never seen one episode of the iconic series!
A hit show requires long days and weird schedules – and Simon Helberg, the face of character Howard Wolowitz, has revealed his weird ritual before nightly tapings — eating tuna melts! “I did that for five seasons,” he said.
In his juicy memoir, "Yes, My Accent is Real", Kunal Nayyar admitted something extremely embarrassing about his audition for the part of Raj. He showed up having absolutely no clue who Lorre was! “To me, he was just another guy I wanted to make laugh,” the actor wrote.
What’s more is Nayyar’s character was never supposed to be named Raj. In his memoir, the actor spilled that his character was originally supposed to be named Dave, producers changed his ethnicity to Indian once Nayyar was cast for the part.
Viewers at home might think the additional laughter they hear from the show is fake. But Nayyar revealed that the laughter comes from a real-live audience on set.
It hasn’t all been fun and games, though. Earlier this year, times got tough for Galecki when he revealed that his San Luis Obispo ranch, located 190 miles away from Los Angeles, was entirely destroyed in a massive fire known as “The Hill Fire.”
Despite the setback, it was also revealed this year that Galecki, Cuoco and Parsons receive the highest paychecks of all the cast. RadarOnline.com reported the show’s three highest earners made $1 million per episode, which didn’t sit well with the supporting actors on the sitcom. RadarOnline.com reported Bialik slammed Cuoco for being “overpaid.”
The bombshell news led Cuoco, among other high earners of the show to take a massive $100,000 pay cut in order to provide higher salaries for Rauch and Bialik. At the time, Variety reported Parsons, Galecki, Cuoco, Helberg and Nayyar initiated the offer and negotiated contracts ahead of the show’s two-season renewal.
Another major secret revealed by the cast came from Parsons. After years of speculation, the 44-year-old actor came out as gay. He revealed he had been in a decade-long relationship with his partner, Todd Spiewak.
Although the long-running sitcom has brought laughter to viewers for years, RadarOnline.com exclusively reported that the long-running sitcom is on its last legs after ratings hit an all-time low. The news has left tensions high on set. A source told RadarOnline.com, “Many of the cast members have gotten swelled heads, and some of the other actors aren’t happy about it.” We pay for juicy info! Do you have a story for RadarOnline.com? Email us at tips@radaronline.com, or call us at (866) ON-RADAR (667-2327) any time, day or night.