BJ Novak has been making waves on the interwebs lately for his reported relationship with 29-year-old TikTok star, Delaney Rowe.
The hilarious Tiktoker is known for creating parodies of Rom-Com movie tropes, particularly the “friends-to-lovers” dynamic we’ve seen played out time and time again in our favorite films.
Yet while Delaney Rowe is known to parody this “will-they-won’t-they” romantic trope, BJ Novak has been living it IRL for the past 20 years. Of course, this is in reference to his longstanding relationship with BFF/co-creator, Mindy Kaling.
Fans of The Office and pop culture enthusiasts alike have been obsessing over their unique relationship dynamic since the early 2000s. The pair came onto the scene while starring alongside each other in The Office as chaotic love interests, Kelly Kapoor and Ryan Howard. And according to the writers/actors on The Office, they based their characters’ tumultuous relationship off of their own real-life love story.
The Mindy Project star best describes their on-again/off-again situationship in a 2015 interview with InStyle (per E! News.) “He is not my boyfriend, but he is not my best friend,” Kaling said of her dynamic with Novak. “I guess you could describe our relationship as a ‘romantically charged camaraderie with loud arguments,’ but I don’t think Facebook would accept this as a new status.”
Romantically charged, eh? Interesting choice of words, especially considering the rumors circulating from fans that Novak is actually the father of Kaling’s child. While it is publicly known that Novak is the godfather of Kaling’s daughter, the pair didn’t confirm nor deny his status as the biological father to her kid (via Parade.)
Are BJ Novak and Mindy Kaling in Love?
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While fans are still scratching their heads as to just what the heck is going on between these two, no one is more seemingly confused than Kaling and Novak themselves. This was especially the case during their days on The Office, in which the co-stars behind the scenes practically invented the term “situationship.”
“We were never really dating, we were never really not dating,” Novak explained to Vulture about his off-screen dynamic with Kaling. “We didn’t know,” he continued. “No one knew. All you’d know for sure is that you’d always find one of us next to the other, even if we weren’t getting along.”
As we all know from The Office, Kelly is constantly fighting for a relationship with Ryan to the point where she’s willing to toss away healthy relationships with other romantic partners in order to throw herself back into the toxic mess that is Kelly Kapoor and Ryan Howard. Meanwhile, Ryan is eternally less interested in Kelly throughout the series’ run, and suffers from massive commitment issues. But in real life, it appears their relationship is a whole lot less one-sided than it is on The Office. For Novak and Kaling, the actor explains that the two were equally “in love” while making the beloved show.
“We were in love with each other, and we were reckless idiots,” Novak said (per Business Insider) while presenting Kaling’s Norman Lear Achievement Award. He continued, saying, “The two of us would argue about all of these things… forever grinding the writer’s room into a halt, until we got too upset, and we go to our respective offices and slammed the door, where we would continue arguing over AOL and Instant Messenger.”
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While their love story blossomed many years ago, Novak and Kaling have continued to express romantic interest in one another throughout the years. Novak even referred to Kaling as the love of his life. “She is in many ways one of the great loves of my life,” the Inglorious Bastards actor said while appearing on The Queen Latifah Show.
As for BJ Novaks newfound relationship with TikTok star, Delaney Rowe, many fans are dying to know how this dynamic will play out with the involvement of Mindy Kaling. In fact, Novak himself commented on how, whenever he dates other people, they frequently grow skeptical of the true nature of his “friendship” with Kaling. As he puts it, his new romantic partners don’t want to feel like they’re stepping on anyone’s toes. The Office alum explained, “Whenever we date someone else, I think there’s a period where the person is very skeptical of our friendship.” He adds that they often ask him, “Are you sure you’re not going to end up dating?”
What do you think about Mindy Kaling and BJ Novak’s complicated relationship? Do you think they’re just friends, or are they secretly meant to be?
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