From Game of Thrones to Real-Life Romance! Everything We Know About Rose Leslie and Kit Harington's Relationship

Author:
Hannah Southwick
May 13, 2022

Rose Leslie and Kit Harington are a match made on set. The pair, who first met while playing star-crossed lovers on Game of Thrones, has come a long way from Ygritte’s first icy “You know nothing, Jon Snow.” They’ve now been married in real life for nearly four years and welcomed their first child in 2021. But while we were able to watch their characters’ stories play out on screen, they’ve kept their real-life romance—which, unlikeGame of Thrones storylines, features a fairytale ending—largely under wraps.

“I don’t believe in talking about one’s relationship in the press because it’s…I strongly believe it’s her relationship and mine, and anything I say here, she may not want me to say,” Harington told The Guardian in 2017. “So I just don’t say it. I genuinely think it’s our private life.”

To further protect their private life, Harington added that he and Leslie won’t pose for photos together with fans, as it makes their relationship feel like “we’re a walking show.” In the time since Game of Thrones wrapped, the pair have tried to separate their real-life love and identities from their characters on the HBO series.

“It happens that we met in the show, and we’ve always tried not to be defined by that bit. It’s just a job we met on,” he told TODAY before the show’s 2019 conclusion. “I think once the show finishes, we get to kind of break free of it a bit and just be us, which is a really nice feeling.”

If you’re wondering more about what their lives are like as an off-screen “us,” keep reading for everything we know about Rose Leslie and Kit Harington’s relationship–including the moment they first fell in love.

How did Rose Leslie and Kit Harington meet?

Leslie and Harington met on the set of Game of Thrones. However, just like their characters, they didn’t have a romantic relationship from the start. Harington told the Evening Standard in 2014 that speculation about him and Leslie dating was “all rumor and myth,” adding, “Me and Rose are very, very close and very good friends. And continue to be, actually. She’s wonderful. But no, no love affair.” He did stipulate at the time, however, that he “wouldn’t tell the press” if he “was in a relationship or not.”

As for when things turned romantic? While it’s not clear exactly when their relationship began, Harington told Vogue Italia in 2016 that his best memory of the series was the “three weeks in Iceland when we were shooting the second season.” He continued: “Because the country is beautiful, because the Northern Lights are magical, and because it was there that I fell in love. If you’re already attracted to someone, and then they play your love interest in the show, it becomes very easy to fall in love…"

The couple made their red carpet debut at the Olivier Awards in London in 2016, and in 2017, Harington revealed in an interview with Esquire that they were moving in together.

When did Rose Leslie and Kit Harington get engaged?

After lots of speculation, the pair announced their engagement the old-school way on September 27, 2017. An engagement announcement ran in the London newspaper The Times reading: “The engagement is announced between Kit, younger son of David and Deborah Harington of Worcestershire, and Rose, middle daughter of Sebastian and Candy Leslie of Aberdeenshire.”

When did Rose Leslie and Kit Harington get married?

Leslie and Harington tied the knot on June 23, 2018. They celebrated their fairytale romance in a fitting venue: Wardhill Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, which Leslie’s family owns. Their big day was a Game of Thrones cast reunion of sorts, with Sophie Turner, Emilia Clarke, Maisie Williams and Peter Dinklage all among the attendees.

How long have Kit and Rose been together?

Kit Harington and Rose Leslie have now been married for almost four years. While they seemingly dated for several years before their marriage, their romance appears to have been on and off prior to their 2016 red carpet debut.

Are Kit Harington and Rose Leslie still married?

Yes! Leslie most recently discussed their relationship in an April 2022 interview with Harper’s Bazaar UK, revealing how she’s supported him throughout his history of substance abuse. “For Kit, being an addict, it’s very important for him to recognize himself as such,” she told the publication, adding, “I’ve learned a lot about addiction, and it’s something Kit is forever going to be aware of, but it’s on him whether he chooses to drink again. No amount of nannying is going to be able to stop him from doing what he decides to do…I don’t choose to put that pressure on myself. The responsibility of his behavior is on him. It’s not on me to guard him from it.”

Harington, who was treated at an in-patient rehab facility in Connecticut after Game of Thrones ended in 2019, previously opened up to The Sunday Times about going through “periods of real depression,” saying, “Things that have happened to me since Thrones ended, and that were happening during Thrones, were of a pretty traumatic nature and they did include alcohol.” He added later in the 2021 interview that he’s now a “very, very happy, content, sober man,” and said that he hopes to be open about his experience will “maybe help someone, somewhere.”

Do Kit Harington and Rose Leslie have kids?

The couple welcomed their first child in 2021. While they’ve yet to reveal their son’s name, Leslie announced her pregnancy by debuting her baby bump on the cover of Make Magazine in September 2020. The UK-based magazine’s fashion editor, Ursula Lake, described the special shoot on Instagram as, “A very special all-woman team photographic shoot capturing Rose at this wonderful time as she prepares for motherhood for the first time.”

On an episode of SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show, Harington said becoming a father was “the major thing that came out of the pandemic” for him. “What we were gifted with this was forced time together. And because of that, we ended up having a baby,” he said, later adding, “I had a quite profound and amazing experience during this last year and a half.”

As for whether their son will ever watch Game of Thrones? Although the show isn’t exactly family-friendly, it seems he someday will. Prior to having kids, Harington told GQ Australia: "I have no idea if we will, but say me and Rose do have children. They'll know. They'll be able to see the genesis of their parents getting together. Which is quite a wonderful thought, really.”

Next, check out weird things you didn’t know about Game of Thrones!