In May 2024, Sophia Bush and Ashlyn Harris were rumored to be engaged, but the One Tree Hill actress was quick to shut it down. The couple started dating October 2023 and do seem very serious about one another—but they’re not quite there yet.
Here’s everything we know about Bush, Harris, and their relationship so far.
Who is Ashlyn Harris?
Ashlyn Harris is a very successful women’s soccer player. In college, she played for the North Carolina Tar Heels. She then competed as a goalkeeper on Team USA, first as a member of the youth national team from 2000 to 2006, before joining the adults’ team in 2009 and winning in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015 and 2019.
Professionally, she was on a number of teams but was playing the longest for Orlando Pride between 2016 and 2021. She played one season for the NY/NJ Gotham FC in 2022 and then announced her retirement.
Harris has struggled with an Adderall addiction and spoke openly about her sobriety and depression in a 2017 interview with theOrlando Sentinel. Her personal issues led her to work with To Write Love On Her Arms, a non-profit dedicated to helping people facing addiction and depression.
“At the time, I was starting to get heavily addicted to Adderall, big time, and it wasn’t for ADHD,” she said. “Started having a ton of injuries, started losing a lot of weight, all these different things. And in that moment, everything came to a realization like, ‘Wow.’ He just started telling me how passionate he was about telling his story and his depression. And ya know, addiction, suicide, all these different things and how it’s so frowned upon to talk about.”
Before her relationship with Bush, Harris was married to USWNT teammate Ali Krieger. They started dating in 2010 and tied the knot in 2019, according to Sports Illustrated. In October 2023, ESPN reported that Harris filed for divorce. A source told People that they had been separated for a few months.
“Although it’s new information to the public, Ashlyn and Ali’s divorce began months ago and they have been living apart since the summer,” the insider claimed.
The former couple have adopted two children, Sloane Phillip and Ocean Maeve. In 2022, Harris told Hollywood Life a bit about her experience of becoming a parent.
“You just learn your priorities change. Like after a game, Sloane doesn’t care if we win or lose, she just wants her moms to show up for her and that’s what we do,” she said. “Before, we’d carry a loss until our next training, but all that goes out the window when we show up for her and we see her, we’re just as happy as ever, no matter what the outcome is.”
How long have Bush and Harris been together?
Bush also went through a divorce in August 2023, with a source telling Us Weekly that she and former husband Grant Hughes realized that they were “better off as friends.”
“It wasn’t ugly and they are still supporting each other,” the source explained. “They want each other to be happy and for their nonprofit to continue to thrive.”
In early October, a source told People that Bush and Harris had enjoyed an official date.
“After being friends for years, and running in the same social circles, Sophia and Ashlyn went out on their first dinner date a couple of weeks ago,” an insider said. “This is so recent, and they are both beginning new chapters.”
While at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, the soccer star posted a selfie with Bush and basketball player Sue Bird, sparking an interest in their romance.
Another source told Us Weekly that Bush and Harris “bonded over their breakups and having to start over.”
“Sophia and Ashlyn insist they were just friends, but by all accounts, it was instant chemistry,” the insider said. “They love being together. They love sports and want to do good in the world.”
A few months later, they were seen at the Art Basel festival in Miami.
In March, they were seen out with actress Hilarie Burton Morgan in New York City, attending Netflix’s Girls5Eva season 3 premiere afterparty. An eyewitness claimed, “Ashlyn was holding Sophia and kissing her cheek as they danced.”
In a more official capacity on March 10, they attended Elton John AIDS Foundation’s annual Oscars viewing party at West Hollywood Park.
What has Bush said about her relationship with Harris?
On April 25, Bush wrote about her relationship in a Glamour essay, saying their love was unexpected.
“I didn’t expect to find love in this support system,” she said. “I don’t know how else to say it other than: I didn’t see it until I saw it. And I think it’s very easy not to see something that’s been in front of your face for a long time when you’d never looked at it as an option and you had never been looked at as an option.”
She said they went on one “four-hour long dinner” and began dating almost immediately after. She also addressed rumors of infidelity, denying anything happened between them out of order.
“I don’t believe it’s my place to discuss details of Ashlyn’s circumstances or her children, but I will say that I am absolutely in awe of her relentless integrity,” the star continued. “Falling in love with her has sutured some of my own childhood wounds, and made me so much closer to my own mother. Seeing Ashlyn choose to not simply survive, but thrive, for her babies has been the most beautiful thing I’ve ever witnessed a friend do. And now I get to love her. How lucky am I?”
About her own sexual identity, Bush was comfortable with one label.
“I’ve experienced so much safety, respect, and love in the queer community, as an ally all of my life, that, as I came into myself, I already felt it was my home,” she explained. “I think I’ve always known my sexuality exists on a spectrum. Right now I think the best word that defines it is queer. I can’t say it without smiling, actually. And that feels pretty great.”
Are they engaged?
On Saturday, May 25, Bush addressed engagement rumors on her Instagram Story after sharing some cute photos from Paris that had fans wondering if they were taking their relationship to the next level. In some photos of the couple in front of the Eiffel tower, Bush seems to be sneakily hiding her hand, which some took to mean she was disguising a ring.
“I hear the internet is being wild?”she wrote over a picture of her bare finger. “Y’all… I have no ‘news’ for you…Wouldn’t you put your hands all up in her jacket if you could?? To be clear, you can’t because boundaries. But I’ll continue to do it for you because I’m just generous like that.”
She added another photo, writing, “I just wanna squeeeeeeeeeze her. I get that it’s new for y’all to see me so happy and so embodied. It’s new for me too. How lucky am I?”