Max Ehrich Reportedly Dated A 'Modern Family' Star Before He Met Demi Lovato
From the moment that Max Ehrich and Demi Lovato made their adorable debut as a couple in Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber's "Stuck With U" music video, their whirlwind romance had even skeptics believing that maybe true love does exist. Given that they seemed to be head over heels for each other all summer long, their somewhat abrupt reported breakup left fans straight-up shook. While you likely know at least one of Demi Lovato's high-profile exes (*ahem* — Joe Jonas), you may be wondering: who did Max Ehrich date before Demi Lovato? Lucky for you, I dug up all the deets on his romantic past.
Ehrich and Lovato first sparked dating rumors after some flirty Instagram exchanges in early 2020, and their relationship was confirmed by People and Us Weekly on March 25. A month later, the couple made it official themselves by slow dancing and stealing a smooch in the "Stuck With U" music video. On July 22, Ehrich proposed to Lovato in Malibu, she said "yes," and the duo couldn't stop gushing about embarking on this new chapter together via social media.
Despite their apparent bliss, though, things took an unfortunate turn mid-September, when fans starting circulating reported old tweets from Ehrich in which he reportedly announced his crush on Selena Gomez. Lovato seemingly tried to defend Ehrich in an IG Story by claiming the images were "fake." Despite all this drama, no one was prepared for People's Sept. 24 report that the couple had decided to "go their separate ways" to "focus on their respective careers." People's source stated that distance was the culprit for their reported breakup, and that working on separate coasts put a strain on their bond. (Elite Daily reached out to reps for both Lovato and Ehrich about these claims but didn't hear back in time for publication.)
Like Lovato, Ehrich has spent a decent amount of his young adult life in the entertainment industry, starring in the soap opera The Young and the Restless, the 2019 Netflix movie Walk. Ride. Rodeo., High School Musical 3: Senior Year, and the Disney Channel series Shake It Up. And Lovato is hardly his first famous girlfriend — here are a few more of the stunning celebs he's boo'ed up.
Sommer Ray
For the record, Ehrich and Sommer Ray never officially confirmed whether or not they were an item. However, in October 2017, ET reported that Ehrich had sparked up a romance with the model — and that they'd been "inseparable" for the last two months.
“It’s pretty new," a source told ET at the time. "They’re taking things one day at a time."
Ray also starred in the music video for Ehrich's song “Can’t Forget Her Now."
Without a doubt, the best part about this love story is that according to ET, the couple met through mutual friend, actress Bella Thorne. I mean, who knew she was a bona fide celeb matchmaker?
It's still unclear how this reported relationship ended — but as you may or may not know, Ray went on to date both Bennett Sipes and Machine Gun Kelly. (Elite Daily reached out to Ray and a rep for Ehrich for comment on their rumored relationship, but did not hear back in time for publication.)
Veronica Dunne
Lovato isn't the only Disney Channel star Ehrich has dated — he was also linked to Veronica Dunne starting in April of 2014.
As for how they met, Dunne told J-14 that they bonded over their love of music.
"I mentioned that I did musical theater," she explained to the news outlet. "That's another thing, guys in the past always made fun of me for that and I hated that. But he was like, 'Oh, yeah, I do musical theater.'"
It gets cuter.
"At the time I was putting on a production… and I had the karaoke track in my car," she told J-14. "He was like, 'You have that in your car? We should go sing through the show.' So we went to my car and sang through the show like, full-on ... There's a scene where he's proposing to her [in the show] and he grabbed my hand and started singing to me and guys I don't know if you've ever heard his voice but it is freaking insane — the most insane voice I've ever heard. I melted!"
While this may sound like a full-on Disney fairytale, the couple split in July of 2017 — shortly after they celebrated their three-year anniversary.
At the time, Ehrich confirmed the news by tweeting simply: “I am single."
Jennette McCurdy
Ehrich was also linked to Jennette McCurdy — star of Nickelodeon's iCarly and Sam & Cat — in 2010.
Who’s Dated Who reported that they dated for about a year — but it's worth noting that Ehrich slammed this rumor in 2016 when he tweeted that McCurdy was "always just a friend." (Elite Daily reached out to reps for McCurdy and Ehrich for comment on their rumored relationship, but did not hear back in time for publication.)
Jemma McKenzie-Brown
Ah, on-set romances. There were rumblings that Ehrich sparked up a romance with Jemma McKenzie-Brown in 2009 after they met while shooting High School Musical 3. Some reports indicate that they broke up in 2011, but this is another relationship that neither Ehrich nor his reported ex have ever commented on. (Elite Daily reached out to McKenzie-Brown and a rep for Ehrich for comment on their rumored relationship, but did not hear back in time for publication.)
Sarah Hyland
Betcha didn't know this was a thing. Well, long before Sarah Hyland was pursuing her happily ever after with Bachelor dreamboat Wells Adams, she dated Ehrich. Not only that, but they were together during a pretty pivotal time in their careers.
When Ehrich was just 16, he left his home state of New Jersey and moved out to L.A. with Hyland as they pursued their acting dreams. Of course, this was before she landed her breakout role on Modern Family.
“At first, I was living with my girlfriend at the time," he told Page Six about that period of his life in March 2019. "She had done a Broadway show and the producer was kind enough to let us stay at their estate in Beverly Hills, but soon after that, I ended up living in a really, really sketchy apartment in Hollywood. So I got to see like the brightest side and then I got to get a hit of reality."
They were photographed together at numerous red carpet events between September of 2007 and October of 2008, but it seemed that their romance fizzled out after about a year. (Elite Daily reached out to reps for Hyland and Ehrich for comment on their rumored relationship, but did not hear back in time for publication.)