Lucy Hale forced to clarify viral Pretty Little Liars video of her and co-star Ian Harding after it ignites fury

Lucy Hale has reunited with her Pretty Little Liars co-star Ian Harding - but it seems that not everyone is impressed.

The 37-year-old actress played the role of Aria for all seven seasons of the iconic drama series, while Harding, 40, played her love interest… and teacher.

Yes, you read that right - for those who are unfamiliar with the 2010s TV show, the characters met at a local bar before Aria discovered that Ezra was her new high school English teacher.

Despite their notable age gap and laws prohibiting teachers from having romantic relationships with students, they had a forbidden romance and ultimately ended up together.

At the time, for all the teenagers watching, they were a fan-favourite couple, but now, looking back as adults with hindsight, their romance has obviously sparked a lot of controversy.

So, when Hale and Harding reunited on Saturday (24 October) and recreated a shot of themselves in the show to promote their new Christmas movie, The Twelve Dates of Christmas, while there were a lot of excited comments, some fans found issues with the relationship still being romanticised.

She wrote in the caption: "A little older and wiser but the same two idiots! 12 dates of Christmas comin soon. Like really sooon. Info sooon."

However, one Instagram user brutally penned: “It’s 2026. We don’t romanticize that couple anymore.”

While a second added: “Even as a kid y'all grossed me out, like ew ew ew.”

And a third agreed: “Not sure why they are still romanticizing this couple because the age gap in the show is literally a 20-something-year-old teacher with a teenager.”

A fourth chimed in with: “Two grown-ass adults romanticizing grooming is beyond me.”

And a fifth questioned: “Why do we keep romanticizing this kind of relationship? He was a teacher and an adult.”

In fact, the comments got so out of hand that Hale herself was forced to come online and defend herself for making reference to Aria and Ezra’s romance.

As reported by USA Today, in a video shared to her Instagram story on Sunday (25 October), the actress said, “The video I posted earlier of me and Ian in promotion of our new movie that's coming out, at an undisclosed date really soon, I’m obviously seeing a lot of the comments, and I just want to say that two realities can be very true.”

She admitted: It’s very obvious that Aria and Ezra is problematic, and it did not age well. And that can be very true.

“It can also be true that Ian and I were teenagers when we were doing that show, and we were quick friends, and we have known each other, like, almost 20 years. So the video was actually more about Ian and I’s friendship - not glamorizing anything.”

It’s not the first time Hale has reflected on the controversial storyline, and in June 2025, the star told The Hollywood Reporter: “It was a different time. Would that storyline exist if it were being made now? I’m not sure, but probably not.

“At the time I was cast as Aria, I was 19 years old, and I wasn’t really thinking about the bigger themes of it all. I was just stoked to be cast in a TV show.”

She added: "Of course, it hits differently at my age now, and I think about the bigger message in anything I play.

“I don’t have regrets, though. I stand behind their love story forever. That forbidden love story drew a lot of people in.”

While Harding added: “What we tried to demonstrate over and over was that there was a meaningful connection. Hopefully, that was enough to justify the deeply problematic relationship that was certainly not great at the time.

“Especially as society has progressed, we realized how wildly inappropriate it was.”

Although he concluded that he’s ‘happy with the way it turned out because maybe that makes it a little less icky, which is always tough to say because I also love those characters’.

He explained: “I love Ezra, and as an actor, you have to advocate for this person, no matter who they are. They both found happiness, and there was little collateral damage or pain inflicted by the relationship.

“There was plenty of pain and horror everywhere on the show, but oddly enough, their relationship seemed to be a safe haven in the storm.”

Tyla has contacted representatives for Hale and Harding for comment.