Hallmark's Rachael Leigh Cook Moved On Quickly After Her Divorce From Daniel Gillies

Rachael Leigh Cook seemed to waste little time jumping back in the saddle after divorcing her husband of 15 years, Daniel Gillies. In July 2020, Gillies — who married Cook in 2004 — officially filed for divorce after the pair had previously announced their separation. Cook and Gillies said the split was a mutual decision, and they remained on good terms afterwards. The divorce was finalized in March 2021, but the "Caught By Love" actor had already gone public with her new boyfriend long before that.

Only a month after news broke that her divorce was in progress, Cook spoke openly about dating film producer Kevin Mann, as she gushed over her new beau. "He's really great. I did good, if I do say so. Definitely hitting out of my league there," she told Us Weekly in August 2020. Fans wondering what Cook had been up to since "She's All That" may have been surprised to hear she was online dating shortly after she and Gillies separated.

Just over a year after separating from her ex-husband in June 2019, Cook had not only been going on lots of dates, but had met her new boyfriend and had become serious enough with him to take the relationship public. Appearing on the "Brief Take" podcast in September 2020, Cook recalled speaking to her friend and fellow actor, Judy Greer, about her post-divorce dating woes. "I was complaining to them about whatever online disaster date," Cook said on the podcast. It was Greer who introduced Cook to Mann. "And Judy said, 'Well, when you're ready to meet someone nice, you should meet Kevin,'" the Hallmark star recalled. "I went on three more disastrous dates, and I went, 'Introduce me to nice Kevin,'" she added. Unfortunately for Cook, the relationship with Mann didn't last.

A couple of years after taking her romance with Kevin Mann public, Rachael Leigh Cook spoke about the possibility of the two eventually tying the knot, which led to the "Rescuing Christmas" actor revealing her outlook on relationships. "I am the most incorrigible full-tilt romantic you have ever met in your whole life, to the point that it's probably unreasonable," Cook told People in October 2022. "So yeah, totally open to that happening again," she said, referring to getting remarried. Cook was also asked about having another child — she shares two with ex-husband Daniel Gillies. "We're still in what I would call an information-gathering phase," Cook replied. Eventually, the two gained enough information to know they didn't want to be together, as they quietly called it quits after a few years of dating.

It's unknown when Cook and her ex-boyfriend broke up exactly, but she was romantically linked to fellow Hallmark actor Brandon Routh afterwards. Chatter about the two dating started in late February 2025 when they posed for an Instagram photo together at a restaurant in Routh's hometown of Des Moines. Fans seemed excited to see two once-popular stars who make a living with Hallmark as a potential couple. The romance speculation was all but confirmed when the two actors were spotted holding hands on their way to a movie in July 2025. The following month, a source verified that Cook and Routh were in fact dating. Apparently, their respective divorces played a factor. "They have a lot in common and bonded over their experiences," the insider told Star in August 2025.

Routh's divorce was fresh, as his ex-wife Courtney Ford had filed the paperwork in January 2025. Interestingly, that was only a month before he was photographed in Des Moines with Cook.