Dove Cameron and Ryan McCartan
Once upon a time, Dove and Ryan were the ultimate Disney Channel power couple. But fans of the Liv and Maddie stars know that things weren’t exactly pretty when their relationship ended.
During a Q&A with fans in January 2020, Ryan accused Dove of cheating on him. One of his Instagram followers asked him what his proudest moment was, and he responded, “Within two weeks, my fiancée cheated on and left me [and] I almost died from food poisoning … I truly didn’t think I would be able to make it through that part of my life. I’m proudest of the light that came from the darkness, and my ability to survive and turn the anger and sadness I had into positive life changes and a new way forward.”
After making headlines for his comments, Ryan took to Instagram again, writing, “I have elected to remain silent about my past because I thought it would be the most effective way to leave it where it belongs. I am no longer comfortable watching the events of my life become so darkly misconstrued. I would like to fairly and diplomatically write about this once and finally.”
“I think Dove and I fundamentally agree about our relationship with one another. We were young and immature. Our relationship was dysfunctional. We were a bad match,” he continued. “She has made claims about me and about our past that I don’t think are fair or even true, but she is entitled to her opinion. I have made claims about her and our past that I’m sure she doesn’t think are fair or true, but I am entitled to my opinion. We have individual and conflicting perspectives on the dysfunction of our relationship. That is very normal amongst exes. I wish her nothing but the best. I am grateful for our relationship. I learned what love is by learning what it isn’t. People are allowed to be young and make mistakes. People are allowed to grow up and grow apart.”
The actor explained that despite their rocky past, there are no hard feelings between them now.
“We are not at war with one another. This vortex of repetitive conflict is the result of freely and peacefully sharing our individual perspectives on our past, which is almost always followed by a myriad of social media posts creating a fight where there isn’t one,” he added. “Some of these outlets make their money on ads, clicks and controversy, and if they don’t have a story, they manufacture one. Any claims of lasting or current conflict between me and my previous partner have been methodically manufactured, and are baseless. This paradigm is one that exists all over the social media landscape. It is my hope that consumers of social media will use this as an example to guard themselves against bias and hyperbole, and to increase their social media fluency in an increasingly untruthful world.”