‘There’s no part of me that can be labelled’: Orange Is The New Black star Taylor Schilling confirms she’s dating visual artist Emily Ritz as she shares romantic photo over Pride weekend
- The couple reportedly met through mutual friends and their relationship turned more romantic late last year
- Schilling’s sexuality has been the subject of scrutiny over the years, but she had long decided to keep her private life private
- She previously said: ‘There’s no part of me that can be put under a label. I really don’t fit into a box — that’s too reductive’
- Taylor also showed her support for Pride and the Black Lives Matter movements by sharing a tribute to late activist Marsha P. Johnson, who died in 1992
- Schilling’s seven season run on Orange Is The New Black only ended in 2019
- Her character fell in love with the complicated Alex Vause, played by Laura Prepon, but their romance is far from plain-sailing
Taylor Schilling, Piper Chapman on the Netflix prison drama Orange Is The New Black, has confirmed she is dating visual artist Emily Ritz.
The actress, 35, confirmed the relationship when she re-posting a photo from Ritz during Pride weekend as they cuddled one another in the fog.
‘I couldn’t be more proud to be by your side @tayjschilling, Happy Pride!,’ Ritz wrote on top of the original image on Sunday.
Public declaration: Taylor Schilling, 35, has confirmed she’s dating visual artist Emily Ritz when she reposted this loved-up snap on Instagram over Pride weekend
She also shared a couple of pink hearts and rainbow emojis.
Schilling added six red heart emojis when she reposted the snap on her Instagram Story about an hour later.
The couple reportedly met through mutual friends and their relationship turned more romantic late last year, according to Just Jared.
Announcement: Emily (pictured) shared the image of the two of them on Sunday, tagging Taylor and it’s been claimed their romance turned romantic last year
Schilling’s sexuality has been the subject of scrutiny over the years, but she had long decided to keep her private life private.
‘I’ve had very serious relationships with lots of people, and I’m a very expansive human,’ she opened up ever-so-slightly in an interview with the Evening Standard magazine in May 2017.
‘There’s no part of me that can be put under a label. I really don’t fit into a box — that’s too reductive.’
She added, ‘I’ve had wonderful relationships. I’ve had a lot of love, and I don’t have any qualms about where it comes from.’
Taylor also showed her support for Pride and the Black Lives Matter movements by sharing a tribute to late activist Marsha P. Johnson, who died in 1992.
She wrote alongside a photo of Marsha: ‘Here because of women like you. Happy Pride my friends [rainbow and heart emojis] #happypride #marshapjohnson #blacklivesmatter #blacktranslivesmatter #loveislove (sic)’
Breakout: Schilling played Piper Chapman on Orange Is The New Black from 2013-2019
Taylor recently admitted her life was ‘so much tougher than it needed to be’ when she was in her 20s because she put too much pressure on herself to succeed, but now she’s older she’s learned how to ‘grow and evolve’.
She said: ‘I certainly feel like I am at a different place now than I was in my twenties. I was definitely ready for my twenties to be over.
‘Looking back, my thoughts and my ideas about life might’ve been confining and I was so hard on myself. Things were so much tougher than they needed to be.
‘The transition from being a teenager to being in your early twenties; to getting your sea legs with work and things like that weren’t necessarily easy, but you grow and you evolve.’
Former role: Schilling’s seven season run on Orange Is The New Black only ended in 2019. Onscreen, she fell in love with the complicated Alex Vause, played by Laura Prepon (pictured)
Schilling’s seven season run on Orange Is The New Black only ended in 2019.
Convicted of a decade old crime of transporting drug money to an ex-girlfriend, normally law-abiding Piper Chapman (Taylor) is sentenced to a year and a half behind bars to face the reality of how life-changing prison can really be.
She fell in love with the complicated Alex Vause, played by Laura Prepon, but their romance is far from plain-sailing.
It garnered 16 Emmy Award nominations and four wins, along with six Golden Globe nominations.
The acclaimed drama series is Netflix’s most-watched original series.
Bonafide hit: Schilling’s seven season run on the Netflix original garnered two Golden Globe Award nominations and one Primetime Emmy Award nomination