A fewer years aft Glee ended, Ryan Murphy reflected connected the popular civilization improvement and revealed however chaotic things were down the scenes. 

"It was the champion clip successful my beingness and the worst clip successful my life," helium told Entertainment Weekly, going connected to admit, "There was a batch of infighting. There was a batch of radical sleeping unneurotic and breaking up. It was bully grooming for being a parent, I'll archer you that much."

He besides reflected connected his clip connected the show, looking backmost with immoderate regret connected however helium handled things arsenic the showrunner. 

"I was determination with them each time long, and past we'd decorativeness enactment and we'd spell retired and person amusive each night, and I conjecture successful a weird, twisted way, I was trying to relive the puerility I ne'er had," helium told THR. "I thought they wanted a parent, and they didn't. They didn't privation maine to archer them what to f—king do. They didn't privation maine to archer them however to dainty each different oregon what the satellite was similar astatine the extremity of the day. I privation I could spell backmost and bash that otherwise with a batch of those actors. Some of them I'm inactive precise adjacent to: Lea Michele, Chord Overstreet, Darren Criss — but determination were immoderate that didn't enactment retired well, and I regret that. I conjecture I conscionable privation I had been capable to fto them fig it retired for themselves."

Going connected to make Scream Queens, American Horror Story, Pose and different deed series, Murphy said Glee "was a large acquisition successful what not to bash moving forward." 

Fun fact: Ryan Murphy wrote the relation of Rachel Berry with Lea Michele, a Broadway standout acknowledgment to Spring Awakening, successful mind. But not each formed member's travel to becoming a Gleek was truthful easy.

Before helium was formed arsenic Blaine, Criss auditioned for the relation of Finn, the pb quarterback. 

"It was the archetypal audition I ever had. I auditioned for the pilot," he revealed astatine the Paleyfest panel. "And past I retrieve watching the aviator to spot who got the portion [I went retired for] and seeing Cory [Monteith got it] and thinking, oh, obviously, right."

Another prima who besides auditioned for a antithetic portion was Colfer, who work for Artie originally. Producers were truthful impressed by the teen that they created the relation of Kurt specifically for him. 

In fact, Murphy revealed Colfer's audition was the inspiration down creating The Glee Project, the show's world competitions bid that gave aspiring actors the accidental to beryllium formed connected Glee.

"It's specified a immense grant and I mean that's truly peculiar due to the fact that I consciousness similar if I inspired thing that is giving kids a level that is incredible," Colfer said. 

The last formed subordinate to articulation the show? Dianna Agron, who played caput cheerleader Quinn Fabray, landing the relation the time earlier they filmed the pilot.

Initially, Quinn was expected to beryllium the stereotypical mean girl, but Agron's quality ended up changing the relation for the writers.

"When we formed Dianna arsenic Quinn, she ruined the portion for me," Murphy told Rolling Stone. "She was expected to beryllium the Cybill Shepherd, Last Picture Show c—, truthful to speak, but she humanized it. She tin outcry astatine the driblet of a hat. So present her quality has a conscience, a psyche and large vulnerability."

Agron would permission the amusement aft play three, returning lone for the 100th episode.

Just similar successful the hallways of McKinley High, the Glee acceptable featured a batch of flirtation and relationships betwixt its young stars. (And adjacent earlier the show, arsenic Lea Michele revealed successful her 2014 memoir Brunette Ambition that she and Matthew Morrison "actually dated backmost successful for the time for a Broadway beat.")

Michele and Cory Monteith, whose characters were 1 of the show's astir iconic couples," dated for respective years earlier Monteith's tragic decease successful 2013, portion Blake Jenner and Melissa Benoist, who present stars on Supergirl, joined in 2015 aft gathering connected the acceptable successful 2012 erstwhile they besides played emotion interests; they split successful 2016 and their divorcement was finalized the pursuing year.  

Naya Rivera and Mark Salling concisely dated successful the show's earlier days and it wasn't an amicable split, arsenic Rivera would constitute successful her 2016 memoir, "I deliberation everyone should person that 1 narration wherever you look backmost and inquire yourself, 'What the hellhole was I thinking?' You'll larn thing and you won't regret it. Unless, of course, that narration was with idiosyncratic who had a sizable stash of kid porn connected his computer. Then, by each means, regret everything." Rivera was referring to Salling's kid pornography indictment successful 2017. In January 2018, Salling committed suicide astatine the property of 35.

While they archetypal met erstwhile she guest-starred connected Glee, Gwyneth Paltrow didn't statesman dating aboriginal hubby Brad Falchuk, 1 of Glee's co-creators, until she returned to the amusement successful 2014, implicit a twelvemonth aft her divided from Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. 

"When you're going done a divorcement and you deliberation astir going retired with somebody, it's a weird thing," she told Howard Stern of taking it dilatory with Falchuk, a recently-divorced begetter of two. "So I don't deliberation it's the aforesaid arsenic being 23 and moving into idiosyncratic astatine a java shop. It's conscionable different. You person kids, you person divorce—it's conscionable a batch of stuff."

They got married successful October 2018. 

While determination were whispers of a romance between Kevin McHale (Artie) and Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina) during the show's run, it turns retired they were conscionable successful a showmance, which became the caller of their deed podcast.

Given its popularity and millions of downloads (including huge bumps for the archetypal versions of the songs covered by the cast), you would deliberation immoderate set oregon creator would springiness Glee the rights to their songs. But determination were respective large bands that wouldn't fto the glee nine enactment their instrumentality connected their tunes: Kings of Leon, with Murphy calling the set members "self-centered assholes" due to the fact that they "missed the large picture" aka however the amusement could animate kids to articulation arts acquisition done their songs, namely their deed "Use Somebody." A mini-Twitter feud followed.  

Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash besides rejected Glee's request, saying helium wasn't a instrumentality of the show. "Usually I find radical who marque those comments, their careers are over' they're uneducated and stupid," Murphy said.

The Foo Fighters didn't o.k. the show's petition either, with Dave Grohl calling retired Murphy successful an interrogation with THR.

"You shouldn't person to bash f--king Glee," helium said. "And past the feline who created Glee is truthful offended that we're not, like, begging to beryllium connected his f--king show...I watched 10 minutes...it's not my thing."

Colfer and Ushkowitz lived unneurotic during the show's tally and often had formed parties astatine their apartment. 

"Those of america who were evidently over-age would portion themselves into the oblivion," McHale said on Showmance, his podcast with Ushkowitz, earlier Colfer chimed in, "Oh, I drank too." (During a 2013 Paleyfest panel, Colfer revealed helium really had his archetypal portion astatine their apartment.)

Amber Riley (Mercedes) smoked her archetypal and past cigaret during 1 of their galore precocious nights there, with the foursome being truthful adjacent they called themselves JACK (the archetypal first of each of their names).

They besides reminisced connected their chaotic nights retired portion connected their performance tour, with Riley revealing she got into a combat with a random miss portion successful London with the cast. After realizing she had punched the girl, she told their information squad who past paid the miss disconnected to enactment quiet. Colfer, inactive not 21 astatine the time, admitted to sneaking into a batch of bars.

Because they were a young, close-knit cast, galore things the stars were going done ended up on-screen, particularly aboriginal on.

"There person been a mates of times erstwhile I person gone to Ryan Murphy and told him a mates of things that person happened to me, and past helium writes it into the show," Colfer said successful an interrogation with PR.com. "Or he'll inquire maine what opus I would privation to sing, successful this concern oregon successful that situation. I don't deliberation immoderate of america straight effort to springiness input connected the quality oregon connected the storyline, but they decidedly bargain things from us. I retrieve I was talking to Ryan astir erstwhile I was successful precocious schoolhouse and I truly wanted to sing 'Defying Gravity.' The different students successful my play people and the teachers, erstwhile we were putting connected this endowment show, they wouldn't fto maine sing it due to the fact that I was a lad and it was a girl's song. And past that was made [into] an episode."

And prima Chord Overstreet's (Sam) plump lips adjacent worked their mode into a storyline...and song, called "Trouty Mouth."

During a Paleyfest panel, Overstreet said, "I ne'er adjacent realized my lips were thing until the jokes started coming. And they wrote that freakin' song!"

While helium yet didn't snag the relation of Finn (his archetypal audition ever!), Darren Criss ended up becoming 1 of the biggest breakout stars of the bid erstwhile helium made his debut arsenic Head Warbler Blaine Anderson successful play two. His archetypal scene, which featured his show of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream," acceptable up 1 of the show's astir fashionable couples, Klaine (Kurt and Blaine), but besides delivered 1 of Glee's astir palmy singles of all-time, debuting astatine No. 1 connected the Billboard Hot 100. 

Criss, 1 of the stars and creators of the fashionable YouTube "A Very Potter Musical" pre-Glee (He played Harry Potter, of course!), was rapidly promoted to bid regular and became 1 of the cardinal characters. 

And erstwhile Murphy was looking to formed the relation of serial slayer Andrew Cunanan for The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, helium amazed galore erstwhile helium chose Criss, crediting his crook connected Broadway in Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

"I conscionable knew helium could bash it," Murphy revealed to EW. "More than that, I knew that helium was ace bare and ambitious. I deliberation radical thought of Darren arsenic a philharmonic drama prima first. But, erstwhile I saw Hedwig, I knew helium was susceptible of large darkness."

Criss' show connected the FX deed bid earned him a Golden Globe, Emmy and SAG Award. 

While she would spell connected to go 1 of the show's astir beloved stars, Heather Morris was really brought successful by the show's choreographer conscionable to thatch Colfer however to bash the "Single Ladies" creation due to the fact that she was 1 of Beyoncé's back-up dancers. Producers past decided to formed her arsenic a inheritance subordinate erstwhile they needed a 3rd cheerleader, but they rapidly realized they had a concealed limb successful Morris, who had a knack for tossing retired one-liners "(Did you cognize dolphins are conscionable cheery sharks?") and became a fan-favorite. She was promoted to bid regular successful play two, becoming the absorption of the  Britney Spears tribute occurrence and one-half of 1 of the show's astir fashionable couples with Naya Rivera's Santana.

For the 5th season, Morris became a recurring impermanent prima aft getting large successful real-life, with the histrion choosing not to instrumentality arsenic a full-time formed member.

At the tallness of its fame, it seemed similar everyone appeared connected Glee oregon wanted to look connected Glee. Some of the show's biggest impermanent prima gets included Gwyneth Paltrow, John Stamos, Helen Mirren (via voiceover), Carol Burnett, Kate Hudson, Lindsay Lohan, Ricky Martin, Sarah Jessica Parker and Whoopi Goldberg, among many, galore more.

Still, determination were immoderate announced impermanent stars who ne'er ended up Gleeking out: Javier Bardem was expected to play a stone prima who befriends Artie, which ne'er came to fruition. Anne Hathaway was acceptable to play Kurt's lesbian aunt, but ne'er popped up.

Jennifer Lopez besides met with producers, but it ne'er ended up materializing.

After tributes to Madonna and Lady Gaga, Glee staged its astir palmy tribute episode: successful play two: "Britney/Brittany," an homage to Britney Spears. (They did a 2nd Brit tribute occurrence successful play four.)

It was [Britney's] idea," Murphy said of the popular icon's effect to the honor. "I deliberation she loves what the show's about, paying tribute to popular civilization successful a precise loving, respectful, benignant way. She responded to that."

Unlike Madonna and Gaga though, Spears really appeared arsenic herself successful the episode.

"I loved it! Thank you guys SO overmuch for making this happen!" the "I'm A Slave 4 U" vocalist tweeted. 

And Spears was peculiarly taken with Morris, writing, "Awww Heather Morris is sooo cute! Brittany S Pearce. Ha! She was truthful amusive to enactment with and was truly saccharine successful person."

It was a large infinitesimal for Morris, who idolized Spears increasing up.

"She was my idol from, like, property 12 to 16," Morris told TV Week. "I sang to her [songs] successful my surviving country and danced to her—I learned each her moves. And I had my endowment shows and I lip-synced to her. I conscionable kept flashing backmost to increasing up and being obsessed with her."

Glee was truthful fashionable that the main formed went connected a nationalist circuit from 2010-11, selling retired astir each of their 40 dates. (Eventually it went overseas arsenic well, visiting European cities.)

"The effect of the fans to our small amusement has been truthful contiguous and truthful gratifying, we wanted to get retired and convey them unrecorded and successful person," Murphy said erstwhile the circuit was announced. "And what amusement lends itself much to a performance than Glee?"

The circuit would spell connected to gross $40 million, and resulted successful the two-week theatrical merchandise of Glee: The 3D Concert Movie, utilizing footage from the cast's performance successful New Jersey.

As for their euphony sales, the show's 16 soundtrack albums and six compilation albums had sold implicit 7.9 cardinal copies by 2015, portion their songs had been downloaded implicit 45 cardinal times and sold 53 cardinal copies. 

You can't enactment successful precocious school, adjacent erstwhile you're attending TV precocious school. Still, fans were shocked when hen Murphy told THR that the series' main trio Michele, Monteith and Colfer would not beryllium returning for play 4 aft their people graduated from McKinley. Rumors of a imaginable New York-set spinoff being explored by the producers surfaced, which would find Rachel and Kurt trying to marque their Broadway dreams travel existent successful the Big Apple.

"You tin support them connected the amusement for six years and radical volition knock you for not being realistic," Murphy said astatine the time, "or you tin beryllium truly existent to beingness and accidental erstwhile they started the amusement they were precise intelligibly sophomores and they should postgraduate astatine the extremity of their elder year."

But the trio ended up staying connected Glee, which focused connected their post-college plans portion besides introducing caller students into the premix astatine McKinley, with the network's past president telling reporters up of play four, "There volition not beryllium a Glee spinoff."

Still, play 4 presented a shake-up for the show, with Murphy telling Vulture helium gave the archetypal formed members the prime to exit the bid if they wanted aft their characters graduated. "I said to them, 'Anybody who wants to enactment connected the amusement volition enactment connected the show,'" he explained. Almost everyone stayed but galore dropped down to recurring oregon impermanent prima status. 

During Glee's 3rd season, The Glee Project kicked disconnected connected Oxygen, which recovered the contestants competing for a relation connected the main show.

From its 2 season-run, Glee brought 4 contestants over, including play one's winners Samuel Larsen and Damian McGinty Jr., arsenic good arsenic runner-ups Lindsay Pearce and Alex Newell. Blake Jenner, the victor of play two, became a bid regular successful play five, portion the runner-up Ali Stroker made an unexpected impermanent quality successful play four.

One of the show's breakout stars, winning a Golden Globe for his crook arsenic Kurt, Colfer went connected to constitute an occurrence of Glee successful play five, aboriginal admitting helium was terrified to instrumentality connected the situation contempt penning respective novels, arsenic good arsenic the movie adaptation of his publication Struck By Lighting. 

"When they archetypal approached maine I said, perfectly not," helium said during a Paleyfest panel. "I'm not putting words into my costars' mouths. There was a batch of pressure."

His onscreen paramour Darren Criss besides penned thing for Glee during the show's run, penning an archetypal opus for the bid finale called "This Time." 

"I fundamentally wrote a emotion enactment to the full experience," Criss explained of the song, which Michele sang successful the episode. "Having Lea sing it to maine is 1 of the astir peculiar moments of my career."

It was conscionable arsenic peculiar for Michele, who said, "Darren gave maine the top gift. Honestly. That was the time I fell to my knees and cried. I virtually had to telephone my parent to travel [get me]. It's truthful special, it was the astir astonishing memory."

The opus would spell connected to beryllium nominated for an Emmy. 

In 2011, a Glee extra/fan recovered herself successful blistery h2o erstwhile she shared large spoilers connected Twitter, revealing astir of the large happenings astatine the prom. Co-creator Brad Falchuk enactment her connected blast, responding, "Who are you to spoil thing talented radical person spent months to create?"

He past added, "hope you're qualified to bash thing too enactment successful entertainment."

The leaker Nicole Crowther, past 2, received "very, precise hateful messages" from fans and said she was "black-balled" by each bureau successful town.

"I had nary thought it would adjacent travel adjacent to thing it's been," she told E! News. "I regret it and I tin wholly understand, not lone wherever the fans are coming from, but wherefore Brad and different radical from Fox are furious with me. I tin recognize their constituent of view." 

A fewer years later, the amusement had different Twitter ungraded erstwhile idiosyncratic hacked Colfer's relationship and tweeted helium was leaving the show. "Due to idiosyncratic issues, I person been fto spell from the formed of GLEE. Explanations volition travel shortly..." the connection read. 

After the wide hysteria from Klaine fans subsided erstwhile the show's rep denied Colfer was leaving the show, the histrion appeared on Good Morning America, calling the hack "very upsetting." 

"Some jerk hacked me," helium said. "It was a pain, it truly was." 

In her 2016 memoir, Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes and Growing Up, Rivera revealed she got an termination during the show's run.

In precocious 2010, Naya discovered she was large conscionable weeks aft breaking up with actor Ryan Dorsey, whom she aboriginal wed successful 2014 and is the begetter of her son, Josey Dorsey (they divorced successful 2018).

She chose not stock the quality with Dorsey astatine the time, alternatively choosing to absorption connected her career; she terminated the gestation during a time disconnected from filming an occurrence of Glee.

"I deliberation each pistillate should person the close to choose, and it scares maine to deliberation of a satellite wherever the determination of whether to person a kid is not her prime to make," she wrote.

After Monteith's abrupt and tragic decease from combined cause intoxication in 2013 astatine the property of 31, questions arose astir however Glee would grip his passing and Finn's lack connected the amusement (with Murphy telling E! News they adjacent considered ending  the series).

After taking an extended hiatus, Glee addressed Monteith's decease successful "The Quarterback," a beauteous tribute occurrence that revealed Finn had died. It was an affectional and somber hr of television, some on-screen and disconnected arsenic each formed subordinate was fixed a alteration to grant Monteith successful the episode.

"Almost everything successful that occurrence is from the archetypal instrumentality of each show due to the fact that the actors and the unit had a truly hard clip shooting it,' Murphy said astatine the time. "I've ne'er seen a unit that you can't proceed shooting due to the fact that they've near the country sobbing. It was precise hard. I struggled adjacent moving connected it due to the fact that what they felt, not conscionable astir Finn but Cory."

The occurrence ended with Michele, Monteith's girlfriend, singing Bob Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love," and Rachel returning to McKinley to bent a plaque successful the choir country featuring a representation of Finn and a punctuation from him that reads: "The amusement indispensable go...all implicit the place...or something."

Matthew Morrison said of the filming, "[Lea] had 1 of the archetypal songs we filmed for the occurrence and she did it truthful beautifully and after, she said thing like, 'It can't beryllium harder for anyone other than it was for me.' So, we knew we had to amusement up due to the fact that our person stepped guardant and benignant of gave support to each of america to bash it. I don't deliberation we could person done it without her." 

In an In Memoriam portion penned for Entertainment Weekly in 2013, Murphy revealed the ending helium and the writers primitively envisioned for Finchel's travel connected the show. 

"Rachel comes backmost to Ohio, fulfilled and yet not, and walks into Finn's glee club," helium explained. "'What are you doing here?' helium would ask. 'I'm home,' she would reply. Fade out. The End."

Three of Michele's 16 tattoos are Glee-related: Michele showed disconnected her "Finn" tattoo when she posed bare for the screen of Women's Health U.K., a tattoo Rachel had gotten connected the amusement arsenic a tribute to Finn aft his death. Michele besides has the No. 5 successful grant of Monteith, which was Finn's shot jersey number.

"And 1 more...for my Quarterback...#5," she captioned the Instagram post debuting her caller assemblage ink. 

She besides has a tiny golden star on her near wrist arsenic a motion to her quality Rachel and 1 of her lines from the aviator episode: "You whitethorn laughter due to the fact that each clip I motion my sanction I enactment a golden prima aft it, but it's a metaphor, and metaphors are important. My golden stars are a metaphor for ME being a star."

In an interrogation with Rolling Stone, Michele revealed she and co-stars Ushkowitz and McHale got matching "Imagine" tattoos connected their feet, a motion to The Beatles, during a nighttime retired and a fewer glasses of wine. 

"I'm known to beryllium the instigator to bash immoderate much risky stuff. So we person small tattoos connected our feet now," she said. "It made a batch of consciousness that night."

Many of the formed members person remained since the bid ended successful 2015, proving erstwhile a Gleek ever a Gleek.

Michele and Criss person gone on co-headlining tours together, and Michele performed astatine Criss' nuptials to longtime woman Mia Swier in February 2019. Criss was besides contiguous Michele married Zandy Reich a period aboriginal successful a ceremonial officiated by Murphy. Becca Tobin, who joined Glee successful play four and ow stars successful E!'s Ladygang, was besides contiguous arsenic she and Michele person continued to beryllium champion friends successful the years since Glee.

When Tobin got joined successful 2016 Jane Lynch officiated the ceremony, which was a mini-Glee reunion with Michele, McHale, Ushkowitz, Meg Doyle, Michael Hitchcock, Matt Hodgson and Dante Russo all successful attendance.

In 2018, Morrison reunited galore of the subordinate of New Directions to conscionable his newborn son, Revel James Makai Morrison. "It's a GLEE-Union!!" Morrison captioned the photograph of the gang, including Michele, Rivera, Riley, Morris, Colfer, Criss and more. "What a beauteous nighttime hangin with my aged kids & caller kid! Ohana..."

In March, immoderate of the Gleeks, including Crazy Rich Asians' Harry Shum Jr., reunited on-screen, competing against each other on Drop the Mic.