Tate and Sloan are married in real life. Why did a 17 year old boy and an older aunt get married?
Scandal: The Unexpected Soap Opera Relationship That Has Days of Our Lives Fans Talking
Soap operas are known for their shocking twists, dramatic love triangles, and unexpected romances. But sometimes, the most surprising stories happen offscreen rather than on screen. One real-life romance has caught the attention of Days of Our Lives fans, and it’s raising eyebrows for its unexpected pairing: Leo Howard and Natasha Hall.
While their on-screen characters never shared a scene together, the actors behind the roles of Tate Black and Sloan Peterson found love off-camera in a way that no one saw coming. And given the nature of their Days of Our Lives characters, it’s a romance that would have been completely inappropriate on screen.
Leo Howard and Natasha Hall: A Surprising Love Story
Let’s start with Leo Howard, the talented actor who portrays Tate Black, the rebellious teenage son of Teresa Donovan and Brady Black on Days of Our Lives. Tate is a high school senior caught in a whirlwind of teenage drama, including his refusal to marry his pregnant classmate, Sophia Choy. But while Tate is supposed to be around 17 or 18 years old, his real-life counterpart, Leo Howard, is actually 27 years old.
On the other side of this unexpected romance is Natasha Hall, an actress who briefly stepped in to play Sloan Peterson, the feisty and often morally questionable lawyer involved with Eric Brady (played by Greg Vaughan). Sloan is a woman in her mid-30s, and Natasha Hall, who took over the role temporarily in 2023, is actually 34 years old in real life.
So, if you’re keeping track, that means Leo Howard is seven years younger than his now-wife, Natasha Hall. A noticeable gap, perhaps, but considering Leo Howard was actually a decade older than his teenage character on Days of Our Lives, this real-life romance is nowhere near as scandalous as it may seem at first glance.
The Soap Opera Connection—But Not on Screen
Despite both being part of the Days of Our Lives cast at the same time, Leo Howard and Natasha Hall’s characters never shared screen time—and that’s probably for the best. If high school senior Tate had crossed paths romantically with 30-something Sloan Peterson, it would have been one of the most controversial storylines Days has ever attempted.
After all, Sloan was busy stirring up her own share of drama—getting involved with Eric Brady, deceiving Nicole Walker about her baby, and scheming her way through Salem’s legal system. The idea of Sloan pursuing a romance with a high school-aged character like Tate? Absolutely unthinkable.
Luckily, Days of Our Lives fans can rest easy knowing that this particular relationship only happened in real life, not in the world of Salem.
A Soap Star Romance Becomes Reality
So how did these two actors—who never shared a scene—end up falling in love? While details about their romance have been kept relatively private, it’s believed that Leo and Natasha met during their time working on Days of Our Lives, possibly behind the scenes while Natasha was briefly filling in for Jessica Serfaty in the role of Sloan.
While they may not have played love interests on screen, something clearly clicked between them in real life. Fast forward a few months after Natasha’s Days appearance ended, and the couple tied the knot in September 2024, making their romance official.
Leo Howard’s On-Screen Drama vs. Real-Life Happiness
While Leo Howard is happily married offscreen, his character, Tate, is neck-deep in teenage turmoil on Days of Our Lives.
Tate’s storyline took a dramatic turn when his classmate Sophia Choy (played by Rachel Boyd) revealed she was pregnant with his child. However, instead of stepping up and proposing marriage, Tate made it clear that he had no intention of tying the knot.
This refusal sent shockwaves through Salem, leading to plenty of heated confrontations, hurt feelings, and family drama. Soap operas thrive on messy, complicated relationships, and Tate’s story has been no exception. But at least in real life, Leo Howard’s own love story is much simpler and much happier.
A Love That’s Only Just Begun
In an industry where whirlwind romances and shocking breakups happen all the time, Leo Howard and Natasha Hall’s relationship is an unexpected but refreshing surprise.
Though their Days of Our Lives characters never interacted, fate had other plans for them behind the scenes. Their seven-year age difference might have raised some eyebrows, but considering Leo Howard is much older than his teenage on-screen persona, their relationship is far from the scandal it might have seemed at first.
Now, as Leo Howard continues his run on Days of Our Lives and Natasha Hall moves forward in her career, fans can’t help but root for this real-life soap opera couple. After all, if there’s one thing soap fans love, it’s a good love story—and Leo Howard and Natasha Hall have certainly found theirs.
