Photography: Kristina Strickland
Best known for starring on 2000s teen TV drama One Tree Hill, Tyler Hilton and Kate Voegele have spent the past decade touring the show’s music together, but both were famous long before their roles. In fact, a teenage Taylor Swift was such a fan of young Californian hunk Tyler’s music that her family offered up their houseboat for him to live in when he moved to Nashville.
“She was a sweet little girl who was ambitious and dorky,” recalls Tyler, 42.
“I was 20 or 21 and Taylor was younger, but she’d watched all my videos and was such a fangirl – it made me feel good!”
Meanwhile, Ohio-born Kate, 39, was praised by Willie Nelson and John Mayer early on in her music career.
“These were idols who I didn’t even realise were real people,” she laughs.
“Being told I did a good job by them as a kid was crazy.”
Finding their footing in a tough industry
While chasing their musical dreams, the pair faced many hurdles. Tyler spent years battling alcoholism. He eventually turned his life around and became a doting dad to his daughter, Winnie, five, and son, Benny, one.
Meanwhile, throughout her teens, Kate struggled with navigating the cut-throat music industry. She credits touring with Kiwi songbird Natasha Bedingfield as eye-opening.
Learning the long way around
“It was refreshing to see a woman with massive success and a huge radio hit be so humble, beautiful and normal,” enthuses Kate.
“She was still somebody you could have coffee and talk about your day with.”
While Tyler starred as Chris Keller on One Tree Hill from 2004, Kate didn’t join the cast as Mia Catalano until years later. That time gap meant they didn’t know each other until they agreed to tour together in 2015.
From collaboration to connection
“We had lunch, talked and realised what parallel lives we’d been living,” says Kate.
“It’s become a really fun, creative collaboration and friendship.”
The camaraderie part’s been key as Tyler navigates a new chapter, having split from his wife of 10 years, actress Megan Park.
“With everything I’m going through, Kate’s been so supportive,” says Tyler, who played Elvis Presley in the Reese Witherspoon movie Walk The Line.
“Our friendship keeps getting deeper.”
Dreamers in their corner
Kate’s husband Brett Hughes is also a good mate. He and Kate wed in 2012, and she says, “I’m fortunate my husband’s a dreamer and adventurer. He’s the one pushing me out the door, saying, ‘This is your dream. Go do it!’”
Now sober and on top of his mental health, Tyler is a committed co-parent to his kids and says he’s “on the floor and in their faces” whenever he’s not on tour.
Dad life meets pop culture
“My oldest loves watching videos of us performing,” he grins.
“Now she’s in the Taylor Swift-loving stage of life, so she gets what Dad does and digs it. She says I’m her second-favourite singer because Taylor’s her first!”
On the horizon
While Tyler and Kate have new albums due out later this year, there’s another project on the horizon – Netflix’s One Tree Hill reboot. t
“We don’t know if we’ll be involved, but Chris and Mia are down to clown if it happens!” says Kate.
While the series was a career highlight for the stars, there was turmoil behind the scenes, with writer Audrey Wauchope accusing show boss Mark Scwahn of sexually harassing multiple numbers of cast and crew. Kate supported Audrey and even wrote a song about the scandal.
Finding her feet on set
She recalls, “I was 19 or 20 and I’d never worked on TV, so I thought, ‘Maybe this is just how it is.’ It was tough because I was introverted and didn’t want to step on anybody’s toes, so it pushed me further into my shell. But I felt so much camaraderie with the cast.”
Friendships that last
Those friendships remain strong today. Kate formed duo Your Future Ghost with fellow OTH actor Michael Grubbs (bartender Grubbs), while Tyler continues collaborating with Bethany Joy Lenz (lead character Haley). He’s also buddies with Kiwi actor Kieren Hutchison, who played Andy.
“He’s the best,” says Tyler.
“He’s a big Elvis fan, so we bonded over that. He, Chad [Michael Murray] and I got into so much good trouble!”
Celebrating the Music of One Tree Hill is on in Auckland on Tuesday 10 March. For tickets, visit tylerhilton.com or katevoegele.com.
