Chris Colfer and Blaine and Kurt in Glee
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Glee star Chris Colfer says fans ‘crossed a line’ over their obsession with him and Darren Criss

'A lot of fans thought Glee was a documentary'

Daisy Phillipson
7th October 2026, 12:05
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Glee actor Chris Colfer has opened up about his relationship with fan fiction, explaining that while he sees fans writing about his characters as a huge compliment, things sometimes “crossed a line” when people started shipping him with Darren Criss in real life.

Colfer and Criss played Glee couple Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson on the hit Ryan Murphy show. Their on-off romance became one of the biggest storylines of Glee and they eventually got married in season 6. 

They also became arguably the biggest ship of the series, with fans dubbing the couple “Klaine” and writing countless stories about them. But Colfer has said that some viewers blurred the line between Kurt and Blaine and the actors playing them.

Chris Colfer says some Glee fans made him ‘a little uncomfortable’

Blaine and Kurt in Glee
Credit: Fox

In a new interview with Bustle, the Kurt actor spoke about his relationship with fan fiction, and the conversation naturally moved on to Glee. “There was a period in my early career when I couldn’t be photographed with someone without them becoming the subject of some kind of fan fiction with me,” he explained.  

“It was almost like I was patient zero, walking around infecting everybody. I wouldn’t be surprised if a few of my friends have aliases online and have been writing about me for years.”

When asked if becoming the subject made him see fan fiction differently, Colfer replied, “It was really jarring and sometimes really sexual. That was an adjustment, seeing all these stories written about me in risque and adult ways. 

“But usually when I saw myself as the subject of fanfiction, I was the hero. I rarely was the villain, so that was a plus. I think that meant I was doing something right.”

However, some of it did go too far. “A lot of fans thought Glee was a documentary, and they really, really wanted Darren [Criss] and me to be in a relationship in real life,” he continued. 

“Sometimes those people would cross a line and make me feel a little uncomfortable because they would bring so much of my personal life, or make up stuff about my personal life, to validate whatever story they were writing.”

This isn’t a situation unique to Glee, either. The recent Off Campus adaptation has led to fans shipping Belmont Cameli and Ella Bright, the real-life actors who play fictional couple Garrett and Hannah in the series.

Things became so intense that the show’s official social media accounts put out a statement asking fans not to engage in “targeted harassment”. 

But Colfer still has a ‘beautiful connection’ with Glee fans

But despite some fans taking things too far, Colfer’s feelings towards the wider Glee fandom are far from negative. “One of the secrets of Glee’s success was that so many kids identified with the characters and put themselves in that world, because for the first time, they saw themselves represented on TV,” he explained.

“There was a beautiful connection with our audience, and that probably is why people keep writing stories about those characters and putting their own emotions into that world.”

The actor also addressed the Glee reboot, which is in very early development after Murphy recently announced that he’s finished a pilot script alongside original writers Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan. He also said he’d been in touch with around 10 of the original cast members.

Bustle asked if Colfer was one of them, to which he said, “I know nothing and have heard absolutely nothing. I wish I did. It was a really tough show to do, and it would be really hard to do it now that Naya [Rivera] is gone. 

“But I do know that Glee fans would probably come after me with pitchforks and jazz hands if I said no. So I don’t know, but hopefully I’ll have more information and I can actually think about it.”

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Featured image credit: Amy Muir/Shutterstock/Fox