Diana Degarmo Ace Young

Diana Degarmo Ace Young, Diana DeGarmo and Ace Young both appeared on “American Idol,” but they didn’t meet until they both joined the cast of the Broadway revival of the musical “Hair” and apparently, that’s where they fell in love. DeGarmo, 24, was a runner-up on season 3 of “American Idol, while Young, 31, appeared on season 5 and landed in seventh place. The couple has remained relatively private about their relationship, but opened up about how they found love.

“We became best friends through ‘Hair,’ ironically not through ‘Idol,'” DeGarmo told People magazine. “It just blossomed into a beautiful relationship.”

The pair realized their mutual attraction when they had to disrobe onstage for “Hair.”

“I was already interested in her as a person before I got to see her with no clothes on,” Young joked to the weekly. “But [that] sealed the deal.”

The musical ran until June 2010 when Young returned to Los Angeles and DeGarmo went on a national tour with the musical “9 to 5” but the pair maintained a long distance relationship through July 2011 when DeGarmo decided to settle in Los Angeles.

“She came to California and kept saying, ‘I’m looking [at] apartments,’ ” he recalls. “And I was like, ‘Why don’t you just stay with me?’ The moment she got here, she realized I wasn’t going to let her get an apartment. It was like, either we’re doing this or we’re not. And, thankfully, she was all in.”

DeGarmo and Young joined forces creatively as well, forming the music group All Access with two of their friends. Their group earned a Grammy nomination for co-writing their friend Chris Daughtry’s song, “It’s Not Over.”

“She’s my best friend,” Young said. “To be able to dive in with Diana and help create songs that [tell] her story is amazing.”

DeGarmo currently plays the daughter of a New Jersey Mobster boss on the CBS soap opera “The Young and the Restless.” She is also set to appear in the upcoming film “The First Ride of Wyatt Earp,” which stars Val Kilmer and is scheduled for release on March 30, 2012.