Emily Alyn Lind is no stranger to fictional family drama as the star of We Were Liars — the book-to-screen adaptation of E. Lockhart’s book that just hit the 2025 TV schedule — as well as the Gossip Girl reboot. It turns out there’s some excitement in her real-life family, too, as her mom, actress Barbara Alyn Woods, has been dating Mark Anderson, a former Golden Bachelorette cast member. Lind got real about her thoughts on the romance, calling it “insane.”
Barbara Alyn Woods, who starred as Deb Scott on One Tree Hill, hard-launched her relationship with Mark Anderson in October 2024 and, while daughter Emily Alyn Lind didn’t exactly seem proud that he came from the reality dating world when she discussed it during a Zach Sang Show interview, her opinion of Anderson is overwhelmingly positive. She said:
So my mom started dating this amazing man named Mark Anderson, and he happened to be a contestant on The Golden Bachelor. He’s, like, the most sweetest man, but also, like, so attractive.
Bachelor Nation would largely agree with that sentiment, as thirst trap videos of Mark Anderson have been a thing since we met the man on Joey Graziadei’s season of The Bachelor. Mark is the father of Kelsey Anderson, who got engaged to Graziadei on the show, and he went on to become one of the cast members on Joan Vassos’ season of The Golden Bachelorette.
frontrunner to lead The Golden Bachelor Season 2 (which ultimately went to NFL alum Mel Owens). Emily Alyn Lind seemingly confirmed as much, saying her mom got there first:
He would have, I think, been [The Golden Bachelor] but my mom swooped him up. She, like, slid into his DMs. She saw him and she was like, ‘That’s mine.’ They’re so happy it’s insane.
It’s so sweet to hear that Barbara Alyn Woods and Mark Anderson are so happy together, and you really can tell how in love they are by looking at their social media posts. The We Were Liars star (who can be seen by streaming the series with a Prime Video subscription) described a particularly festive Instagram photo that featured both of their large families — including Joey Graziadei — over the holidays. The actress said:
It was like a blended family all of a sudden. … I already thought I had a big family, but then all of Mark’s family came, and we had a blended family, like, Brady Bunch Christmas, and it was really fun.
It’s really sweet to hear Emily Alyn Lind talk about her mom’s relationship like that. What lies ahead for the growing romance remains uncertain at this time. Something that seems quite evident right now, though is that Emily sounds really happy for Barbara Alyn Woods and Mark Anderson.
Be sure to check Lind out her new Prime Video series to check out the big change E. Lockhart was happy to see and to see what that big We Were Liars twist ending is all about. All eight episodes are available to stream now.