The Special Relationship

Actor Andrew McKeough is well known for his A-List connections to some of Hollywood’s most famous last names such as Swift, Bellisario, Foster, Eisenhower, and Evancho just to name a few; however few know of his relationship with the late singer Christina Grimmie.

That’s right! One of McKeough’s closest Hollywood friends was Christina Grimmie. Grimmie is of course known for her infamous journey on season six of NBC’s The Voice. Christina was a member of Team Adam and would place third overall in the finals.

But the question is, how did these two - as Grimmie would say - “frands” meet?

In theory, the answer would be that Hollywood is a small place. However, that is far from the reason that Grimmie and McKeough shared such a personal relationship. McKeough met Grimmie after her performance on ellen in 2011 while McKeough was at the studio for screen tests. In an interview with McKeough, he stated that they met backstage and started talking. “Christina saw me and told me that I looked like Harry Potter. We chatted for a bit and clicked over our love for all things geeky. We found out that we both love to vacation in Ocean City and thought that was super funny for some reason. We exchanged info and the rest is history.”

After they met - all thanks to the amazing Ellen Degeneres - the two became fast friends through social media. “We would talk multiple times a week on the phone” stated McKeough, “She was just an amazing person to talk to about anything and everything. From random television addictions to more serious issues like health problems and life choices.” McKeough would go on to say that Grimmie was his “support branch” during many dark times in his life. “[Christina] would always make things better and be able to find the good in everything.”

The two were close friends and constantly tracked each other’s careers as they rose up the entertainment industry ladder. The pair would always get together when they were in the same city, which due to their busy schedules was not often, but “frequent enough” according to McKeough, “That’s what made our time together even more special. We didn’t get to see each other that often but would make the best of the time and we loved just hanging out.” The two would cross paths in either LA, Philly or their favorite beach town, Ocean City. New Jersey...not Maryland.

Grimmie coined the term “frands” for her fans because she did not think of her fans as just fans but also her friends and she wanted them to know that. This being said, McKeough and Grimmie were definitely frands of each other. McKeough would go to many of Grimmie’s performances on The Voice and Grimmie would go to McKeough’s shows when visiting on the East Coast.

Another question that we must ask is how did such an amazing friendship go so under the radar?

The answer is that that’s how they wanted it. McKeough stated, “Part of our friendship was that we didn’t want to ruin it with news pieces or photos trying to tell a story that wasn’t true. We both liked the privacy that we had and we enjoyed our lives together. We were true friends.”

One tabloid caught McKeough and Grimmie getting food in LA in the spring of 2014 and immediately decided to draw their own conclusions. What conclusions do you ask? Conclusions that the two weren’t just friends...but that they were dating! When the tabloid reached out to McKeough’s team, McKeough remembers being sat down in a meeting and asked if he was dating Christina. McKeough says that he responded with, “Yuck! She’s like my sister!” and that was the end of that story. Many also theorized that Grimmie wrote one of two songs on her 2016 EP entitled Side A about him. The songs in question were ‘Without Him’ and ‘Deception’. McKeough stated that neither song was written about him as their relationship was, “too personal, even for our music.”

McKeough stated that Grimmie would be there for him in many different times where he was suffering. He pointed to when his friend passed away from cancer in 2015, Grimmie was there to help him get through it. She was there for him when his dad went through heart surgery and the start of his battle with cancer. She was especially there when McKeough injured his back and had to cancel his entire summer. “I decided to go to Ocean City to help me recover with my family. Loads of my friends would visit.” McKeough remembered, “One day I got a call from Christina telling me to answer my door. I had no idea why, but I had my cousin open the door and she was standing there arms wide open and I just couldn’t believe it. She was truly one of the best friends anyone could ask for.”

Thankfully McKeough and Grimmie shared a love of film and acting. The two would have their first opportunity to work together in the 2016 feature film The Matchbreaker. This film just so happened to be Grimmie’s big screen debut and her only feature-length film. McKeough recalled his conversation with Grimmie after finding out she got the leading role, “I remember Christina calling me with excitement that she got the part. Then the line went flat for a second. I thought she hung up. But she just stopped talking. The next thing she said is, “This is my first movie! I’m kinda nervous.” I told her that she would be amazing and she responded with a big, “You know I will.” and she did just that.”

Grimmie would also be the deciding push behind McKeough coming out of his shell to start dating his girlfriend Ashden Personius. “She just would tell me over and over again, “Why don’t you just ask her to be your girlfriend?” And I would tell her that I just didn’t want to ruin things or get rejected. Christina told me to just go for it and that if it was truly meant to be then it would happen and it did happen.”

One of the greatest unknown friendships would come to an end in June of 2016 when an upbeat concert at the Plaza Live in Orlando would turn into a tragedy. McKeough spoke out about the events of this night for the first time in this exclusive interview with us. McKeough and Grimmie were both in Orlando on June 10th performing at their own concerts. McKeough’s cousin had just passed away - in a car accident in Florida - and was dedicating his concert to him. Before the concert, McKeough says that he spoke to Grimmie who invited him to swing by her concert for a “Grimmie hug” and “Grimmie therapy session.” McKeough’s concert started - and ended - before Grimmie’s did. McKeough hopped in a black SUV and was driven to the Plaza to see Grimmie. McKeough said that his SUV was parked by the tour bus for Grimmie and the band Before You Exit.

He remembers that he had just taken off his seat-belt and was on the phone about to text her that he was there when he heard a crash that sounded “like something large had fallen over” and then people yelling “RUN” followed by the screams of fans running from the venue. “I honestly thought they were just excited fans at first. But then I realized that the screams weren’t screams of excitement but screams of horror.” Before he could even think he was rushed out of the area to a safe location. McKeough stated that he was less than a mile away and “saw everything”. He saw the police and EMTs rushing to the scene as he stood by his phone waiting for word from Grimmie that would never come. He instead would get a phone call from a mutual friend who would inform him that Grimmie was shot. McKeough thought the worse but stated that he “had faith.” In what McKeough described as an “eternity later” that friend called him back to give him the “worst news [he] had ever gotten.” Grimmie had passed away at 10:59 PM.

McKeough wiped away tears as he recalled the evening and the events that followed. “I thought I was living in an episode of CSI that just wouldn’t end.” McKeough’s assistant, Katelyn Johnson was in the car with him that night. “Andrew went pale and wasn’t able to even speak after he got the second call.” Johnson continued, “I didn't know what to do. He had just lost his cousin, and now one of his best friends. I just watched as one of the strongest people I know crumbled like a house of cards.”

McKeough would cut his tour short and returned home for Christina’s funeral and memorial services. Johnson described McKeough as being strong in public but then going to a dark place when he would go home. McKeough added that he, “was in a very dark place and couldn’t get over what had happened.” A mourning McKeough said that he would hold his phone on his messaging app opened to his conversation with Grimmie waiting for a new message to pop up; he would listen to her voicemails on his phone. McKeough admits that he got a new phone after Grimmie’s passing to preserve their digital friendship and that he still listens to those voicemails and reads their conversations when he needs some encouragement.

It has been almost three years since - what the media has called - Grimmie’s “assassination” and McKeough says that he is still grieving Christina’s passing and cannot find the right words to speak publicly about her passing. He says that he is in the process of moving on and that he knows Grimmie is in a better place. McKeough says that “In some ways, I feel like Christina needed to be in heaven to be there for when [her mother] would join her. [...] I don’t know what Christina would do without [her mom]. All I can say is that I would be here for her”

McKeough continued, “I have a lot of faith and my faith grew when I met Christina and it made me who I am today. I miss Christina in every way, shape, and form, but I know she is even more alive today.” McKeough is talking in reference to the hours of videos that Grimmie left on YouTube and other sites for her fans to remember her as well as the Christina Grimmie Foundation which was founded by her family in her honor to help fight gun violence and breast cancer. “The foundation does so many amazing things for so many amazing people. Christina is still helping people from heaven. That’s what I smile about, I smile because even know she is not physically here, she is in every way here spiritually.”

The friendship of Andrew McKeough and Christina Grimmie is truly a special relationship. It goes on to show how special your friends can be and that no matter how far away your friends are, they will never leave your heart.