Lea Michele corrects Jonathan Groff, Darren Criss on ‘Glee’ pregnancy

Lea Michele is setting the record straight about Rachel Berry’s baby daddy.

Last night’s Tony Awards marked a big night for Glee fans, as two of the show’s former stars — Darren Criss and Jonathan Groff — competed for Best Actor in a Musical. Ultimately, it was Criss who took home the Tony for his role in Maybe Happy Ending, but in the lead-up to the ceremony, Gleeks were dying to know who Michele’s Rachel Berry would cast her vote for.

Groff gave PEOPLE his answer to that question last week, insisting, “She better f—ing be voting for Jesse St. James, her husband.”

The Just in Time star then burst into laughter, reflecting on the series finale that saw his character suddenly married to Michele’s. 

“I forget sometimes until I’m reminded that at the end of Glee, Lea was pregnant with our child and we were married and she’s accepting a Tony,” Groff said. “So Rachel’s obviously rooting for her husband.”

But when the Tony Awards rolled around on Sunday night, Michele was quick to correct Groff’s reasoning on the red carpet, telling Entertainment Weekly that he messed up a major plot point of the Glee finale.

“He said that Rachel Berry would obviously want Jesse St. James to win because I was carrying his child,” Michele tells EW. “But he forgot to remember that I was actually carrying Darren Criss’ baby.

Turning to her confused Chess costars Aaron Tveit and Nicholas Christopher, she quipped, “You have to watch the show.”

As diehard fans no doubt remember, the Glee finale culminated with a flash-forward that saw Rachel Berry pregnant and reunited with her high school pals just before accepting her first Tony Award. This is indeed where the show reveals that Rachel is married to Groff’s Jesse St. James — but that doesn’t mean she’s pregnant with his child. She’s actually serving as a surrogate for Criss’ Blaine and Chris Colfer’s Kurt (a.k.a. Klaine).

As for Rachel’s Tony ballot, Michele dodged the question like a pro — but did applaud Groff for his effort. “It’s too hard to say. He answered it well, he just forgot the plot,” she said.

In Groff’s defense, he wasn’t the only Glee alum who struggled to recall the finale. Speaking to EW on the red carpet, Criss was also shocked to learn that Rachel was pregnant with his character’s baby.

“Was she? Oh, I don’t know,” Criss shrugged, before admitting that he wasn’t too concerned about losing Rachel’s fictional vote. “Is it mean if I say I don’t really care? I’m agnostic.”

He added, “I saw that she would’ve voted for Jesse St. James and I go, ‘Yeah, totally.'”

Criss noted that in the end — with or without Rachel Berry’s support — the Broadway community has been very supportive of all nominees. “Everybody here is genuinely rooting for each other,” he shared. “And that’s like a real feeling that’s gonna carry us through the night and carry us through this line of work. Everybody here is on each other’s team and that is a real, real, real thing.”

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Later that night, Criss’ win marked the third year in a row that a Glee alum has won for their performance in a Broadway musical. In 2024, Groff won Best Lead Actor in a Musical, his first-ever Tony, for his role as Franklin Shepard in Merrily We Roll Along. The year prior, Alex Newell — who played Unique Adams — made history as the first non-binary actor to win a Tony, taking home Best Featured Actor in a Musical for their performance in Shucked.

Additionally, in 2019, The Glee Project runner-up Ali Stroker, who later made a season 4 guest appearance on Glee, won Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Oklahoma!, becoming the first wheelchair user to win a Tony.

—With additional reporting by Patrick Gomez