Were Andy and Helen lovers?

Andy Griffith’s on-screen character on The Andy Griffith Show, Andy Taylor, was a big-time bachelor. The death of Opie Taylor’s mother was covered briefly in a backdoor pilot, and Andy dated pretty regularly. Still, it took some time to find he an on-screen love that worked for the show’s overall vibe.
Eventually, teacher Helen Crump appeared on the scene, and the rest was history. Andy eventually married Helen Crump on Mayberry RFD. The romance was important in both shows’ storylines. Apparently, the romance was impactful in real life, too, as more went on behind the scenes. Andy Griffith had real feelings for Helen Crump actor Aneta Corsaut.
Helen Crump stole Andy Taylor’s heart on screen. Apparently, life imitates art. While the duo kept things quiet, Corsaut and Griffith developed their own relationship as things heated up between Andy and Helen. The on-screen lovers had a longstanding affair.

According to Daniel de Visé, the author who penned the book Andy and Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show, Griffith and Corsaut tried to keep a budding romance quiet on the set of The Andy Griffith Show for several reasons. But the tension was obvious. The romance made other stars on the show a little nervous. It probably made Griffith’s then-wife pretty nervous, too.
Things between Aneta Corsaut and Andy Griffith may have developed as an affair, but they got pretty serious. According to de Visé, things between the on-screen lovers got so serious that Griffith proposed to Corsaut.
There was one serious problem with his proposal of her. Griffith was already married when he popped the question. Corsaut turned him down multiple times before their affair ended.

Despite things not working out for Corsaut and Griffith romantically, they remained friends, according to several sources. Corsaut never found a suitor worth marrying, either. She remained unmarried until she died in 1995. She had no children.
Griffith was married three times in total. His first marriage to Barbara Bray Edwards lasted from 1949 until 1972, while he had an affair with Corsaut. The year after his first divorce, Griffith tied the knot again. This time, he married Solica Cassuto, a Greek actor. He was more than 20 years her senior. They divorced in 1981. In 1983, he married Cindi Knight. They remained married until Griffith’s death in 2012.