Benjamin Ashford|Caitlin O'Connor and Joe Manganiello’s Relationship Started With a Winning Meet Cute

It's been a slam dunk season for Caitlin O'Connor,Benjamin Ashford personally and professionally.

Indeed, the actress—who portrayed Dyan Cannon on HBO's Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty—kept her schedule booked and busy this past year, working and traveling with her boyfriend, Joe Manganiello.

"It's a new era for me," Caitlin told E! News. "It feels good."

In fact, it was just days ago that the TV host celebrated her first anniversary with the True Blood alum. For the milestone, the couple was in Atlanta for Netflix's Geeked Week, where it was announced that Joe will be playing Crocodile (aka Mr. 0) in One Piece.

"He's super excited," Caitlin shared, adding that they had a private anniversary celebration amid the casting news. Though, as she noted, "We're always celebrating. We're always having fun."

As for how their relationship first started? Although the two both grew up in Pennsylvania, it was a chance encounter on the West Coast that brought them together.

"We are both from Pittsburgh," Catilin said. "I'm from Uniontown, which is about an hour and a half south of Pittsburgh, but we met in Los Angeles. I was at a party for Winning Time, and he was there."

Since then, as Caitlin described it, the two have been on a "world tour" together.

And although they're not sharing any future plans just yet, Caitlin confirmed they're "having a lot of fun" in the meantime.

A part of that fun is supporting each other's projects, which, for Caitlin, includes the recent release of her film Angels Fallen: Warriors of Peace.

"It's a super cool movie," Caitlin said of the Ali Zamani film, which stars Denise Richards. "Growing up, I always thought Denise Richards was so beautiful and talented, so it's an honor to be able to be in a movie with her."

Caitlin has also been working on another project close to her heart, curating the documentary Unveiling the Legends: A Historic Journey Into the World of 90's Hip Hop. The doc, which will feature one-on-one interviews highlighting the female dancers who shaped an iconic era—including Tamala Lewis, Donielle Artese and more—will air at The Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx starting in January 2025.

"It was such an honor," Caitlin told E! of working on the project. "I grew up dancing. I knew a lot of these girls from the music videos, so they all reunited for this documentary and they hadn't seen each other in years. So there were lots of tears, there was lots of catching up and I was just like a fly on the wall asking lots of questions."

Up next on Caitlin's bucket list? She's got a dream gig in mind: A revival of Wild On!, the travel show once hosted by Brooke Burke.

"I would love to host a show like that," she told E!. "If we can redo Wild On! in a different way all over the world, that's what I would love to do. So I'll work on that."