Before there was Mindy Lahiri and Danny Castellano's swoon-worthy romance on The Mindy Project, there was the dysfunctional relationship of Kelly Kapoor and Ryan Howard on The Office. Mindy Kaling opened about her longtime pal and former Office co-star B.J. Novak while on Monday's The Howard Stern Show, when she was grilled about why the two aren't involved romantically. 
 
 When asked if she ever had a "great love" who got away, the 35-year-old writer/actress admitted, "He's a good friend of mine, yeah. He's my best friend. He broke up with me. It was years and years ago that that breakup happened. I was so sad, not angry, sad. That was the hottest I ever looked 'cause I stopped eating. When I get depressed, I stop eating. I was so miserable and so beautiful." 
 
 PHOTOS: 2014 Fall TV Spoiler Spectacular! 
 
 After revealing that this mystery lover was "pretty damn good" in the bedroom, Stern had to know if it was Novak. "Yes, you're correct. Not that you're Sherlock Holmes, Howard," Kaling joked. "He's legitimately one of my best friends. I love him, and I think he’s a great person, but I’m not holding a candle for B.J." 
 
 When Stern asked if Kaling would marry Novak, 35, she confessed, "At the time? Yeah. I was 24. For the record, if anyone asked me to marry them, I would have said yes." 
 
 That answer wasn't a good enough for the radio-show host, who pressed, "If he called you tomorrow and said, 'I made a terrible mistake. We must get back together and get married,' you would do it." 
 
 NEWS: Scandal Producer Shonda Rhimes to Appear on The Mindy Project 
 
 Pausing a bit, Kaling answered, "I don’t know." 
 
 Stern took that as a no. 
 
 Kaling further explained her split, saying, "People are so different and you can overlap in certain ways that are important, but not the ones that are the most important." 
 
 Though it seems her love life is a bit twisty, her on-screen romance is in full bloom! The Mindy Project returns tonight, Sept. 16, on FOX. 
 
 Now that fall TV is upon us, it's time to brush up on this season's biggest breakout TV stars! 

 We're told the book's title will likely be announced May 30 at the Javits Center, where the pair are to appear at BookCon. We're told the formal announcement of the book was supposed to have been "a surprise," which means this article will be an even bigger one. 

 Before there was Mindy Lahiri and Danny Castellano's swoon-worthy romance on The Mindy Project, there was the dysfunctional relationship of Kelly Kapoor and Ryan Howard on The Office. Mindy Kaling opened about her longtime pal and former Office co-star B.J. Novak while on Monday's The Howard Stern Show, when she was grilled about why the two aren't involved romantically. 
 
 When asked if she ever had a "great love" who got away, the 35-year-old writer/actress admitted, "He's a good friend of mine, yeah. He's my best friend. He broke up with me. It was years and years ago that that breakup happened. I was so sad, not angry, sad. That was the hottest I ever looked 'cause I stopped eating. When I get depressed, I stop eating. I was so miserable and so beautiful." 
 
 
 
 PHOTOS: 2014 Fall TV Spoiler Spectacular! 
 
 
 
 After revealing that this mystery lover was "pretty damn good" in the bedroom, Stern had to know if it was Novak. "Yes, you're correct. Not that you're Sherlock Holmes, Howard," Kaling joked. "He's legitimately one of my best friends. I love him, and I think he’s a great person, but I’m not holding a candle for B.J." 
 
 When Stern asked if Kaling would marry Novak, 35, she confessed, "At the time? Yeah. I was 24. For the record, if anyone asked me to marry them, I would have said yes." 
 
 That answer wasn't a good enough for the radio-show host, who pressed, "If he called you tomorrow and said, 'I made a terrible mistake. We must get back together and get married,' you would do it." 
 
 
 
 NEWS: Scandal Producer Shonda Rhimes to Appear on The Mindy Project 
 
 
 
 Pausing a bit, Kaling answered, "I don’t know." 
 
 Stern took that as a no. 
 
 Kaling further explained her split, saying, "People are so different and you can overlap in certain ways that are important, but not the ones that are the most important." 
 
 Though it seems her love life is a bit twisty, her on-screen romance is in full bloom! The Mindy Project returns tonight, Sept. 16, on FOX. 
 
 Now that fall TV is upon us, it's time to brush up on this season's biggest breakout TV stars!
– If you've always wanted to know more of the story behind Mindy Kaling's on-again, off-again romance with BJ Novak—described by a publishing industry source as a "complicated" relationship that took place while they were co-starring on The Office—then you're in luck. And so are Kaling and Novak, who will get $7.5 million to co-author a book about said romance, that source tells the New York Daily News, adding that that's "a crazy price." The book will supposedly be announced (in what was supposed to be a surprise move) at a May 30 BookCon event where Kaling and Novak will appear. (Kaling once said she would have married Novak, who is now her "best friend.")