“Suits”' Sarah Rafferty Had a Bet with Gabriel Macht About Whether Donna and Harvey Would End Up Together (Exclusive)

Though Macht believed their characters would get married on the show, Rafferty tells PEOPLE that she always thought Donna would remain single: "So I lost the bet is what I'm saying," she jokes

When it came to her character's fate with Harvey on Suits, Sarah Rafferty admits she didn't quite predict their outcome accurately.

Rafferty — who recently launched her new Suits rewatch podcast, Sidebar: A Suits Watch Podcast, with costar Patrick J. Adams — tells PEOPLE that she never expected her character, Donna Paulsen, to end up with Gabriel Macht's Harvey Specter.

In fact, she was so adamant they wouldn't cross over from coworkers to lovers that Rafferty, 51, says she made a bet with Macht, 52, about their storyline.

"I don't think anybody ever knew [Donna and Harvey] were going to be an end game," she admits. "I had a conversation once with Gabriel, but there was a point maybe right before season 9, where he was like, 'I think they're going to do this. They're going to get the characters together.' And I was like, 'I don't think so.'"

"So I lost the bet is what I'm saying," she jokingly adds. "I did not think it was going to happen."

Related: Sarah Rafferty Says She Misses ‘That Kind of Laughter’ She Shared with Suits Costar Rick Hoffman on Set

Part of the reason Rafferty felt this way was because of how she viewed, and intentionally played, the role of Donna.

"I think it was in season 2 when we had a flashback, I think it was our first flashback after Donna got fired. And there was a scene where they hooked up," recalls the My Life with the Walter Boys actress. "Gabriel and I were like, 'I wasn't playing that [storyline]. Were you playing that?' And he was like, 'I wasn't playing that.' We were not playing that as our backstory."

"Maybe there was a flirtation a while ago ... but I never thought that she was going to be [with Harvey in the end]," Rafferty continues. "And it was important to me that she remain somebody who was not pining and waiting in the wings for some guy to be ready to date her because I think it was really important that she was busy. She was fine [without a man]."

Still though, Rafferty vividly remembers when she got a sense that things might be changing between Donna and Harvey.

"I know that [creator] Aaron [Korsh] really went back and forth, and I do remember that in one season, there was a script that didn't have a last scene when we were at the table read," she recalls. "And I remember going to Gene Klein, who was one of the producers, and going, 'Why aren't you showing us the scene that goes here?' Is there something I need to know where you're going with these characters?'"

Related: Patrick J. Adams Looks Back on the Suits Pilot Scene 'Where My Life Changed' Instantly: 'It's Pretty Wild'

Despite initially not wanting Donna to be with Harvey, Rafferty feels the decision to have them marry in the finale worked out for the best.

"I would say that at the time, we were nervous about it because it was kind of like, 'What if people don't like that?' By the time, we're like eight, nine seasons into this show, we've had Twitter and Instagram and social media, so we understand feedback," she explains. "And then I was pretty invested with what the fans wanted, and I wanted to please them, ultimately. So it felt like a lot of pressure to get the characters together."

"But I think from a story standpoint, it was the right time because Harvey had evolved in a way that he had passed the test of becoming a good partner to a woman like Donna," she continues. "He took a while, and she wasn't pining for him and she wasn't helping him evolve out of a desire to be with him ultimately. I just think they grew together in the right way."

"So I think it was ultimately a good decision to wait," she concludes after seasons of teasing and building their chemistry. "I think dragging it out was the right thing to do. But I don't think Aaron knew until he was writing the last episode of season 8... and I'm excited to see how I feel as a fan of the show, which now I am as the viewer [for the podcast]."

Related: The Cast of 'Suits': Where Are They Now?

Suits ran for nine seasons from 2011 to 2019, starring Adams, Macht, Rafferty, Rick Hoffman and Meghan Markle. NBC announced plans for a spinoff series in February 2024, titled Suits: L.A. which is set to feature a new cast but follow the original legal drama’s storyline. This came after the series found a resurgence in popularity after airing on Netflix in June 2023.

The resurgence also led to the launch of Rafferty and Adam's new podcast. So far, the duo have released two episodes of Sidebar: A Suits Watch Podcast. In the premiere, Adams recalled the moment from the pilot episode that changed his life, while Rafferty joked about how the show's entire premise was due to Donna's decision. The actors plan to invite cast and crew members onto the podcast as they rewatch and discuss each episode.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Sidebar: A Suits Watch Podcast releases new episodes on Tuesdays wherever you listen to podcasts. Suits is available to stream in full on Netflix.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.