In November 2018, Jake was one half of the first gay male romantic couple on his show,
Grey's Anatomy: Die jungen Ärzte (2005), and also one half of the first gay male kiss on the show, when his character, Dr. Levi Schmitt kissed Dr. Nico Kim in a hospital hallway, and announced that was the first time he had kissed another man. Moments after that scene aired, Borelli posted his own coming out as gay on his personal Instagram account.