Modern love! Madelyn Cline, Chase Stokes and more Outer Banks stars manage to keep the romance alive offscreen — and their real-life love stories make fans go wild.
The Netflix series became a major hit when it premiered on the streaming platform in April 2020, and soon after, viewers began to wonder whether sparks were flying between Sarah and John B. (Cline and Stokes, respectively) off camera.
“I’m really, really attracted to intellect. Any mental thing. Physicality sort of becomes a secondary thing for me,” the Maryland native told Glamour in April 2020, revealing at the time that he was newly single. “I’m so in tune with people’s hearts and people’s souls and deep conversations before I even start to look at the sexuality stuff. I’m not a typical, sexual-driven male.”
Stokes explained that he felt more attracted to the ability to “have a deep, in-depth conversation with somebody” than to superficial aspects. “Anybody that can get in touch with my brain and then my soul, that’s what’s going to turn me on the most,” he added.
Two months later — and after plenty of fan speculation — Stokes and Cline made their relationship Instagram official. “Cats outta the bag ❤️,” the One of Us Is Lying actor captioned a sweet post, to which Cline replied, “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.”
Though their characters’ chemistry is undeniable, it wasn’t until the pair quarantined together amid the coronavirus pandemic that their feelings for each other grew more serious.
“I think we were just so invested in the work,” Stokes told Us Weekly exclusively in February 2021. “The biggest thing for me is being even more proud of her work now as her partner and watching her grow as an actress and watching her grow as a person through this. I think there’s always this element of [asking] ‘How can we make it not about Maddie and Chase? How do we make it about Sarah Cameron and John B?’”
The couple’s connection was so convincing during season 1 that they were shoo-ins for Best Kiss at the MTV Movie and TV Awards in May 2021. While accepting their trophy, Cline cut off her beau’s speech with a big smooch.
Netflix confirmed in July 2020 that a second season of the teen drama was in the works, with Cline, Stokes, Madison Bailey (Kiara), Jonathan Daviss (Pope), Rudy Pankow (JJ), Austin North (Topper), Drew Starkey (Rafe) and Charles Esten (Ward Cameron) returning to the beach for more adventures.
Keep scrolling to learn more about the Outer Banks cast and their love lives: