Warning: Spoilers ahead for Netflix’s Outer Banks season 1. Anyone who’s seen Netflix’s Outer Banks knows that the cast’s chemistry is next level (especially between John B. and Sarah Cameron), which makes us think, “Who is the Outer Banks cast dating in real life?”
Outer Banks, which premiered on Netflix on April 15, centers on a teenage boy named John Booker Routledge (John B., for short) and his friends named the Pogues in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The 10-episode series follows John B. and his friends as they investigate the disappearance of John B.’s father, who went missing at sea a year before the events of the show. Along the way, the Pogues discover that John B.’s father was tied to a $400 million treasure that they’re determined to find. Of course, the Pogues aren’t the only ones who know about the treasure and soon learn that the others who are also looking for it aren’t as peaceful as them. Along the way, John B. also falls in love with Sarah Cameron, his boss’ daughter and the Princess of the Kooks, an elite, wealthy community in town. John B. and Sarah aren’t supposed to be together, but as teen dramas are, the two fall for each other—fast.
As we await for Outer Banks season 2, let’s look at the IRL relationships of the cast.
Chase Stokes (John B.)
Since John B.’s relationship with Sarah, fans have shipped Stokes with Madelyn Cline (who plays Sarah Cameron in Outer Banks.) After the costars did several interviews together in quarantine, fans wondered if the two were in a relationship because they’re social-distancing together. (That theory was later debunked as the entire Outer Banks was quarantined together, not just Stokes and Cline.) Still, the two continued to fuel rumors when Stokes commented “Heart rate … decreasing … help” on a photo on Cline’s Instagram. After fans flooded the comment with questions about his and Cline’s IRL relationship, Stokes responded, “Man I really stirred the pot here didn’t I.” So, yeah, not a clear answer, but it doesn’t seem like the two are dating.
As for his past relationships, PopBuzz reported that Stokes moved to Los Angeles in April 2017 with his then-girlfriend Xiomara Montalvo. According to MTV, the two dated for almost nine years before their breakup. In an April 2020 interview with Glamour, Stokes hinted that he’s single and explained what he looks for in a dream mate.
“I’m really, really attracted to intellect. Any mental thing. Physicality sort of becomes a secondary thing for me. 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,” he said. “For me, it’s more about, I want to have a deep, in-depth conversation with somebody before I even think about the physical intimacy of it. So anybody that can get in touch with my brain and then my soul, that’s what’s going to turn me on the most.”
Madelyn Cline (Sarah Cameron)
Aside from the romance rumors about her and Stokes, it seems like Cline is single, according to PopBuzz. The site reports that the actress lives by herself in an apartment below that of her costar Drew Starkey, who plays Sarah’s brother Rafe. While she’s single, that doesn’t mean that Cline isn’t familiar with love. In an April 2020 interview with Glamour, she explained that she’s been in “toxic” relationships similar to Sarah’s romance with Topper, which is how she related to the character and her love of ?John B.
“I also feel like with Sarah’s onscreen relationship with John B, Chase—who plays him—and I had a lot of conversations about making sure that her relationship with JB was very equal and very much respectful from him, as a male towards the female,” she said. “It really will show a lot of girls what a respectful relationship looks like, even when you’re a teenager. I can speak for myself, I’ve been through a lot of toxic relationships and I’ve experienced a lot of it like gas lighting, manipulation—you name it!”
She continued, “For young females to see what it means to have respect from a male is really important to me. Even if it is on a TV show, I at least want it to model that and Chase does as well. He wanted to break those barriers for masculinity and what masculinity looks like in a character. That was something that we teamed up on, we both had those ideas before we even shot the show. So those are the two big things for me. Celebrities are behaving seriously weirdly during quarantine, and I’ve never felt more seen.”
Madison Bailey (Kiara)
Baily plays Kiara (Kie, for shot), the only female member of the Pogues who kisses Pope at the end of the season. Kiara is sarcastic and takes no shit, so when John B. kisses her earlier in the season, she’s the first to remind him that Pogues don’t “mack” on other Pogues. As for who she’s with IRL, there are reports that Bailey is with JJ Hawkins, an actor whom she met on the set 2018 show, Two Roads. Celebs in Depth reports that JJ commented on one of his Instagram photos, confirming his relationship with Bailey. It’s unclear if they’re still together, as they haven’t posted photos with each other in about a year, but from the looks of it, they were a cute couple.
Jonathan Daviss (Pope)
Daviss plays Pope, one of John B.’s best friends who’s the smartest Pogue by far. The series follows Pope as he’s peer pressured by his friends and makes bad decisions that could jeopardize his acceptance into an elite university that will serve as his ticket out of the OBX. So far, there are no clues that Daviss is in a relationship, so it’s assumed he’s single. While it doesn’t seem like he’s in a relationship IRL, Daviss does have a strong opinion about Pope’s relationship with Kiara, whom he kisses at the end of the season.
“Everything past that freak out scene I enjoyed immensely because it was a chance to kind of break all that Pope isn’t. I think he realized more and more how much he really did not have to lose,” he told Seventeen in April 2020. “Once Pope has nothing to lose, he turns into a John B./JJ type. I honestly think that Kiara was the last thing he had to lose as a person. He’s like, ‘I’ve lost my scholarship. I lost my future. I lost the gold, which was our future.’ And he’s like, ‘And now I have Kiara. I have to either take this opportunity [now] or I don’t take it at all.’ He confesses he loves Kiara and that’s why I’m sure he’s crying. It’s not because of the fact that he got rejected, but mostly because of the fact that he’s lost everything at that point.”
Rudy Pankow (JJ)
Pankow plays JJ, John B.’s best friend who fits the role of the “bad boy” of Outer Banks. Much of the series sees JJ feud with Kooks over the class divide in the OBX and seek revenge on them, which lands him in trouble with the law. Like Daviss, there are no clues that Pankow is dating someone IRL. (Though he could just be keeping his relationship private and off social media.) In an April 2020 interview with Us Weekly, Pankow explained why JJ is the only character from Outer Banks to not have a romantic storyline. “I’m not complaining. I think JJ is not really looking for a lady friend. But season 2, that could be a different story. I liked it in season 1 where JJ just didn’t have really any drive or motivation to be in a relationship,” he said. “I actually enjoyed being somebody that…a love interest wasn’t necessary for JJ. I really liked that.”
He continued, “I can see season 2 JJ maybe trying out a new dynamic and kind of hiding it from the Pogues being like, ‘I kind of have feelings for this person, but I’m not going to tell anybody.’”
He also responded to fans who want JJ to date Kiara, which would create a love triangle between the characters and Pope. “I think it’s cute. I don’t think it should happen immediately in season 2. And I know some people would be a little mad at me for saying that, but I think just to have Kiara go from John B to Pope to then JJ within two seasons would be a little, like, she wants all three of them. So I think it’d be a little much,” he said. “But I think the end game, the end game of the OBX, I can see JJ and Kiara being like, ‘All right there’s something here.’ Because it starts out with JJ saying that he had tried getting with Kiara. So, who knows?”