Netflix’s hit drama Outer Banks stole the hearts of many viewers, with many falling hard for the relationship between John B. (Chase Stokes) and Sarah Cameron (Madelyn Cline). The chemistry isn’t just fiction though: Cline and Stokes dated in real life for a year and still work together as amicable exes.
In June 2020, the Outer Banks stars announced they were dating. The couple was first linked in April 2020, as they quarantined together. Here’s everything to know about their relationship, including how Stokes’s new girlfriend, Kelsea Ballerini, has publicly supported Cline years after Stokes and Cline’s split.
April 2020
As Outer Banks season one debuted, Stokes and Cline sparked dating rumors as they were seen in the same apartment during a virtual interview with E! News. Cline later confirmed that she and Stokes were quarantining together with other Outer Banks casemates: Drew Starkey, who plays Rafe, and Rudy Pankow, who plays JJ.
The two also sparked rumors when Stokes posted a flirtatious comment on 1883 magazine’s Instagram post of Cline. “Heart rate… decreasing…help🆘,” the actor wrote, per Us Weekly.
June 2020
After months of romance speculation, the couple confirmed their relationship on social media. Stokes debuted their relationship on his grid with photos of him and Cline seemingly enjoying a beach date. Stokes posted a picture of the scenery and a candid shot of Cline smiling, holding a wine bottle. “Cats outta the bag ❤️,” he wrote.
Cline commented on the post, “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up.”
September 2020
On September 16, Cline took to Instagram to celebrate Stokes’ 28th birthday. She posted a gallery of never-before-seen pictures of her and Stokes. “🍍,” she captioned the post.
A couple days later, the pair starred in Kygo’s remix of Donna Summer’s 1979 hit “Hot Stuff.” The video was full of steamy scenes of Stokes and Cline showing PDA.
November 2020
In mid-November, Cline spoke to Entertainment Tonight about her romance with her on-and-off screen boyfriend. “The show coming out was already a pretty big life change, and we were also just starting the whole quarantine process, and that’s a huge life change and going through a global pandemic. I think we just wanted to kind of give it some time and enjoy it while it’s new and fresh and just kind of keep that to ourselves,” the actress said.
When asked whether she was in love with Stokes, she smiled and nodded her head yes and said, “It’s really cool. Love is tight. It’s cool to share this experience with your favorite people and also your favorite person. I feel very happy.”
December 2020
The following month, Stokes gave a sweet shoutout to his girlfriend on her birthday. He posted a gallery of never-before-seen photos of Cline. “It’s quite rare to meet somebody and feel everything change. Thank you for making the coldest days warm, for your infectious love, and being the best dog mom to Lil mi. Happy birthday sweet thang you make my heart warm and fuzzy 25/8,” he captioned the post.
February 2021
In an interview with Us Weekly, Stokes talked about how his and Cline’s romance blossomed after they filmed season one of Outer Banks. “At that point in time, we were so anxious about the show and so nervous about constantly screwing up. I think we were all under this sort of strange umbrella of, like, ‘Dear God, we got an opportunity. Let’s not screw it up!’ So, it was just always work-oriented—really until the day we wrapped,” Stokes said. “It wasn’t until after that until we started to kind of get into the lockdown where we were like, ‘Is there something here or am I crazy?’ That’s sort of where it bloomed from there. I think we were just so invested in the work.”
He also discussed how he and Cline were able to work together for season 2 and not let their real-life relationship distract them. “The biggest thing for me is being 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,” Stokes said. “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?’ So that’s been fun to sort of find the ebbs and flows of the characters and give it that birth, versus everybody looking at us for who we are as a couple outside of work. We’ve put in a lot of work. I think we’re really excited for people to see the development of not just our characters but everybody. This entire cast has just put in an immense amount of work.”
April 2021
On April 4, Cline posted a sweet Instagram post for her and Stokes’s first anniversary. She shared a picture of Stokes with his back turned at a beach location and another one as he slept with his dog, Milo. “Thanks for helping me keep track of my belongings for a whole year (: adore u,” the actress wrote.
Stokes also posted on his Instagram to celebrate their milestone in their relationship. “365 w/ u ❤️,” he captioned a candid picture of Cline walking ahead of him.
“And I’d do it again,” Cline commented.
May 2021
On May 16, Stokes and Cline attended MTV’s Movie & TV Awards with their Outer Banks’ cast mates. The couple received an award for their Best Kiss nomination for their intimate scene on Outer Banks. During their acceptance speech, Cline grabbed Stokes and shared a passionate kiss on stage. After the big win, the couple shared another PDA moment on the red carpet as they posed with their award.
June 2021
Stokes shared a rare look at him and Cline together on his Instagram. “recap of a fun few days:),” he wrote, with their bathroom mirror selfie as the first image.
November 2021
Stokes and Cline quietly broke up after over a year of dating, People reported. “Madelyn and Chase are no longer together,” one insider told the outlet. “They were trying to work things out privately but broke up a couple of months ago.”
A second source said, “They are definitely broken up.”
Neither Stokes nor Cline commented on the breakup report at the time it broke.
February 2023
Cline spoke about working with Stokes post-breakup in a People interview. Doing scenes with him after their split is different “certainly in some aspects, but at the end of the day, there’s always been a safe space with the job,” she said. “We’ve said from day one, our job is always to leave the show and the season better than when we left it last. And everybody is still very much a family. Outer Banks has always been a family. And I’m just happy that we are able to remain professional.”
October 2024
Stokes and Cline both moved on, Cline dating Pete Davidson briefly and Stokes starting a relationship with Kelsea Ballerini in 2023. Ahead of the release of Outer Banks’ season 4 part 1 premiere, Ballerini offered her support of Stokes’s ex Cline on TikTok.
Ballerini was using a filter to discuss characters from the show. When Cline’s face came up, she said, “So hot. So hot. We stan Sarah Cameron and Madelyn Cline in this house.”
In an interview that month with People, Cline talked about wanting drama between her characters and Stokes’s to calm down a bit because of fan reaction.
“We’ve had enough [drama]. We have 3 seasons worth,” Cline said. “I feel like they have been fighting each other quite a bit and I’ve been tired of it. Because I’m tired of people coming for me.”
