“I wanted us both to move on and be happy.”

Public breakups are notoriously hard, but public relationships can be just as challenging, and Outer Banks star Madelyn Cline knows this well. The actor recently opened up about her past relationship with fellow OBX co-star Chase Stokes, what it was like working together post-breakup, and the lessons she learned from the experiences.

ICYMI: Madelyn and Chase went public with their relationship in June 2020 after much fan speculation. The pair quickly became staples on their respective Instagram feeds and made multiple public appearances together before calling it quits in 2021, just months before production for Outer Banks season 3 began.

Despite the split, the duo continued to work together on the hit Netflix show. During a new interview with Cosmopolitan, Madelyn was asked if working together post-breakup ever felt awkward, and the star did not mince her words.

“We always said that the job remains untouched,” she revealed. “Nothing else, personal or negative, will touch the job. And while that’s not always easy, our job is to leave the show better than we found it, to leave the season better than we found it. And I’m really appreciative of that.”

Chase Stokes and Madelyn Cline in Outer Banks Season 2

 JACKSON LEE DAVIS/NETFLIX

So, awkward or not? Madelyn’s answer is certainly open to interpretation in that regard, but the message is loud and clear. Work is the priority. The star was also quick to clarify that it is up to her to decide whether she should publicize her private life. “I don’t owe anyone an explanation,” she added. “I am a really private person. There’s a part of me that is for me and nobody else.”

However, Madelyn understands that by being so public with the relationship from the get-go, she and Chase also unknowingly “made it everybody else’s business.”

“I realized the negative side effects of that while going through the breakup, realizing I had let people in and then felt like I couldn’t get anybody out,” Madelyn elaborated. “It just hit me like a freight train. I wanted us both to move on and be happy. People see the need for sides. There are no sides—there’s no winning or losing in a breakup.”

Madelyn Cline and Chase Stokes at the 2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards

 Kevin Winter/2021 MTV Movie and TV Awards/Getty Images
This isn’t the first time Madelyn has opened up about the situation recently. In fact, she and Chase discussed their work dynamics post-breakup at length earlier this month in a conversation with Entertainment Weekly.

“Mads and I have been working together now for 30 episodes, and we made a promise to each other before we even started dating that the work was always going to come first. And that no matter what happens in our personal lives, and the ways that life sometimes takes you in different directions, that we’re always going to honor the work. That stayed 100 percent truthful this season,” Chase admitted. “Regardless of now not being together in a personal relationship, I’m still always going to be one of her biggest fans, and I’m super, super proud of all of her accomplishments inside the show and outside the show.”

Speaking to Cosmopolitan, Madelyn did confirm she’s currently in a new relationship: “I am happily taken. All I know is he makes me incredibly happy. And I’ve truly never been happier, and I feel very, very empowered.” However, if you are craving some romance, John B. and Sarah Cameron will surely deliver when Outer Banks season 3 premieres on February 23.