Breakups
‘Outer Banks’ Star Madelyn Cline Makes Rare Comment About Chase Stokes Split
When Outer Banks premiered in 2020, the show quickly amassed a huge fandom. All the relatively anonymous actors were catapulted into superstardom, especially leads Madelyn Cline and Chase Stokes.
Like plenty of costars before them, the duo fell in love on set. And, like many others, the two have since called it quits. Breaking up in November 2021, Cline and Stokes have spent the last few years still portraying the loved-up characters John B and Sarah Cameron on the show. Cline opened up about what the aftermath of their split looked like in a new interview.
The 27-year-old divulged, “I think at the time I didn’t realize what the repercussions of inviting so many people into — let’s be honest — something that’s intimate,” Cline revealed on Jake Shane’s podcast Therapuss about having such a public romance. “I didn’t understand it. I was so in love.”
Reflecting on that time, Cline sees it all a little differently now. “I think they loved it because of us, but they also loved John B and Sarah, first and foremost,” she said. The actor acknowledged that it was “totally” hard to separate. “You look at any public breakup, and so many people are invested, and, of course, that was really hard,” Cline added.
The timeline of their romance is not completely known, but the former twosome confirmed their relationship in June 2020, a mere two months after Outer Banks was released. Fans became even more invested in their onscreen and real-life connection. When they had to confirm that they weren’t dating each other anymore in November 2021, Cline didn’t really know what to do.
She confessed, “It was really, really hard to separate. But also, like any breakup, you grow out of it, which is great. But there was a period there where I truly did not know which way was up, which way was down, because Outer Banks and that public relationship was kind of my identity. And I was like, ‘Who the f**k am I?'”
That question is something she is “still figuring” out and has observed that coming to terms with her own identity in the public realm is “a mindf**k.”
“I have such respect for anyone in the public space who has found and created their identity and is so comfortably seated in that. I know it might seem that they are, and it may not be,” Cline said. “But I have so much respect for anyone, anyone that is in any way, shape or form, in the public space.”
Thankfully, there’s no bad blood between Cline and Stokes. She noted that they share a “very very big, huge, thing that is a massive part” of both of their lives.
Both have moved on since their time as a couple. Cline has been linked to Zack Bia, Jackson Guthy, and Pete Davidson, while Stokes is now in a relationship with country artist Kelsea Ballerini.
Ballerini has previously spoken up about Stokes and Cline’s bond on the Call Her Daddy podcast in November 2023. When asked if she felt threatened by Cline, she quickly quipped, “I met [Madelyn] and I talked to her and she’s lovely and I think she’s wildly talented.” She added, “I think the internet did its best to make it really weird and it just didn’t work for them. I’m stoked to be on set and vibe with everyone.”
Afterward, the “Heartfirst” singer called herself a “girls’ girl” who doesn’t “buy into the bullsh*t” she sees online. “I think [Chase and Madelyn] have a beautiful working relationship, and I’m excited to hang with her,” Ballerini said. “People want drama, they don’t want consistency and happiness.”
