Outer Banks stars Chase Stokes and Madelyn Cline’s relationship may have not lasted, but their character onscreen romance is forever.
Stokes and Cline portray John B Rutledge and Sarah Cameron, respectively, on the Netflix series, which premiered in April 2020. John B is a Pogue a.k.a. from the wrong side of the tracks, while Sarah is a Kook a.k.a. a wealthy member of the North Carolina community.
Despite their opposite upbringings, John B and Sarah fall for each other, and throughout the series, their romance is put to the test while hunting for treasure with John B’s Pogue for Life crew.
The sparks between Stokes and Cline eventually flew behind the camera, as well, and the duo confirmed they were dating in June 2020. Us Weekly confirmed in November 2021 that the actors split shortly after season 2 of OBX came out.
While Cline and Stokes’ relationship may have fizzled, Sarah and John B continue to be a fan-favorite pairing on the action-adventure series, which was renewed for a fifth and final season in November 2024.
Relive John B and Sarah’s epic romance below:
Love at 1st Sight?
While he’d seen her in passing, the twosome’s first moment came when John B noticed Sarah from afar during a party on the beach in the show’s pilot episode. He doesn’t approach her, however, because she’s a wealthy Kook who lives on Figure 8, and he’s part of the working-class Pogues.
Enemies to Lovers?
After John B “borrows” scuba gear from Sarah’s dad, Ward (Charles Esten), and gets caught, he tracks her down and blames her for telling on him. Sarah, for her part, fires back at John B and lets him know she didn’t rat him out. While the pair are initially at odds, the sparks between them are obvious from the very beginning.
His Hero
After John B injures himself during a bike crash after trying to escape CPS, Sarah finds him on the side of the road and offers to take him to the hospital. He then convinces her to sneak onto a tugboat and travel to the University of North Carolina to look at documents Ward donated to the school.
John B then shares that he’s on a mission to discover buried treasure his father was chasing before he disappeared and the duo give each other “secret” nicknames – Val and Vlad — before spending the night in the library together looking for answers.
After they head back to the island, they begin to go their separate ways but end up having their first kiss in the rain. After acknowledging their connection, the two promise to keep their romance a secret.
A Discovered Transgression
The couple see each other at the Outer Banks’ annual Midsommar party after JJ (Rudy Pankow) gives Sarah a note from John B using their code names. They manage to steal a kiss before Sarah’s boyfriend, Topper (Austin North), catches them.
Old Wounds
The duo hit a snag in their relationship when BFF Kiara (Madison Bailey) gets mad John B told Sarah about the treasure. He tries to tell his friends that he’s using Sarah for information but the Pogues don’t buy it.
After meeting up in a secret location in the middle of the night, Topper tracks them down and explodes in a jealous rage, leaving John B injured — a moment that leads Sarah’s dad to take John B in and act as his “legal guardian.”
Their 1st Time
In the midst of the chaos, John B takes Sarah to his favorite hiding place on the island and the two sleep together for the first time.
Family Feud
The lovebirds hit another relationship bump when Sarah’s dad tries to kill John B in the season 1 finale, revealing that he attempted to murder John B’s father in the search for treasure.
When Ward is unsuccessful on his mission, he frames John B for the death of Sheriff Susan Peterkin — who was actually shot by Sarah’s brother, Rafe — and Sarah is forced to choose between her boyfriend and her family.
A Near Fatal Accident
Sarah is shot by her brother, Rafe, in the season 2 premiere after she and John B steal gold from him. They twosome find a doctor who operates on her wound before finding a boat to escape on.
Saying ‘I Do’
While on their way home from the Bahamas, the couple exchange unofficial vows in season 2 episode 3 and John B gives Sarah part of his bandana in replacement of a wedding ring.
“I give you this sweaty piece of my father’s bandana as a token of my love,” John B croons to Sarah, who is recovering from a gunshot wound after her brother, Rafe (Drew Starkey), shot her. She replies, “By the power vested in me, by the sky, the stars, and the sea, I now pronounce us husband and wife.”
Rescued
Ward drugs his daughter with tea and kidnaps her while trying to escape with gold to the Caribbean on the show’s season 2 finale. John B and the rest of the Pogues, however, sneak onto the ship and successfully rescue Sarah before escaping by jumping overboard and landing on a deserted island.
The Rocky Road to El Dorado
Season 3 follows the Pogues on their journey to find the lost city of El Dorado. When John B is sworn to secrecy about the treasure-filled town’s location from his dad, Big John (Charles Halford), his relationship suffers. In response, Sarah cheats on him with her ex Topper, who John later beats up.
When the gang finally sets off for South America, Sarah and John B are on good terms. Their happiness gets tested again when Sarah’s father is killed while protecting her during the treasure hunt. Despite the heartbreak, Sarah and John B successfully find the gold and receive fame and money for their accomplishment.
Parents to Be
Sarah learns she’s pregnant with her and John B’s first baby during season 4. Throughout the season, she questions if they can raise a child amid the chaos of being teenage treasure hunters.
As they struggle to figure out their next steps, Sarah and John B jump into action to help JJ track down his biological father, Chandler Groff (J. Anthony Crane), and search for the blue crown treasure in Morocco. Following a near-death experience that tosses Sarah into the ocean, she and JJ wash up on shore and reunite with the Pogues.
Sarah and John B are happy together during the season 4 finale, but tragedy strikes when Groff stabs and kills JJ out of spite — even after getting the blue crown.
