A marriage pact, getting blackmailed by fans, leaked DMs -- the real-life
love lives of the "Stranger Things" cast are almost as dramatic as the Netflix smash hit.
Millie Bobby Brown has become a household name thanks to her portrayal of Eleven,
but less is known about her boyfriend. The young actress is dating Jake Bongiovi,
the son of rocker Jon Bon Jovi. The two reportedly met in 2021 through mutual friends.
When Bongiovi posted a photo of the two of them together on Instagram with the caption "BFF,"
rumors began to swirl. Months later, Brown later took to Instagram and posted a pic of Bongiovi
kissing her on the cheek while on the London Eye. Since then, they've been seen together
at red carpets and premieres, and Brown is constantly posting cute couple pics on the 'Gram.
This isn't Brown's first public relationship, though. Back in 2017,
she dated singer Jacob Sartorius, breaking up seven months later.
While it's hard to picture jock-turned-babysitter Steve Harrington with anyone other than Nancy
Wheeler, actor Joe Keery is dating actress Maika Monroe. The couple met at a party
in Los Angeles back in 2017. The two made their red carpet debut in October 2017 at
the premiere of Stranger Things 2. Perhaps their relationship blossomed quickly since
they played love interests in the 2018 film After Everything, which was filmed in 2017.
"This is, uh, this is actually my first tinder date." "Really?"
Though they can often be seen on red carpets or out and about Beverly Hills walking their dog,
it's rare to see them post about one another on social media. Perhaps this is because they
want to keep their relationship private, and in this day and age, who could blame them?
Sometimes developing feelings for a co-star can be inevitable, and for on-screen couple Nancy and
Jonathan, that's exactly what happened. Natalia Dyer, who plays, Nancy, and Charlie Heaton,
who plays Jonathan, met while auditioning for the first season of Stranger Things and show creators,
the Duffer Brothers, instantly knew they had magic. Matt Duffer told GQ,
"That first audition, we did a chemistry read with [Heaton and] Natalia, and sparks were flying."
Although they met in 2015, it wasn't until fall 2017 that the two made things official.
Despite being a power couple from one of the most popular Netflix shows, they tend to be pretty
private about their relationship. However, they do occasionally mention one another in interviews.
When V Man asked Heaton what it's like to have a girlfriend who's also a co-star, Heaton said,
"To go home with someone you work with and say, 'I think they hate me.' They'll say,
'No they don't.' You can break the walls down with your partner. Because we work
in the same industry and have had similar trajectories, we've gone through it together."
In an interview with Us Weekly, Dyer joked about her boyfriend, saying,
"He's alright I guess. He doesn't mess up our scenes too much! No,
he's great. He's talented, like everybody in the cast."
"You okay?" "Yeah, I'm okay."
Of the five core Stranger Things kids, Gaten Matarazzo has definitely been in the longest
relationship. The actor, who plays the absolutely lovable Dustin, has been with his girlfriend Lizzy
Lu since high school. The two have a pretty normal relationship despite Matarazzo's mega-stardom.
They love stay-at-home dates, for one thing. Matarazzo told Us Weekly,
"We play pool. I have a pool table at my house."
In the same interview, the Stranger Things star said Lu has the family stamp of approval, adding,
"My family loves her, she's great. My brother and my sister get along with her great."
When Robin, played by Maya Hawke, was introduced in Season 3, she was an immediate favorite. While
Robin is still figuring out how to make her feelings known to her love interest Vickie
in Season 4, the actor is killing it in the relationship department. As of this video,
Hawke is dating musician Spencer Barnett. The couple made their relationship status
quite clear after being seen in New York City kissing on Valentine's Day,
but they've never actually officially confirmed their relationship.
Max Mayfield was by far the stand-out character of Season 4, so we have to start by praising
Sadie Sink for the stellar performance. We also should thank her character for giving
fans the song of the summer, "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)" by Kate Bush.
"Okay, I see you now. I see you."
Her character certainly has great chemistry with Lucas Sinclair,
played by Caleb McLaughlin. As Sink explained to The Hollywood Reporter,
"With Max and Lucas, it's so tricky because they both just really care about each other,
but the love and care that Lucas has for Max terrifies her, and the love and care that
she has for Lucas terrifies her, so she would never say anything to that extent in person."
As for the actor's own love life, Sink may — or may not — be single.
However, some speculate that she's in a secret relationship with Patrick Alwyn, the brother of
English actor Joe Alwyn, as Elle reported. Sink has not acknowledged any relationship.
Finn Wolfhard plays Eleven's boyfriend Mike Wheeler in Stranger Things, but he's far more
secretive about his love life IRL. Nevertheless, Wolfhard was, or is, in a relationship with Elsie
Richter. The pair kept their relationship quiet, with Wolfhard only posting one photo with Richter
on Instagram that's since been deleted. And if it had been up to Wolfhard, the photo would've never
been posted. As he told The Washington Post, fans actually blackmailed the actor to post a photo
confirming his relationship with Richter or they'd reveal her address, so he did. He told The Post,
"They're like, 'Oh, okay, I'm so sorry. We love her.' It all fades literally once you're like,
'Hey, calm down. It's cool. I'm a real person.'"
Fans have since speculated that the couple has broken up as they haven't
been seen together as much. Seeing how Wolfhard keeps things close to his chest,
it's hard to know if they split or if they're just keeping things tighter under wraps.
We can pretty much guarantee this is the cast member you've all been waiting for!
Joseph Quinn, who portrays Season 4's Eddie, has won over the hearts of fans.
"Sorry I'm late, sweetheart."
So what's his relationship status? Well,
it may have been incidentally confirmed by his co-star Noah Schnapp.
Like legions of fans have wondered, Doja Cat was also curious about his relationship status.
And so she hopped in Schnapp's DMs looking for answers, writing,
"Noah can u tell Joseph to hmu? Wait no. does he have a gf?"
Schnapp responded with,
"LMAOO slide into his dms"
Schnapp revealed screenshots of the convo in a since-deleted TikTok
and, uh, Doja Cat wasn't too happy about that. In an Instagram Live, she said,
"The fact that Noah did that, like went and posted a private
conversation between me and him is so unbelievably socially unaware and wack."
And what did Quinn say about all this? Surprisingly nothing.
Like his co-star Joseph Quinn, Noah Schnapp appears to be a part of
the singles' club. Perhaps he will meet someone at his lifeguard gig.
While he's thought to be single, he apparently has a pact with co-star
and best friend Millie Bobby Brown. In an interview with MTV News, Brown said,
"We said if we're not married by 40, we will get married together because we'd be good roomies."
Schnapp agreed. However, Brown clarified that their marriage would be strictly platonic, saying,
"No kids at all, only dogs, and separate bedrooms for sure."
While Lucas Sinclair may be swooning over Max Mayfield,
it looks like actor Caleb McLaughlin doesn't have a special someone in his life, as of this video.
Back in a 2019 red carpet interview, Extra TV asked the star if he was dating.
"Are you dating?" "Summer romance— No, I'm not."
Then, in a 2021 interview with Wired, he was asked if he was single, to which he replied,
"Yes, I am. Yeah, I'm chillin' right now."
"If I'm actually dating someone, if I'm in a relationship, you wouldn't know."
Jamie Campbell Bower is a new addition to the cast, portraying Henry Creel, aka One,
aka Vecna. And we hate to be the ones to tell you, but Bower is not single.
He is in a relationship with talent manager Jess Moloney.
If you've been a fan of Bower prior to his Stranger Things era,
then you know he's had a couple of high-profile, long-term relationships. According to Elle,
his first was with Bonnie Wright, who played Ginny Weasley from the Harry Potter franchise.
The two were even engaged in 2011. However, the couple called off their engagement the following
year. That same year, Bower began dating his Mortal Instruments co-star Lily Collins,
and they had an on-again, off-again relationship for some five years.
The Stranger Things kids aren't the only ones in relationships,
David Harbour, who played Jim Hopper, is happily married to British singer Lily Allen.
They were first spotted together in January 2019 at the BAFTA Tea Party. In September 2020,
the couple secretly tied the knot in Las Vegas with an Elvis impersonator as their officiant.
During an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Harbour relayed a story about Allen's children, saying,
"She has two kids, these beautiful daughters, 8 and 9, and we were riding bikes, [...] and
the little one was riding along and she was going like, 'David, Dad, Dav-Dad.'"
"And the older one got very upset with that, which I understand."
When the younger daughter asked what exactly Harbour was, the older one said,
"He's just some guy in our lives!"
That's when Harbour knew something needed to change.
"And I was like 'I need to marry this woman.'"
In Stranger Things, Winona Ryder plays Will and Jonathan's mom, Joyce Beyers.
And while we will always be team #Jopper, her real-life romance seems pretty great too.
She is dating fashion designer Scott Mackinlay Hahn, who she's been with since 2011.
When they first met, Hahn didn't recognize who she was because he isn't well versed in
the entertainment world. She told Harper's Bazaar,
"He thought I was Milla Jovovich. He told me I was great in 'The Fifth Element."
Ryder considers herself a, quote,
"serial monogamist," but when it comes to marriage, she told The Edit,
"Marriage? I don't know. I'd rather never have been married than been divorced a few times."
She went on to clarify, saying,
"Not that there's anything wrong with divorce, but I don't think I could do it if that was a
possibility. When your parents are madly in love for 45 years, your standards are really high."
Prior to entering into a relationship with Hahn, Ryder had a few relationships with
some big Hollywood names, most notably Johnny Depp. She told Cinema in 2001,
"I had my first real relationship with Johnny, a fiercely deep love
that I don't know that I'll ever [get over it]. The first love is like that isn't it?"