Inside the Love Lives of Stranger Things Stars

We've seen the cast of Stranger Things battle demodogs and spider monsters, but how do they fare in the battlefield of love? Get all the details about these Hawkins heartbreakers.

By Daniel Trainor Jul 03, 2022 7:00 AMTags

The Stranger Things cast has seen some scary stuff over the years, but how do they fare when it comes to one of the most frightening monsters of all: dating?

We've seen the young actors on the Netflix sci-fi smash grow up before our eyes over the nearly six-year run of the show. When things started in season one, Millie Bobby Brown was just an unknown 12-year-old and Gaten Matarazzo was the most adorable 14-year-old we'd ever seen.

Flash forward to 2022 and many cast members find themselves in real-life relationships—heck, some of them are even dating each other!

While some of the show's young stars have been very public with their courtships—complete with red carpet debuts and Instagram-official posts—others have kept things much more private. So, consider this your one-stop shop for all things Stranger Things romance.

We've scoured social media for the latest intel and, in celebration of the show's fourth season, we offer it up to you! 

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30 Secrets About Stranger Things Revealed

To find out everything there is to know about the stars' relationships, keep reading!

Millie Bobby Brown

Millie's relationship with Jake Bongiovi—the son of rocker Jon Bon Jovi— dates back to at least June 2021, when Jake posted a photo of the couple on Instagram with the caption "bff <3." 

After making their red carpet debut as a couple at the BAFTA Film Awards in March 2022, the two proved that their fashion sense was in sync when they stepped out to Stranger Things' season four premiere in May wearing matching black-and-white ensembles. And later that month, Millie posted a throwback photo of Jake hanging out with her Stranger Things co-star Finn Wolfhard on set, proving that her man has her work family's stamp of appoval.

Millie announced her engagement to Jake in April 2023, posting a photo of the two sharing a laugh while the actress wore a diamond sparkler on her wedding ring finger. She captioned the snap with lyrics from "Lover" by Taylor Swift: "I've loved you three summers now, honey, I want 'em all."

We rate this relationship an 11 out 10.

Finn Wolfhard

Finn isn't lacking in the love department himself! The 20-year-old is currently dating actress Elsie Richter, though the two keep their relationship very private. In a November 2021 interview with The Washington Post, Finn said a fan threatened to expose Elsie's address unless Finn confirmed their relationship. He was forced to comply.

"They're like, ‘Oh, OK, I'm so sorry. We love her,' " he told the paper. "It all fades literally once you're like, ‘Hey, calm down. It's cool. I'm a real person.' It's almost like a trance or something. Maybe it's a power thing."

Most notably, Elsie appeared in seven episodes of the HBO series Doll & Em.

Finn and Elsie have been together since mid-2021. 

Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton

Love blossomed in Hawkins!

Natalia, who plays Nancy Wheeler, and Charlie, who plays Jonathan Byers, have been linked since 2017 when they made their red carpet debut at The Fashion Awards in London. 

Their characters are intrinsically linked, which has led for plenty of on-screen time together, which Natalia doesn't take for granted.

"It's always really fun. We're really comfortable with each other, so we can play and feel more free, and we can talk about it before," she told Refinery29 in 2019. "There's that sense of who knows if you'll ever work together with this person ever again? Who knows? This might be your only chance to play like this." 

Despite the fact they've been public about their relationship, don't expect the couple to put everything on display. "Some people are very good about being open and sharing," Natalia told Cosmopolitan in May 2022, "and other people feel a little more comfortable holding some things for themselves."

Gaten Matarazzo

Gaten, who plays Dustin, has been dating girlfriend Lizzy Yu for more than four years. He made note of their anniversary with a cute Instagram post on March 7, posting a picture of Lizzy captioned: "Four years? That's dope. I love you. Thanks for being my best friend. Happy anniversary goob."

In May 2021, the couple attended prom together! Gaten posted a photo on Instagram of the couple all dressed up with caption: "Got to go to prom with this goober. Thanks for letting me tag along broski. Love you"

Gaten and Lizzy live together in New Jersey—with three cats!—which was revealed in a May 2022 interview with Esquire. Lizzy is an actress herself and will soon appear in Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender adaptation.

Joe Keery

Joe has been dating actress Maika Monroe since 2017. 

According to GQ, the couple met at a party in Los Angeles in 2017. That same year, they worked together on the film After Everything before going public with their relationship at the season two premiere of Stranger Things.

Joe and Maika keep things pretty private on social media, but often support each other at red carpet events and award shows. Most recently, the two appeared at the Vanity Fair Oscar party in 2022.

Maya Hawke

Maya, who joined Stranger Things as Robin in season three, has been dating musician Spencer Barnett since early 2022. The two were spotted celebrating Valentine's Day together in New York City and were seen in Paris together later in the month.

Maya previously dated actor Tom Sturridge.

Noah Schnapp

While there were rumblings that Noah, who plays Will Byers, dated Millie in the early days of the show, the two appear to simply be the best of friends. In February 2022, Noah posted a series of photos from Millie's 18th birthday party on Instagram, which included shots of Millie's boyfriend Jake. 

He came out as gay in January 2023, noting in a TikTok video that his friends and family were unfazed when they learned of his sexuality. "When I finally told my friends and family I was gay after being scared in the closet for 18 years," he recalled, "and all they said was 'we know.'"

At the moment, Noah appears to be single.

Caleb McLaughlin

In an interview with Wired in 2021, Caleb, who plays Lucas, said he was single. 

However, Caleb maintained that he's always going to keep things close to the vest. "If I'm actually dating someone, if I'm in a relationship," he said, "you wouldn't know."

This story was originally published on Saturday, June 4, 2022 at 5 a.m. PT.

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