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The Netflix teenage drama series, Outer Banks just dropped its action-packed season 3. Now, fans cannot wait for its confirmed season 4. The show has obviously been a hit. Here’s how it changed the lives of its female lead stars, Madelyn Cline (Sarah Cameron) and Madison Bailey (Kiara Carrera).
Cline — who doesn’t like watching herself onscreen — struggled with fame brought on by her role in Outer Banks. After her subsequent stint as Rian Johnson in Knives Out 2, the actress began to have a “miniature existential crisis” working with “people I’ve looked up to for my entire life.”
She said of the experience: “They’re phenomenal people, but … It’s terrifying.” In April 2022, she also opened up about her issues with social media. She has 15.6 million followers on Instagram, which she called, “filtered reality.”
“Everybody has an opinion about everything … and that’s totally fine,” Cline told the Ready Set Spill podcast. “Everybody is totally entitled to their opinions, but sometimes it is hard because it feels like … you can’t [hear your own thoughts].”
She also admitted that “sometimes I have to take a step back and remove myself. It’s been an ongoing struggle for me, juggling social media.”
Despite these challenges, Cline found a way to use her influence for good.
“I want to help educate, basically. I want to help these girls see what is going on in the world … You have a voice, you can vote. You have the ability to say whatever you want,” she said of using her Instagram for activism, adding that she “[sees] the platform and the responsibility I have to these girls, and the ways that I wanted for myself … to be someone to look up to.”
Outer Banks’ Madelyn Cline & Madison Bailey Are Friends In Real Life
Cline and Bailey are pretty close in real life. Aside from consistently showing their support for one another on Instagram, the two also went on a “compliment battle” for Glamour in September 2021 where the former said of her co-star: She’s an incredible listener and an amazing friend. When you need to talk, she’s gonna be there.”
But in that same year, after Cline’s split from Chase Stokes (John B.), fans began to question if the breakup drove a wedge between the two, or the entire group as Bailey also has a close relationship to Stokes. Speaking to People, Cline later assured fans that she always had a “safe space” on set working with her ex-boyfriend.
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“We’ve said from day one, our job is always to leave the show and the season better than when we left it last,” she said. “And everybody is still very much a family. Outer Banks has always been a family. And I’m just happy that we are able to remain professional.”
Stokes echoed the same sentiment to Entertainment Weekly. “Mads and I have been working together now for 30 episodes,” he said, “and we made a promise to each other before we even started dating that the work was always going to come first.”
As for Bailey, he commended the former couple for being there for her after tough scenes. “I think we all just have each other’s back and being like, ‘Hey, you’re safe here. You’re good. This is not… We are acting. Everything’s all right,'” she shared. “I don’t know, just being there for each other I think is how we get through those hard days.”
Madison Bailey Came Out As Pansexual In 2020
Bailey has also had her fair share of difficulties with fame since Outer Banks came out. But one thing she doesn’t regret is coming out as pansexual in early 2020 via TikTok, right at her rise to stardom.
“I came out when I was 18, which is six years ago, and I just gained this platform. So it’s less of a decision to come out and more of a decision to be an open book with people,” she told Pride. In her coming-out video, she also confirmed her relationship with basketball player, Mariah Linney.
Bailey simply felt like it was important for her to show her authentic self, especially to people who idolize her. “I’m not interested in gaining people’s respect, who don’t respect me. So, being myself was very important,” she explained.
“I feel like I can be closer with people if I’m just being myself, and they can relate to me way more if I’m being honest. So I’m happy. I let people know who I was from the jump. I’m not trying to sneak up on anybody.”
As a result, a lot of her fans have reached out to her to thank her for being a role model to them. “I’m so grateful and honored to be the representation off-screen,” she shared. “And I get the most wonderful messages, comments, DMs, of people telling me how I’ve inspired them and how I’ve shown them that being yourself is the best option.”
The Outer Banks gals have certainly succeeded in using their platform to educate and inspire younger women that look up to them. We can’t wait to see what they do next.
