From on-screen couple to off-screen romance, Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton have taken their relationship to another level!
Over the years, fans have seen the two characters evolve and develop strong chemistry in the show. After her best friend, Barb’s tragic death at the hand of Demogorgon, things got tense between Nancy Wheeler and Steve Harrington.
By the end of season 1, several confusions and misunderstandings lead to their official breakup. Then she befriended Jonathan, and the two worked together at the Hawkins Post for some time and eventually became an official couple in season 3.
Although the duo took a lot of time to get together in the show, things look quite different in their real-life relationship timeline.
Natalia and Charlie first met on the set of Stranger Things in September 2015, and according to Matt Duffer, one of the two creators of the show, there was some real connection between the two actors.
“That first audition, we did a chemistry read with [Heaton and] Natalia, and sparks were flying.” He told GQ.
In September 2016, after the success of season 1, when Netflix announced that Stranger Things Season 2 was on its way, Heaton shared a picture on his Instagram that included Dyer. The caption of the photo said, ‘amigos.’
A week later, he appeared on Natalia’s Instagram; she uploaded a picture of Heaton holding a few birds and wrote,
“Wow congrats @charlie.r.heaton on his new one man show Stranger Wings!! Sure gonna miss you S2 but happy you’re doing what you love.”
According to People, the two actors celebrated Halloween 2016 together, and Heaton posted a photo on his Instagram in which they were dressed up as characters from ‘The Wizard of Oz’. Although it was a group photo with their friends, fans speculated they were spending time together.
The following year, in December 2017, the duo attended the Fashion Awards in London, and the pictures from the red carpet hinted that they were a ‘thing’ by then.
In January 2018, Charlie posted Natalia’s photo on his Instagram and wished her happy birthday,
“Happy birthday! @nattyiceofficial I hope it’s a great one and I’m stoked to be working on this new series with you. I think it’s gonna be great.
PS – Not feeling too well but I still wanna meet you at piedmont park tonight x.”
Later that month, Dyer spoke to the US Weekly and admitted that the two were ‘more than friends.’
“He’s great, talented, and doesn’t mess up our scenes too much.” She laughed while talking about Heaton.
In March 2018, the couple was pictured together at a Dior event in Los Angeles.
In January 2019, US Weekly reported that the pair appeared in matching outfits on the red carpet of Dyer’s movie premiere, Velvet Buzzsaw.
“He seemed so proud to be on her arm for the night. They were adorable and very affectionate on the red carpet. While she was doing photos, he was just staring at her in awe.”
In February 2019, the Schoolboy actor opened up about their relationship in an interview with V Man,
“There are times when you do get stressed. So 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.”
“They understand something that maybe no one else would. You go into high-pressure situations together, but you can share those insecurities or whatever they are.”
During the promotions of Stranger Things 3 in July 2019, the ‘All Fun and Games’ actress spoke up about working with her real-life boyfriend on the show.
“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 said. “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.” She told Refinery29.
Later that month, the couple went on a romantic trip to Italy.
In January 2020, the pair celebrated Dyer’s 25th birthday, and Charlie shared an adorable photo with her on his Instagram.
In mid-Feb 2020, Heaton spoke to GQ and shared his reason for keeping their relationship private.
“We didn’t really know what the relationship was. The caginess, anyway, might have been unnecessary.” He said.
Finally, speaking of their most recent public appearance in May 2022, the couple attended the premiere of Stranger Things season 4 in Madrid while staying close the whole time and posed for photos together.
What are your views about this on-screen and off-screen couple? Let us know your thoughts.
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