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Charlie Heaton is opening up about his relationship with _Stranger Things _costar Natalia Dyer. In a new interview with _GQ_, Heaton, 26, explained why he and Dyer, 25 — who play on-screen

couple Jonathan Byers and Nancy Wheeler in the famous Netflix series— initially kept their real-life romance a secret. “We didn’t really know what the relationship was,” Heaton told the

outlet. “The caginess, anyway, might have been unnecessary.” And according to cocreator Matt Duffer, the pair had chemistry before they even landed their respective roles. “That first

audition, we did a chemistry read with [Heaton and] Natalia, and sparks were flying,” Duffer said. Dyer and Heaton first sparked dating rumors in 2017 after being spotted together at the Los

Angeles International Airport. The couple have since kept details of their relationship under wraps. Last month, the pair posed together on the Screen Actors Guild Awards red carpet and

held hands in a rare PDA moment. While the two don’t often speak publically about their relationship, in July, Heaton and Dyer opened up to _PEOPLE NOW_ about what it’s like to work together

on the beloved series — with Heaton joking that they sometimes get “confused” between their own relationship and their characters’ romance. In a conversation with _Refinery29 _that same

month, Dyer revealed that it’s “an interesting thing to work with somebody who you go home with” after “long days” on set together with her British actor boyfriend. “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 at the time. “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.” Both stars will return to the small screen for _Stranger Things’ _fourth season, which is

currently filming.