A Timeline of Charlie Heaton and Natalia Dyer's Relationship
Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton are still going strong in 2025. After two years out of the spotlight, Dyer and Heaton attended Burberry’s fall/winter 2025 fashion show together on February 25.
The couple met on the set of Stranger Things, where they play the formidable boyfriend-girlfriend duo of Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers. Onscreen sparks translated to offscreen ones too, as the pair soon developed a romance in real life.
Rumors of Dyer and Heaton's romance first began in September 2016. A little more than a year later, they confirmed their romance with a simple act of PDA.
As the release date for the final season of Stranger Things nears, here’s a definitive timeline of Dyer and Heaton’s relationship.
- Sept. 9, 2016: Heaton calls Dyer one of his “amigos.”
- Sept. 14, 2016: Dyer posts her first picture of Heaton to Instagram.
- Oct. 29, 2016: Heaton and Dyer wear matching Halloween costumes.
- Jan. 9, 2017: The pair are spotted leaving LAX together.
- March 23, 2017: Dyer and Heaton avoid commenting on dating rumors.
- Oct. 4, 2017: Dyer and Heaton confirm they’re dating with PDA sighting.
- Nov. 7, 2017: Dyer and Heaton spend quality time together in Paris.
- Nov. 14, 2017: The couple is spotted kissing in public.
- Dec. 4, 2017: Dyer and Heaton make their relationship red carpet official.
- Jan. 13, 2018: Heaton posts a sweet birthday message to Dyer on Instagram.
- April 14, 2018: The couple attends Coachella together.
- Sept. 16, 2018: Heaton and Dyer attend the Emmy Awards together.
- Jan. 21, 2019: Dyer briefly opens up about her relationship with Heaton.
- Jan. 28, 2019: Heaton is Dyer’s date to the premiere of Velvet Buzzsaw.
- Jan. 29, 2019: Sources report that the couple is smitten with each other.
- Feb. 27, 2019: Heaton opens up about being in a relationship with Dyer.
- April 10, 2019: Dyer and Heaton have a night out at a Cartier event in Paris.
- May 25, 2019: The couple attends a Dior fashion show together.
- June 28, 2019: Dyer and Heaton attend the Stranger Things season 3 premiere party together.
- July 1, 2019: Dyer talks a little about the perks of working with her boyfriend Heaton.
- July 12, 2019: The couple takes a lie detector test.
- July 24, 2019: Heaton and Dyer jet off to Italy.
- Sept. 24, 2019: Dyer and Heaton take fashion month by storm.
- Nov. 8, 2019: Dyer opens up about date nights with Heaton.
- Jan. 13, 2020: Heaton celebrates Dyer's birthday on Instagram.
- Feb. 24, 2020: Heaton opens up about keeping things private with Dyer.
- Dec. 11, 2021: The couple arrives at Dior Homme show after-party.
- May 6, 2022: Dyer discusses her relationship with Heaton in a Cosmopolitan interview.
- April 25, 2023: Dyer and Heaton attend the Brooklyn Museum Artist Ball for Dior.
- Dec. 20, 2023: They hail a cab in New York City.
- Feb. 25, 2025: Heaton and Dyer make their first appearance in over a year at Burberry’s London Fashion Week show.
- April 22, 2025: Heaton and Dyer attend Stranger Things musical premiere with cast.
Heaton took a trip to the island of Menorca, which sits off the coast of Spain. He hit up the island with Dyer, along with two of his other friends.
When Dyer posted a picture of Heaton to her Instagram account, fans to started wonder if there was more to their relationship that meets the eye. The snap shows Heaton holding up three birds—one each on his head, shoulder, and arm—on a sunny afternoon. “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,” she captioned the post, adding a red heart emoji at the end.
For Halloween, Heaton, Dyer, and two other friends decided to dress up as the four main characters from The Wizard of Oz. Heaton dressed up as the Scarecrow, while Dyer was the Cowardly Lion.
After attending the 74th Golden Globe Awards together, where Stranger Things was nominated for best television series drama, the two were seen leaving Los Angeles International airport with each other. This further sparked dating rumors.
When the alleged couple was spotted together at LAX a second time, TMZ caught up with them and enquired about their relationship status. “Is it hard blending personal and professional lives, it’s not challenging at all? I’d imagine dating one of my co-workers would be perilous, you know?” the cameraman asked them.
Dyer chose to deflect the rumors, stating that if it seems like she and Heaton are close, it’s because the entire cast is close with one another. “Whether people are dating or hanging out, I think that our cast just is cool with each other,” she said. “I mean, I won’t speak for anybody else but it’s been you know. We’re all one big family.”
The reporter then asked if they were dating. Dyer responded, “Have a nice day,” before leaving with Heaton.
While out and about in New York City, Dyer and Heaton were spotted holding hands as they walked down the street.
While doing press in Paris for Stranger Things season two, the pair made sure to tour the city. They enjoyed the day together and took a moment to do some window shopping.
A week later in London, Dyer and Heaton were very affectionate and were photographed kissing each other in the middle of the street.
For the 2017 Fashion Awards in London, the pair decided to hit the red carpet together. Dyer wore a beautiful star-embellished burgundy dress by Coach, while Heaton wore a satin canary yellow bomber jacket, also by Coach.
“Happy 21st birthday!” he wrote below an adorable picture of his girlfriend and co-star holding up a piece of birthday cake. “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.”
Heaton added a P.S. to his message, which hinted at their plans for later in the evening. “Not feeling too well but I still wanna meet you at piedmont park tonight,” he said, signing off his message with an “x”.
The couple was spotted twice at the annual music festival. They attended the Tao x Revolve – Desert Nights after-party in Palm Springs and were joined by Camila Mendes and Vanessa Morgan. The following night, they were spotted on the actual festival grounds.
The couple attended the annual awards ceremony arm in arm, with Dyer in a stunning gold embroidered Dolce and Gabbana gown and Heaton in a classic tuxedo.
When Dyer attended the 25th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, she told an Us Weekly reporter what she loves most about her boyfriend and Stranger Things co-star. “He’s alright I guess. He doesn’t mess up our scenes too much!” she joked. “No, he’s great. He’s talented, like everybody in the cast. They’re all super, just great to work with.”
Heaton attended the Los Angeles premiere for the Netflix film alongside Dyer, in which she stars in as Coco, to support her. Dyer wore a floral Oscar de la Renta dress with Christian Louboutin heels and Cartier jewelry, while Heaton wore Dior Men.
A day after the Los Angeles premiere for Velvet Buzzsaw, an Us Weekly source stated that the couple is “obsessed” with each other. “He seemed so proud to be on her arm for the night,” the source said. “They were adorable and very affectionate on the red carpet. While she was doing photos, he was just staring at her in awe.”
The source also revealed that at the premiere, Heaton was kind enough to save Dyer from a wardrobe mishap. “She had a dress malfunction at one point, and he helped her clasp it back together... She flashed him a cute smile to thank him.”
Later that evening, the pair stayed attached to one another at the official after-party for the premiere. “Charlie got her a drink at the bar, and they toasted with fun, themed cocktails with some pals,” the source said. “At one point, Charlie cuddled up to Natalia and started dancing with her. He had his hand on her cheek, and she was gazing lovingly into his eyes. They seem totally obsessed with one another.”
In his magazine cover story for V Man, Heaton spoke about what it has been like to work with Dyer on Stranger Things. He explained that it’s nice to have emotional support from a partner going through the same obstacles career-wise “because 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,” he continued. “Because we work in the same industry and have had similar trajectories, we’ve gone through it together. Sharing that does bring you closer. 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. The great, happy times, too... Really fucking sweet!”
Dyer and Heaton had a fancy date night at the Clash de Cartier party in Paris, where both dressed up for the ritzy fashion industry event. Dyer wore a Cinderella-esque blue chiffon gown with embellished straps while Heaton wore a sharp suit alongside her. Dyer wore her hair up:
After they wrapped filming for season three of Stranger Things, the couple managed to keep their public outings to a minimum, but decided to make an appearance at the Christian Dior Couture Spring Summer 2019 Cruise Collection fashion show in Chantilly, France.
Dyer and Heaton both attended the Santa Monica premiere for their Netflix series’ third season. But the two posed on the carpet separately.
They were photographed inside the premiere alongside Cara Buono:
Dyer wore a rainbow sequined dress by Dior Haute Couture to the event.
Ahead of Stranger Things’ season 3 release, Dyer did an interview with Refinery29, where she spoke about what it was like filming the show with her real-life partner. “It’s an interesting thing to work with somebody who you go home with,” she said of her long days acting with Heaton. “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 also touched on why she has chosen not to talk about her and Heaton’s offscreen relationship publicly. Keeping her love life and personal relationships private, “that’s something important to me—with my family, with my friends, I really like to keep it for me,” she said.
Three days later, the pair posed on the red carpet for the Stranger Things season 3 premiere.
Dyer and Heaton’s relationship was put to the test when they sat down for a Q&A game with Vanity Fair. Each asked the other person a series of questions, which they must answer in order to pass the lie detector test. Among the revelations? That Dyer’s first impression of Heaton was, “You’re scared of bugs,” she explained. “You’re cool. You’re a cool guy. You’re a drummer in a band.”
The co-stars and real-life couple took a break from pondering Stranger Things season 4 to vacation in Italy. Heaton and Dyer were spotted sipping cocktails after walking the 2019 Giffoni Film Festival red carpet two days prior.
The couple took their love story on a public tour in September. At the start of the month, they were seen at the Thom Browne show during New York Fashion Week.
During the final week of September, Dyer and Heaton attended two separate Dior events during Paris Fashion Week. Heaton even shared a moody pic of the pair at Dior’s show on Instagram.
During an interview with InStyle, Dyer was asked if she and Heaton ever coordinate outfits. “No!” she told the outlet with a laugh. “That’s literally never on purpose. You do see articles, and no, we didn’t. I feel like we would naturally go out of our way to not, but it just happens. Kind of a thing.”
However, she was willing to divulge on her ideal date night with the actor. “I think the ideal is a cozy, candle-lit kind of restaurant, maybe a fun bar, just walking around,” Dyer said. “Somewhere where you can hear each other talk.”
When it came time to honor Dyer’s 25th birthday, Heaton posted a rare photo of the couple to Instagram. He simply captioned the cuddly pic with the birthday cake emoji.
Heaton was asked about the low-key nature of his romance with Dyer for his GQ profile. According to the outlet, the couple “weren't being sneaky—they were young coworkers on a huge job interested in each other, and they didn’t want to mess with anything.”
Heaton plainly explained, “We didn't really know what the relationship was.” But, according to Stranger Things co-creator Matt Duffer, the attraction between them was evident. “That first audition, we did a chemistry read with [Heaton and] Natalia, and sparks were flying,” he told GQ.
On Thursday night, Dyer and Heaton attended the Dior Homme show after-party together in London. Dyer wore a pair of large white loafers and a matching red suit. Heaton wore a cream-colored turtleneck with a brown jacket and navy slacks.
While talking to Cosmopolitan to promote the new season of Stranger Things, Dyer gave a rare glimpse into her relationship with her co-star, saying it is very “special” that they get to work and find fame side-by-side.
“It’s an understanding that would be hard to replicate,” Dyer said. “It’s an indescribable thing.”
In general, she seems to find people’s interest in her relationship with Heaton to be a bit of a strange thing.
“I’m always curious as to why it comes up,” she continued. “Why do people want to know about it? I think it’s a natural instinct to want to know more about the people who are on your screens for hours, about what they’re like in real life. [But] now that I’ve experienced the other side of it… It sounds so cliché, but I’m just a person, too. Some people are very good about being open and sharing, and other people feel a little more comfortable holding some things for themselves.”
Dyer added that she doesn’t think there should be pressure on celebrities to go “red-carpet official” or share interviews.
“We were colleagues first,” she explained. “It’s a standard, natural thing that would’ve happened either way. We work on the same show—naturally we would do interviews together and things like that. The weirdest thing about [our relationship] is other people’s perception and reaction to it. Everything else just feels very human.”
Dyer and Heaton confirmed their romance is still going strong when they attended the Brooklyn Museum’s Artist Ball for Christian Dior. The couple posed together for photographers and complemented each other in black ensembles.
Close to the holidays, the couple was seen in New York wearing matching long black coats. Heaton stepped forward to hail a cab for them, wearing tans pants and sneakers with no socks. Dyer had on a scarf and a pair of Gucci loafers. She was carrying a large black purse.
Heaton and Dyer had a fashion week date at Burberry’s fall/winter 2025 show during London Fashion Week. The couple sat next to each other in front row, Dyer in a tan ensemble. Heaton, meanwhile, wore gray.
Stranger Things: The First Shadow opened on Broadway on April 22, and Heaton and Dyer posed solo together on the red carpet and inside at the event. The show premiered at the Marquis Theatre in New York City. Heaton wore a pinstripe suit over a black button-down, while Dyer wore a green turtleneck and black skirt cinched with a black belt.
They were also standing side-by-side in a cast photo.
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