Chase Stokes recalls saving Madison Bailey from drowning while filming Outer Banks
By Katemarthason Okudo, August 21, 2026Actor Chase Stokes has recalled the moment he jumped into the water to help his Outer Banks co-star, Madison Bailey, after she struggled to breathe while filming an underwater scene.
Stokes and Bailey, who play John B. Routledge and Kiara “Kie” Carrera respectively, opened up about the incident while discussing some of the difficult scenes they filmed for the Netflix series.
The two actors are set to reprise their roles in the fifth and final season of Outer Banks.
Stokes noticed Bailey was struggling
The incident happened while the cast was filming in Barbados. According to Stokes, the scene involved JJ, played by Rudy Pankow, being knocked from a boat and left unconscious in the water while Kiara tried to keep him above the surface.
As filming continued, Stokes noticed that he could no longer see Bailey’s face. “We were in Barbados, and there’s a scene when JJ gets knocked off of a boat, and he’s unconscious in the water and Kiara’s holding him up,” Stokes said during an interview with Bailey.
Bailey explained that she and Pankow had already been treading water for about a minute before the director called for the scene to begin.
Stokes soon realised something was wrong and decided to intervene. “I was like, ‘Oh no, Bails has been under there for a while.’ So I jumped off the boat, and I realised that she was not able to breathe underwater,” he said.
Crew thought it was part of the scene
Bailey was struggling to move closer to the boat, but the people on set initially believed the actors were giving their all in the scene.
Stokes said he had to make it clear that Bailey was actually in trouble. “Everyone thought it was like, ‘Oh, wow, they’re in the scene. This is great.’ I was like, ‘No, she’s drowning.’ I was like, ‘Hey, that’s not acting!’” he recalled.
Bailey later joked about the situation, saying the crew thought she was performing well. “Everyone’s like, ‘Wow, she’s really good!’” she said.
Bailey describes underwater scenes as difficult
Bailey admitted that filming the underwater scenes was among the hardest parts of making Outer Banks. She also joked that Stokes appeared far more comfortable in the water than she was.
Bailey referred to her co-star as a “fish”, saying his swimming ability made the difficult scenes even more challenging for her.
“You actually make a bad day worse,” Bailey joked. “When I’m struggling to barely swim, Chase is like (fake swims). I swear he’s breathing under there just to make me look bad.”
Outer Banks heads towards final season
The actors’ memories come as fans prepare to say goodbye to Outer Banks after five seasons. The series has followed the adventures of a group of friends known as the Pogues, with Stokes and Bailey among its central cast members.
Although the end of the show may be difficult for some fans, Stokes said he was grateful for the journey and felt the series was ending at the right point.
Speaking during an interview, Stokes said there was “just so much gratitude” and noted that the series had helped him achieve career goals he once thought would take decades. “I’ve checked so many boxes that I thought it would span the course of the next 40 years of my career,” Stokes said.
The cast’s memories from filming offer fans a look at some of the challenges they faced behind the scenes while bringing the Pogues’ story to the screen.