SHOCK CONFESSION: My Life With the Walter Boys star Noah LaLonde just BROKE HIS SILENCE on the REAL-LIFE romance speculation with costar Nikki Rodriguez 💥🔥 Fans have been shipping them for months — but his EXCLUSIVE reveal flips the story on its head and leaves everyone REELING. 💔💘

👉 FULL DRAMA UNCOVERED HERE 👇

The actor tells PEOPLE he’s “super grateful” for the attention the Netflix hit has garnered, but the interest in his personal life “can be overwhelming”

NEED TO KNOW

My Life with the Walter Boys stars Nikki Rodriguez and Noah LaLonde play romantic interests onscreen but have also fueled romance rumors in real life since the show’s 2023 premiere
LaLonde, 27, tells PEOPLE how he navigates the intense speculation about his real-life dynamic with Rodriguez, 22, as neither of them have ever officially confirmed or denied if they’re dating
“It can be overwhelming, and it can be shocking as a young person starting your career, and that’s the first thing that happens, but I think, ultimately, I’ve gotten to the place where I’m really grateful,” he says of the interest in his personal life

Noah LaLonde and Nikki Rodriguez have been fueling romance rumors ever since My Life with the Walter Boys premiered on Neflix a year and a half ago.

The actors play love interests in the hit series — LaLonde plays the brooding older brother, Cole Walter, who immediately attracts the attention of Jackie (Rodriguez) after she moves in with Cole’s family — but in real life, they’ve never weighed in on the rampant speculation that they’re romantically involved.

Several awards show appearances together in the months following the show’s December 2023 premiere, along with other rare outings together in the year since, have left fans increasingly curious about LaLonde, 27, and Rodriguez, 22, but the Detroit native isn’t shy about the interest.

“I think that investment and that intensity of the on-screen, off-screen, I think it’s a lot of fun,” LaLonde tells PEOPLE. “I’m over the moon that people feel that way about our show.”

“Who’s to say whether or not I’ll ever do a show where there is such a visceral investment from the fan base in [this] way?” LaLonde says, thinking aloud. “Who’s to say that could ever happen again?”

Nikki Rodriguez and Noah LaLonde attend Netflix TUDUM 2025.Roger Kisby/Getty

He will admit that navigating the intensity that is a young adult (YA), love triangle TV show fanbase is a “different beast,” but again, it all comes back to gratitude in his mind.

“It can be overwhelming, and it can be shocking as a young person starting your career, and that’s the first thing that happens. But I think, ultimately, I’ve gotten to the place where I’m really grateful that I get to be a part of that beast at least once in my life.”

LaLonde adds, “It’s a lot of fun, and you embrace it.”

He deals with the unending speculation by taking intentional breaks from social media — and just generally avoiding the topic.

“There’s two sides to the aforementioned coin of this beast of this type of show, and I think the other side of the coin is prioritizing your own personal space, and prioritizing your routine outside of the beast,” he says when asked how he feels about the new interest in his personal life.

“And I don’t think I’m the first one to say that I’ve doom scrolled on TikTok or Instagram for far too long, and just came out of it and was totally affected by whatever I was doing for an hour, two hours,” he admits.

But the key, he finds, is “creating my own space between that type of stuff.”

“It’s all bubbling out there, but if you can separate it and have a moment alone with yourself and your loved ones… I’m so lucky to have so many outlets of that, that I don’t feel that pressure very much, because I’ve been really grateful to have it.”

LaLonde also knows what fuels the speculation by this point, which helps him tune it out, too.

“At the end of the day, if not for social media, if not for the TikTok edits and the odd event where it’s publicized that you’re going to be there, like [Rodriguez, Ashby Gentry and I] went to the Calgary Stampede and it’s inevitable to have that [speculation] get activated there,” he says.

“To me, it never has gotten to the point of overwhelming, past me still being super grateful for the opportunity,” he adds.

Rodriguez previously told PEOPLE how she’s handled the interest in her personal life following the show’s massive success in season 1.

After garnering some attention at the 2024 Golden Globe Awards and the 2024 People’s Choice Awards, both of which she attended with LaLonde, the actress reflected on her tight-knit bond with her castmates.

She called both LaLonde and Gentry, who plays the younger Walter brother who also vies for her heart onscreen, “amazing and wonderful people, and I just love them dearly.”

Noah LaLonde as Cole, Nikki Rodriguez as Jackie in ‘My Life with the Walter Boys’ season 2.Courtesy of Netflix

Rodriguez also admitted to feeling “pressure” amid the show’s reception and speculation about her and LaLonde, but she said, “I just try not to take it too personally or too to heart, and I just don’t think about it.”

“I just try to just live my life every day as truthfully as I can, and that’s the best that I can do,” she said. “It’s really easy to get wrapped up in everything, but I really just try to just live my life as authentically as possible.” My Life with the Walter Boys season 2 premieres Thursday, Aug. 28 on Netflix.