'Outer Banks' ' Madelyn Cline on Her 'Safe Space' Working with Ex Chase Stokes amid Sarah and John B 'Drama'

Madelyn Cline and ex-boyfriend Chase Stokes were able to remain "professional" while filming season 3 of Outer Banks after their breakup.

The costars, who dated for more than a year from 2020 until the fall of 2021, resumed filming the Netflix adventure drama in February 2022, just months after they stopped dating. Asked if working together felt different post-split, Cline tells PEOPLE: "Certainly in some aspects, but at the end of the day, there's always been a safe space with the job."

"We've said from day one, our job is always to leave the show and the season better than when we left it last," continues the 25-year-old actress, who is rumored to be dating singer-songwriter Jackson Guthy. "And everybody is still very much a family. Outer Banks has always been a family. And I'm just happy that we are able to remain professional."

Stokes, 30, shared that sentiment recently in an interview with Entertainment Weekly: "Mads and I have been working together now for 30 episodes, and we made a promise to each other before we even started dating that the work was always going to come first."

Stokes, who is now dating country singer Kelsea Ballerini, continued: "And that no matter what happens in our personal lives, and the ways that life sometimes takes you in different directions, that we're always going to honor the work. That stayed 100 percent truthful this season."

Cline and Stokes's characters, Sarah and John B, teens from opposite sides of the tracks in the oceanside North Carolina resort spot, have a complicated romantic history of their own.

By the end of Season 2, the pair were still together, but moving forward says, Cline, "in typical TV show fashion, there's always drama, and we have to keep everyone on their toes."

Costar Madison Bailey, who plays Kiara, also recently told PEOPLE about how the cast members have supported each other, especially after filming heavier moments. "When the day's over, I know Chase has come up to me after a scene and just kind of just calmed me and calmed my nerves … to get out of that dark place," she says.

"I think we all just have each other's back and being like, 'Hey, you're safe here. You're good. This is not... We are acting. Everything's all right,'" continues Bailey. "I don't know, just being there for each other I think is how we get through those hard days."

Outer Banks, which became an instant sensation when it premiered in April 2022, tells the story of a diverse group of kids from different economic backgrounds — well-off ones known as Kooks and the working-class crowd called the Pogues — and the hunt for John B.'s (Stokes) missing father and a legendary treasure.

Cline promises that season 3's "stakes are higher, and there is even more action and adventure then the last two seasons combined."

Netflix announced last weekend that the show was renewed for a fourth season. "Seeing Poguelandia come to life was nothing short of spectacular," series co-creators, executive producers and showrunners Jonas Pate, Josh Pate and Shannon Burke said in a joint statement.

"The Pogues are enjoying an adventure of a lifetime and we now get to map out more twists and turns as the joyride continues into Season 4 of Outer Banks," they added. "Thank you to Netflix, our cast and the amazing fans who helped to make this happen."

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Season 3 of Outer Banks is now streaming on Netflix.