How old is John B from ‘Outer Banks?’

He might look like a teenager just a few years shy of 20 as he runs through marshes of coastal North Carolina, but Outer Banks star Chase Stokes is actually a lot older than you might think.

His character on the hit Netflix show is John B Routledge, the 17-year-old leader of a group of friends from the working-class side of the Outer Banks called the Pogues. His fellow Pogues ⏤ JJ, Pope, and Kie ⏤ are all 16, making John B the eldest of the bunch.

Season one of Banks follows the Pogues’ journey as they search for a legendary treasure buried on the island before their sworn rivals, the wealthy Kooks, do. The show was an instant hit with audiences, topping the Netflix charts and quickly earning a season two renewal. Though he spends most of his screen time navigating teenage problems, leading man Stokes hasn’t been a teen for quite some time. But just how old is he?

How old is Chase Stokes?

While John B is 17 on the show, Stokes is now 30 years old and will be turning 31 in Sept. 2023, making him 14 years older than the character he plays. He’s also older than the actors who play his fellow Pogues. Rudy Pankow (JJ), who recently appeared in Uncharted, is 24 and both Jonathan Daviss (Pope) and Madison Bailey (Kie) are 23.

Madelyn Cline, who plays John B’s love interest Sarah Cameron (a Kook-turned-Pogue), is 25 and was last seen in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery in the role of Whiskey. In addition to their on-screen romance, Stokes and Cline dated in real life for over a year before breaking up in Nov. 2021.

Stokes has been blessed with a face that doesn’t age, one that believably reads “teen” both on-screen and off. We just hope that doesn’t mean he’s being relentlessly pursued by child services in real life the way his character was during season one.

The first two seasons of Outer Banks are now available to stream on Netflix, with season three arriving Feb. 23.