Topics: Netflix, Stranger Things, Sex and Relationships, Celebrity
Gaten Matarazzo has lifted the lid to the secret behind the success of his relationship with Elizabeth Yu, as the couple continue to go from strength to strength after eight years of dating.
Speaking on the Thursday, April 30 episode of Dear Chelsea, Matarazzo opened up about his enduring romance with his high school sweetheart as he discussed the reasons they had managed to keep things solid despite their hectic work schedules.
The pair first started dating back in 2018, when they were a mere 15 years old and still attending High School.
Since then both Matarazzo and Yu have gone on to find success in the TV and Film industry, and it’s that shared connection that helps to keep them going strong.
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“I can't believe you've survived this long with your relationship from that young age,” Handler, 51, told Matarazzo, 23. To which he replied, “Survive is a funny word.”
“You've managed to stay together for eight years, I mean that's very unusual,” the comedian added. “Let's discuss how that works for you.”
“A big key to it is thriving through distance,” he said. “That's kind of what we were thrust into early on. I was working on the show and was also simultaneously pursuing and starting her own career in the same industry.”
“So much of our work has to do with us leaving the city and being able to communicate through that and do it very well was kind of a tell-tale sign that this was working pretty well,” Matarazzo said. “It's very rare, I think, that it can feel good.”
He continued, “A lot of times, long-distance relationships usually fizzle out because it's so hard not being in the same city as your person. And what's great is that our home base is the same. So anytime we go and travel for work, we know we're coming back to each other here in the city.”
Although the pair don’t live together, they do live close enough to be able to spend time together between their busy work schedules, allowing them to maximise their time together.
It’s this lack of cohabiting that Handler teased could be the reason ‘why it's working out so well’ for them.
The pair first began dating when season 2 of Stranger Things had just premiered, and Yu was already auditioning for acting roles, hot on Matarazzo’s heels.
She went on to secure a starring role as Princess Azula in the Netflix live adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender and appeared alongside Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman in the 2003 film May December.
Matarazzo meanwhile wrapped filming on Stranger Things last year after an epic conclusion to the series, and has since gone on to appear in 2025’s Animal Farm and 2026’s Pizza Movie.
