While Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2 premiere brought plenty of stars to the blue carpet, one appearance quickly caught fans’ attention. Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo stepped out to support his longtime girlfriend, Elizabeth Yu, who reprises her role as Princess Azula in the highly anticipated fantasy series. The sweet outing marked yet another chapter in a relationship that has quietly flourished alongside both actors’ rising careers.

As fans gush over the couple’s latest red-carpet appearance, here’s a closer look at Gaten Matarazzo and Elizabeth Yu’s relationship timeline.

Although the pair have kept much of their early romance out of the spotlight, Gaten Matarazzo and Elizabeth Yu’s love story dates back nearly eight years. The two reportedly first met in 2017 and began dating in 2018 while they were just 15years old, long before Yu landed major roles and before Matarazzo became one of Netflix’s biggest young stars. Over the years, the high-school sweethearts have celebrated milestones ranging from junior and senior prom appearances to red carpets, anniversaries, and career breakthroughs, quietly growing alongside one another as their Hollywood profiles continued to rise.

Speaking on the Dear Chelsea podcast, Matarazzo revealed that long-distance was never a temporary hurdle but the foundation on which the relationship was built. As both pursued careers in Hollywood, the couple quickly learned how to make distance work in their favor, turning what often breaks relationships into one of their greatest strengths.

“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.” Matarazzo told PEOPLE.

Beyond the romance making headlines, both Matarazzo and Yu are entering one of the busiest chapters of their careers already filling their 2026 slate.

Elizabeth Yu is currently focused on the launch of Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2, where she reprises her role as the fan-favorite Princess Azula. The Netflix fantasy series marks another major step in the actress’s rise following acclaimed appearances in projects such as May December. Her recent appearance at the Los Angeles premiere further cemented her status as one of the franchise’s most closely watched stars heading into the new season.

Meanwhile, Matarazzo is embracing a new chapter of his own after the conclusion of Stranger Things. The actor recently stepped into producing with the absurdist comedy Pizza Movie while also preparing for his highly anticipated West End debut as Mark in a revival of Jonathan Larson’s Rent. With both stars balancing major projects across streaming, film, and theater, 2026 is shaping up to be one of the biggest years of their careers so far.

And if their latest red-carpet appearance is any indication, Matarazzo and Yu are proving that some relationships can survive distance, fame, and the chaos of Hollywood.

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What are your thoughts on Gaten Matarazzo and Elizabeth Yu’s relationship journey? Let us know in the comments.