Chase Stokes had a funny response after his age was cited as a reason why Outer Banks is coming to an end.

Creator Jonas Pate spoke to Port City Daily on Tuesday, December 10, about why the hit Netflix series is wrapping up after season 5, joking, “We don’t want to still be doing this and it looks like Chase Stokes is turning 40.”

Stokes, 32, got in on the fun by sharing several Instagram photos of himself. “It looks like I’m turning 40,” he wrote alongside the Wednesday, December 11, post.

The actor, who plays John B. on the show, was 28 when the series premiered in 2020. Stokes recently reflected on his time with Outer Banks.

“This has been my baby for five — almost six years now — and being in that pressure cooker for so long, you kind of know what it takes,” he said in September during an interview with People. “It’s just about finding the right people to do it with in the next chapter.”

Stokes called Outer Banks a “big, beautiful chapter” of his life. “I will forever be thankful for it,” he continued. “I’m excited to potentially continue to tell that story, but I’m equally as excited for the opportunities that I can’t even talk about yet. It’s been a lot of learning, a lot of struggling, a lot of laughable moments, but all of it was leading to being able to say, ‘Here I am.’”

The hit Netflix series introduced viewers to a coastal town in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, which is divided into wealthy and working-class sides. Meanwhile, a group of teenagers accidentally found themselves at the center of a dangerous treasure hunt.

After Stokes was cast on the show, his character quickly became a fan favorite alongside his onscreen love interest, played by Madelyn Cline. John B. and Sarah (Cline) developed a romantic relationship in the first season that has now become an unofficial marriage as the fictional couple await the arrival of their first child.

Offscreen, Stokes and Cline, 26, quietly started dating once season 1 came to an end.

“At that point in time, we were so anxious about the show and so nervous about constantly screwing up. I think we were all under this sort of strange umbrella of, like, ‘Dear God, we got an opportunity. Let’s not screw it up!’ So, it was just always work-oriented — really until the day we wrapped,” Stokes exclusively told Us Weekly in February 2021. “It wasn’t until after that, until we started to kind of get into the [coronavirus] lockdown where we were like, ‘Is there something here or am I crazy?’ That’s sort of where it bloomed from there. I think we were just so invested in the work.”

Us confirmed in November 2021 that Stokes and Cline called it quits after more than a year of dating. Cline was subsequently linked to Zack Bia, Jackson Guthy and Pete Davidson. Stokes, for his part, started dating Kelsea Ballerini following her divorce from Morgan Evans in 2022.

“The thing that we’ve decided, and to each their own, is when you’re with someone that you feel secure with and that you’re proud to be with, why not share it?” Ballerini, 31, told StyleCaster of Stokes in July 2023. “He’s also a Virgo; we’re both Labrador Retrievers in human form. It doesn’t take much conversation to be on the same page. It’s been half a year and it’s been great.”

Outer Banks is currently streaming on Netflix and has been renewed for a fifth and final season.