The couple have been dating since 2021
By
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Lizzie Hyman is PEOPLE Magazine's Editorial Assistant. She provides administrative support to the Editor-in-Chief and writes content for both print and digital platforms.
Published on October 25, 2023 02:53PM EDT
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Conrad Fisher might still be vying for Isabel "Belly" Conklin’s heart on The Summer I Turned Pretty, but Christopher Briney only has eyes for his own real-life Isabel — girlfriend of two years Isabel Machado.
When asked why their relationship works, the actor told PEOPLE at the 2023 Women’s Wear Daily Honors on Tuesday: “We were friends first.”
Machado noted, “We were roommates first.”
Briney explained of their meet-cute as schoolmates and costars at Pace University: “We went to college together and we lived together. We knew that we could do it.”
Briney and Machado, both 25, each graduated with a BFA in Acting for Film, TV, Voiceover and Commercial in 2020.
They made their red carpet debut as a couple at The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2 premiere in July and occasionally document their relationship on Instagram, including cute tributes and a sweet anniversary post from June 23, 2022, where Briney wrote, “a whole year!? i could never want anything else 💘.”
Ahead of the second season of The Summer I Turned Pretty, Briney spoke with PEOPLE at June's TAG Heuer Flagship Boutique Opening Event in New York City, saying he feels most confident “when my girlfriend tells me I’m pretty.”
He also shared some style advice from Machado: "The biggest thing [she has told me] is just wear something that you think is cool. Not something that you think someone else thinks is cool. It's hard to do that, easier said than done."
And even when the fashion risks don't pay off, Machado told PEOPLE: “We support each other in anything. It doesn't matter ... if it's a hell yes, it's a hell yes, and if [one of us] is going to do [something, the other] is going to support you.”
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The Summer I Turned Pretty can be streamed in full on Amazon Prime Video.
