'Outer Banks' Star Rudy Pankow Just Shut Down Those Viral Breakup Rumors

Who is Rudy Pankow's girlfriend?

Rudy Pankow's girlfriend is named Elaine Siemek. She's a film photographer who worked as a crew member on the Netflix show until the end of Outer Banks season 3. While rumors had circulated during the spring of 2024 that the couple had broken up, Siemek showed up to the Outer Banks season 4 premiere.

"Celebrating the whole cast & crew’s hard work last night," Siemek said in an Instagram post. "But especially celebrating my mans 😌"

"5 years of grinding in Charleston, a home field premier is the least we can do to say THANK YOU!" Pankow says in his own post. "Thank you to my fam and my lady for always supporting me, and all those who play a huge part in making me look good on this show!"

How did Elaine Siemek and Rudy Pankow meet?

Elaine Siemek and Rudy Pankow met on the set of Outer Banks during the summer of 2019. The two confirmed their relationship in 2021 when Siemek posted a photo of them kissing with the caption “it doesn’t get better than this.”

What's with all the drama?

After OBX took off, and Rudy Pankow and Elaine Siemek confirmed their relationship, online hate towards Siemek quickly spiraled into accusations of manipulation and abuse.

"Lies are being spread and accusations are being said that go beyond the normal 'hate,'" Rudy Pankow said in an August 6, 2021 post. "I might not actively show it on social platforms just how happy we are together, but this is my personal decision to keep most of those moments for myself. To those who are creating such displeasure and opinions about the one I love and my relationship, it’s time to stop. In this era of social engagement and enlightenment I want to express the importance to spread positivity and needing to know when it is unfair to express your own distaste for something or someone, especially when you can do it behind an anonymous identity. I was always told the best version of yourself is your most humbled self… I make this statement as my most humbled self and would be so grateful if we all would move forward in positivity and respect."

The rumor mill started up again in the fall of 2022, when Siemek was accused of kissing someone besides Pankow. And this time, she took to Instagram herself. "Y'all stupid as hell for thinking that's me," she said in an Instagram story. "Please stop posting bulls—t narratives that you make up because you're bored. It's exhausting and embarrassing. & also I pick my nails from anxiety so my hand for sure doesn't look like that."

Is Rudy Pankow leaving OBX?

The second half of Outer Banks season 4 premiered on November 7, and (spoiler!!) it looks like it was Rudy Pankow's last stint as JJ. His character was tragically murdered in the last 10 minutes, and even though fans are hoping the show could introduce supernatural resurrection elements it's been teasing for a few years, it doesn't make the scene any less painful.

Fans started worrying about JJ's fate after Pankow talked about when "a job ends" in a recent Backstage interview.

"I’m so thankful to be in this position…to be working on this craft with these characters," Pankow said. "But I know that’s not going to last forever...When one door closes, what then opens? That next door should always, always be what fascinates you with your craft. Ask yourself: What kind of person am I now? What stories do I want to tell? I think [figuring that out] is the duty of any artist. That’s the stuff that you should be focusing on, whenever you get a job and whenever a job ends. What is the thing to communicate to an audience that is important to tell?”

"This show has given me such an amazing oppurunity to express my craft in so many different ways and it has been an honor playing JJ," he later said in an Instagram story.