💔 SHOCKING SECRETS: What if Maxton Hall’s sizzling on-screen romances are child’s play compared to the REAL heartbreaks and hidden flings ripping through the cast’s love lives in 2025?
Harriet and Damian’s steamy premiere PDA screams ‘more than friends’ – but insiders whisper a brutal breakup that could torch their friendship forever! 😲 Who’s cheating with a co-star? Who’s secretly married and hiding a family scandal? And which rising star just ghosted their high-profile beau for a mystery lover? These confessions will shatter your RubyJames fantasies – click NOW before the tea spills everywhere and ruins the S2 binge! 🔥

From The Summer I Turned Pretty to My Life With The Walter Boys and Bridgerton, book-to-screen adaptations are everywhere right now. Over the past few years, these franchises have exploded on social media, racking up billions of views and inspiring thousands of fan theories, edits and videos. But there’s one very specific aspect these adaptations have in common: yearning. Yep. Yearning.
It’s a word we all know, but it’s been popping up on fan-made videos and social media more over the past six months. According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, yearning is a feeling of intense longing for something. And right now, there’s one adaptation that’s really checking that box: Maxton Hall. This breakout Prime Video series, based on Mona Kasten’s books, enthralled viewers in 120 countries when it first debuted in March 2024.
The series follows ambitious student Ruby Bell and her arrogant classmate James Beaufort. As the pair face school drama and complex families, they also try—and fail—to deny a fiery mutual attraction. Season 2 is airing on Prime Video this week and if you can’t get enough of the Maxton Hall cast, you’re in the right place! Here, we’re taking a look at the IRL love lives of Maxton Hall. Keep reading to find out who’s dating, who’s married and who’s single!
Harriet Herbig-Matten (Ruby Bell)
Amazon Prime Video; Getty
Herbig-Matten, 21, is a German actress who rose to fame playing Ruby Bell in Maxton Hall. In an interview with Us Weekly, Herbig-Matten praised her character’s commitment to her dreams despite turbulent moments. “She’s like a role model for me in that way. She’s not changing her dreams. Because she’s coming from a different social class, she has the urge to fight against these injustices,” she shared. “But then James comes into her life and everything is changing and mixed up and that is her inner conflict. That was so interesting to play.”
And when it comes to romance, Herbig-Matten’s on-screen chemistry with co-star Damian Hardung is nearly unmatched. In many scenes, their palpable connection has led many fans to wonder…is there anything going on between the stars IRL?
Well, in January 2025, Herbig-Matten opened up to Us Weekly about the rumors. “When you always read these comments about how we are so together, I started to get pressure that it had to be true,” she told the outlet. “So I was like, ‘Only when that is the case, I will do people justice and then they will be happy.’ I thought that for a long time. Then over the course of time, I had to learn to distance myself from this version.”
She continued, “There’s Ruby and there’s Harriet, who is promoted. So you know that this person who is me and has my name is not the real Harriet that I am in my private life. I first had to learn that this doesn’t correspond to reality and that was difficult.”
But during last month’s Season 2 red carpet interviews, fans still couldn’t get over the friendly affection that Herbig-Matten and Hardung very openly displayed. Despite their closeness, they are reportedly just friends at the moment. Herbig-Matten is not publicly linked to anyone romantically.
Damian Hardung (James Beaufort)
Amazon Prime Video; Getty
Damian Hardung, 26, is a German actor who first gained recognition for his role as Jonas in the 2015 series The Red Ribbon Society. Fun fact: Hardung also studies medicine in Cologne. In Maxton Hall, he plays James Beaufort—a character whom he’s said he feels “protective over.” “It is my responsibility to do justice to that character especially [for] everyone who read the book. I know that personally, whenever I read a book, you want to be protective of those characters,” he noted to Us Weekly.
“I completely understand that from the perspective of the audience. So it was my biggest hope and biggest wish to portray James in a way that the author created him] and also [how] the audience wanted to see him.” Although fans are rooting for Ruby and James on-screen (and off), Hardung is not publicly dating or linked to anyone at this time.
Sonja Weißer (Lydia Beaufort)
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German actress Sonja Weißer, 22, portrays Lydia, James’ twin and the daughter of Mortimer and Cordelia Beaufort. On the show, her character is involved in a complex romantic entanglement with a teacher at their elite school. It appears that Weißer is not publicly dating anyone.
Fedja van Huêt (Mortimer Beaufort)
In Maxton Hall, van Huêt, 51, plays the brutal and demanding Mortimer Beaufort, father of James and Lydia. In Season 1, the character is married to James and Lydia’s mother. In real life, van Huêt has been married to Dutch actress Karina Smulders since 2015.
Andrea Guo (Lin Wang)
Amazon Prime Video; Getty
Andrea Guo, 25, is an Austrian actress who portrays Ruby’s closest friend on Maxton Hall. Guo is not publicly dating anyone at this time.
Runa Greiner (Ember Bell)
Amazon Prime Video; Getty
Runa Greiner, 29, is a German actress who plays the lovable and talented Ember Bell, Ruby’s older sister, on Maxton Hall. Greiner is not publicly dating anyone at this time.
Eidin Jalali (Graham Sutton)
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Eidin Jalali, 33, is an Austrian actor who plays Graham Sutton, a teacher at Maxton Hall, who is secretly dating Lydia. In real life, Jalali is not publicly dating anyone at this time.