Gaten Matarazzo has shared what he believes is the key to his long-running relationship with Elizabeth Yu, with the couple still going strong eight years after they first got together.
On the Thursday, April 30 episode of Dear Chelsea, the actor spoke about his romance with Yu — his high school sweetheart — and explained how they’ve kept their bond steady even while navigating demanding work schedules.
Matarazzo and Yu began dating in 2018, when they were both 15 and still in high school.
Since then, each has built a career in TV and film, and Matarazzo suggested that having similar professional lives has helped them stay connected.
“I can’t believe you’ve survived this long with your relationship from that young age,” Handler, 51, told Matarazzo, 23. To which he replied, “Survive is a funny word.”
“You’ve managed to stay together for eight years, I mean that’s very unusual,” the comedian added. “Let’s discuss how that works for you.”
“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.”
He went on to explain that frequent travel for work made communication especially important, and that handling those stretches apart was an early sign the relationship could last.
“So much of our work has to do with us leaving the city and being able to communicate through that and do it very well was kind of a tell-tale sign that this was working pretty well,” Matarazzo said. “It’s very rare, I think, that it can feel good.”
“A lot of times, long-distance relationships usually fizzle out because it’s so hard not being in the same city as your person. And what’s great is that our home base is the same. So anytime we go and travel for work, we know we’re coming back to each other here in the city.”
While the two don’t live together, they’re close enough geographically to see each other in between projects, which helps them make the most of limited downtime.
Handler also joked that the fact they aren’t cohabiting might be exactly ‘why it’s working out so well’ for them.
The couple started dating around the time season 2 of Stranger Things premiered, and Yu was already pursuing auditions as she worked toward her own acting career.
Yu later landed the role of Princess Azula in Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and appeared with Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman in the 2003 film May December.
As for Matarazzo, he finished filming Stranger Things last year as the series wrapped up, before taking on roles in 2025’s Animal Farm and 2026’s Pizza Movie.