Chris Briney knows a thing or two about the “friends to lovers” trope—and we’re not talking about his starring role in The Summer I Turned Pretty. It turns out, the 27-year-old actor has been dating girlfriend Isabel Machado since before he even signed on to play Conrad Fisher.
According to Briney and Machado, the duo met while studying acting at Pace University and lived together as roommates before they became romantically involved. “We were friends first,” he told People in October 2023. “We went to college together and we lived together. We knew that we could do it.”
Though some consider Isabel “Belly” Conklin (Lola Tung) and Conrad Fisher (Briney) a “friends to lovers” romance, their journey was complicated by Belly’s feelings for Conrad’s brother Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) throughout all three seasons of the Amazon Prime series. In comparison, Briney’s relationship with girlfriend Isabel Machado seems much less turbulent.
Briney even talks about Machado the way Conrad talked about Belly in the series finale of The Summer I Turned Pretty. “I couldn’t do anything without her,” he told Access Hollywood at the Mean Girls premiere in 2023. “I don’t think I could wake up without her. I’d forget how to breathe.”
It’s really giving, “I like being under the same moon as you again.” Put that in the movie, Jenny Han!
Here’s everything we know about Chris Briney and Isabel Machado’s relationship timeline, from college to engagement rumors.
September 18, 2025: DeuxMoi reports that Briney and Machado are engaged. “He just LOVES Isabels,” one commenter quipped, while another wrote, “Give that woman a ring and a trophy for her patience with us over the years!!!!” Fair.
September 17, 2025: Amazon Prime Video drops the series finale of The Summer I Turned Pretty the same day as announcing an upcoming movie. This has little to do with Briney’s relationship, but we’re just very excited about it.
September 4, 2025: Briney and Machado hold hands at the US Open. All this to say, they don’t minimize their romance for the sake of his promo tour—and we love that for them.
Isabel Machado and Christopher Briney attend the US Open Women in New York on September 4, 2025.
Adela Loconte/Getty Images
