Who Is Elaine Siemek? Everything to Know About ‘Outer Banks’ Star Rudy Pankow’s Girlfriend
Amid speculation that Rudy Pankow and Madison Bailey had a falling out behind-the-scenes of Outer Banks, fans are taking a deep dive into whether their offscreen relationships played a part in the apparent drift. Rudy has been dating his girlfriend, Elaine Siemek, since 2020.
How Did Rudy Pankow and Girlfriend Elaine Siemek Meet?
Rudy and Elaine met on the set of Outer Banks season 1, which was filmed in 2019. Rudy stars as JJ Maybank on the show and Elaine was working as an assistant to Jonas Pate, one of the show’s creators and showrunners.
Although it’s unclear exactly when Rudy and Elaine started dating, they first confirmed their romance in November 2020 when Rudy paid tribute to his girlfriend on her birthday. “You give me butterflies everyday... literally. Happy Birthday PBM,” he captioned his hard launch post.
What Is Elaine Siemek’s Job?
Elaine is a photographer “who enjoys taking environmental portraits,” according to her website. She shot a lot of behind-the-scenes content for Outer Banks during seasons 2 and 3, which she shared on her Instagram page and website.
“I use professional SLR and TLR cameras, point-and-shoots, Polaroids and Super 8s to capture the beauty in front of me,” Elaine’s website says. “I'm available for local or personal projects as well as potential employment opportunities.”
Why Did Rudy Pankow Have to Defend Elaine Siemek?
After season 1 of Outer Banks came out, fans began shipping Rudy and Madison’s characters, JJ and Kiara, as a couple on the show. This led to the stars’ significant others receiving an influx of negative comments online, as passionate viewers wanted the characters’ onscreen chemistry to translate to real life.
In August 2021, Rudy jumped to Elaine’s defense after seeing so many hurtful comments directed toward her on social media. “Unfortunately I’m here to call out the disrespect and harassment someone who I love dearly is getting on a daily basis,” he wrote on Instagram. “It has gotten to the degree where lies are being spread and accusations are being said that go beyond the normal ‘hate.’ Not only is she not what she is being accused of being, she is the complete opposite and actively is so. Accusing someone you don’t know of being abusive and manipulative is not ok, especially when you don’t know the relationship personally.”
He continued, “I’m very happy in the relationship I’m in. I know 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.”
In October 2024, he explained his decision to speak out about this. “I think a lot of people can intertwine a narrative and what they want to believe,” Rudy told Cosmopolitan. “And they take it out on someone that doesn’t deserve it. That’s unfortunate and it’s hard. And what’s even more unfortunate is that it’s not in my control. That’s why I spoke up — no one should go through something like that."
Did Elaine Siemek Sell Photos of Rudy Pankow?
One of the accusations fans made about Elaine was that she was selling photos of Rudy, which she denied.
“I just want to make this clear since people like to say anything on the internet with no proof. I've never sent 'exclusive' photos or videos of Rudy to any fan account ever," she wrote on her Instagram Story in August 2021. "I would definitely never do that without his permission. I've only ever sent 1 birthday video to someone that Rudy was a part of and agreed to be in. Please stop spreading baseless lies about me and please stop harassing me and my family over things you have no proof of."
Rudy Pankow and Madison Bailey’s Rumored Drama
Amid season 4 of Outer Banks in 2024, rumors about drama between Rudy and Madison have been rampant amongst the show’s fans. The falling out is speculated to have happened after a cast dinner in 2023, which Elaine attended with Rudy.
As one TikTok user pointed out, Madison unfollowed Elaine on Instagram after the dinner. Meanwhile, Elaine unfollowed Madison and Madison’s girlfriend, Mariah Linney, and Mariah and Rudy both unfollowed each other, according to the content creator. Mariah was not in attendance at the group hang.
At the time of the dinner, the show was filming season 4 and JJ and Kiara were a couple. Fans have speculated that their real-life significant others weren’t happy with how passionately viewers were about the characters getting together on the show.
The actors have even been accused of using stunt doubles in certain scenes, including one where their characters are cuddling by a fire. In the scene, the camera cuts to their faces individually without ever showing them in the frame together.
Rudy and Madison have not commented on the status of their friendship in 2024, but the actress previously denied having issues with her costar in 2021. “I’m seeing all these posts about Mariah not liking Rudy, which, I mean, that’s not true,” she said on Instagram Live. “That’s just not true. She likes both [Rudy and Elaine]. I got on the f--king phone with Rudy this morning because of y’alls f--king bulls--t.”