Nobody is shocked by Stranger Things’ phenomenal popularity on Netflix. Fans are excited to see the bond between Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) and Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) in the show’s fourth season premiere, especially considering they have been dating in real life since late 2016. When it comes to his personal life, fans may be unaware of his child-sharing connection with someone he met when he was 16 years old.

Charlie traveled to London to live with his father when he was 16 years old. He spent much of his time there at his uncle’s recording studio, seeing bands come and go with the music he’d been obsessed with. Comanechi, the duet for which he’d end up playing drums, was one of those bands. The issue that fans have with this claim is that he officially joined the band when he was 18, but according to GQ, he knew them before that from his uncle’s studio. How much longer until the recording began is unknown, however, it has been stated that he met Akiko at a mutual friend’s home party in 2012, before the recording began. Akiko was 32 years old at the time.

When Charlie was 20 and Akiko was 34, their son was born in 2014. The age difference alone raised suspicions among admirers that Charlie had been groomed. There’s no way to know how old he was when he met Akiko, but the timeframe is bound to raise some questions. Having said that, the legal age of consent in the United Kingdom and Wales is 16 years old. This implies that if Charlie met Akiko and began dating her when he was 16, he would not have broken the law. Questionable? Unquestionably, but not illegally.

Charlie’s pregnancy was first revealed in 2017 after he was refused entrance into the United States for the Stranger Things 2 premiere in Los Angeles. He was detained for reportedly carrying trace quantities of narcotics in his baggage. “Everything occurred so fast, and I hadn’t come to grips with the idea that I was renowned,” he was quoted as saying by Flaunt. Unfortunately, the reason the couple split up in the first place will likewise stay a secret. Neither side has publicly mentioned the difficulties in their relationship, although Charlie is said to spend time with Archie in London whenever he is not filming in the United States.

View Instagram Post 1: What Really Happened To Charlie Heaton's Secret Child? Find Out

Akiko and Charlie are “amicable co-parents,” according to Us Magazine. It’s clear that he’s content with his new girlfriend and co-star, Natalia Dyer, and it’ll only be a matter of time until Stranger Things viewers find out if they’re in it for the long haul.