The Summer I Turned Pretty's Jackie Chung responds to theory Laurel and Susannah were in love

20 August 2025, 16:48

By Sam Prance

Some fans of The Summer I Turned Pretty think that Laurel and Susannah secretly dated each other.

The Summer I Turned Pretty's Jackie Chung has addressed theories that Laurel and Susannah had a secret romance.

Anyone who has watched The Summer I Turned Pretty knows that Laurel's relationship with Susannah, or Beck as she calls her, is a central part of the show. After becoming friends at college, Laurel and Susannah began spending all of their summers at Cousins and, it's thanks to them, that Belly, Steven, Conrad and Jeremiah grew up together.

In both the books and series, it's made clear that Susannah and Beck love each other even more than they love their husbands and this has led some fans to speculate that their relationship was more than platonic. Was it though?

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Were Laurel and Susannah in love in The Summer I Turned Pretty?

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Speaking to People about the theory that Laurel and Susannah had a secret romantic relationship, Jackie Chung said: "It never crossed my mind. I just think that it's rare to see this kind of love on screen where these women just wholly support each other and care about each other and have a decades-long friendship."

Explaining herself further, Jackie added: "And I think you can tell from Laurel that she keeps her world small, and the people in her life are very important to her, and Susannah is her person."

However, Jackie revealed that the theory has come up on set before. She added: "I do remember, I can't remember which season it was, but Rachel [Blanchard, who plays Susannah] said she had heard that. She said, 'People think that our characters are in a relationship,' and I just started laughing."

Jackie ended her comments by saying: "I can understand how people could interpret it that way, I guess. But yeah, no, I just always saw it as a really, really deep friendship."

In season 3, Laurel actually rekindles a romance with her ex husband John. Discussing the plot development, Jackie said: "I wasn't expecting it, but you can understand it. Laurel's lost her friend. He's a comfort. He is someone who understands her, who gets her."

What do you think? Were Laurel and Susannah romantically in love?

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