• Maxton Hall—The World Between Us is a German enemies-to-lovers drama based on Mona Kasten’s Save You book series.
  • Fans have speculated since the show’s May 2024 premiere that stars Harriet Herbig-Matten and Damian Hardung might be dating due to their strong on-screen chemistry.
  • Harriet finally cleared up dating rumors during a January 2025 appearance on the G Spot podcast.

If you’ve been looking for something to fill the void left by The Summer I Turned Pretty and My Life With the Walter Boys, then Maxton Hall—The World Between Us is it. Based on Mona Kasten’s Save You book series, the German drama follows a classic enemies-to-lovers trope—and if you’re following the show’s stars, Harriet Herbig-Matten and Damian Hardung, on social media, then you’re likely wondering whether Ruby Bell and James Beaufort are dating IRL. Lucky for you, I’ve got answers.

Ever since season 1 of Maxton Hall debuted on Prime Video in May 2024, fans have been speculating that Harriet and Damian could be more than just costars, because that chemistry? It’s undeniable. I mean...

However! According to Harriet, she and Damian didn’t have sparks on set right away. “I think in our first audition, he had come into the room and he had this suit on and I was like, ‘Who’s this arrogant boy there?’ But in our second and last audition, it just clicked and we had tension,” she told Us Weekly back in June 2024. “So we had chemistry, we just didn’t see that.”

As for the dating rumors, the actress finally cleared things up during a January 2025 appearance on the G Spot podcast (via Us Weekly), saying, “We are not together and we weren’t together either.”

"maxton hall die welt zwischen uns" season 2 berlin premiere
Tristar Media//Getty Images

Apparently, reading all the fan speculation about her supposed relationship with Damian used to make Harriet feel like she was letting her fans down. “When you always read these comments about how we are so together, I started to get pressure that it had to be true,” she explained. “So I was like, ‘Only when that is the case, I will do people justice and then they will be happy.’ I thought that for a long time. Then over the course of time, I had to learn to distance myself from this version.”

She continued, “There’s Ruby and there’s Harriet who is promoted. So you know that this person who is me and has my name is not the real Harriet that I am in my private life. I first had to learn that this doesn’t correspond to reality and that was difficult.”

So that’s that on that! But yes, I will be continuing to ship Ruby and James, tyvm.