'The Summer I Turned Pretty's' Christopher Briney And Girlfriend Isabel Machado Were Roommates First

Elle

2 days ago

As an integral part of the love triangle that powers Amazon Prime's The Summer I Turned Pretty, Christopher Briney's personal life is of the utmost interest to fans. However, the 27-year-old actor does not have as many ups-and-downs off screen as he does in the hit series while playing Conrad Fisher. Briney has been consistently dating one woman for about half a decade now, actress Isabel Machado.
Briney rarely talks much about their relationship in public, though he did celebrate her birthday in February 2025 with a carousel of photos, writing in the caption, 'my dear isabel turns 27 today 💓 thank you for always walking by my side, you make me the luckiest boy in the world.'
Here's everything to know about the theater star and her relationship with Briney over the years, from friends to lovers.
Isabel Rose Machado is originally from Chicago, according to her website. She moved to New York to attend Pace University, where she got her BFA in Acting for Film, Television, Voice Over & Commercial, graduating in 2020. While Machado has a number of screen credits, per her resume, she has a real passion for song and dance, which she incorporates in her theater work. She is a trained first soprano, can reach a high G note, play the piano, and has training in ballet, jazz, and modern dance. She even attended the Cecchetti Council of America for more dance training.
Briney has also hyped up Machado's fashion sense, joking with People at the 2023 Women's Wear Daily Honors in October 2023, 'The biggest thing [Isabel has told me] is just wear something that you think is cool. Not something that you think someone else thinks is cool. It's hard to do that, easier said than done.'
Machado added, 'And even when the fashion risks don't pay off. We support each other in anything. It doesn't matter—if it's a hell yes, it's a hell yes, and if [one of us] is going to do [something, the other] is going to support you.'
Briney also starred in the newest film iteration of Mean Girls and shared during a 2023 red carpet interview with Access Hollywood at the premiere, 'I couldn't do it without her. I couldn't do anything without her. I don't think I could wake up without her. I'd forget how to breathe.'
The pair met in school at Pace, becoming friends and even living together as roommates before getting together romantically.
'We were friends first. We went to college together, and we lived together. We knew that we could do it,' Briney told People.
In an old TikTok, they can be seen doing a scene together, playing a couple going through a breakup.
Machado's first public Instagram post from 2018 features Briney walking 'downtown' with her in New York.
In a conversation for Interview Magazine, Briney shared, 'One of my girlfriend's first memories of me—we went to college together, and we didn't date until after college—it was when we were all at our college bar, and I was doing magic card tricks, trying to flex on people, which is absolutely absurd.'
In June 2022, she joined him for the season one of The Summer I Turned Pretty, marking their red carpet debut.
That was also the month Briney posted a tribute to their first anniversary, writing, 'a whole year!? i could never want anything else 💘'
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Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. Her first book, The Lonely Hunter, will be released by Dial Press in February 2022.