Madison Bailey, the openly pansexual actress who plays Kiara on Netflix's Outer Banks, has spoken about the show's "lack of queer representation" as the series concludes with its fifth and final season. Bailey told OUT magazine she wishes her character had come out as LGBTQ during the show's run, and revealed she is now hoping to take on a queer role in a future project, saying it is "never too late" for such representation. Her comments matter as they highlight ongoing conversations about LGBTQ visibility in mainstream teen and young-adult television, even as a major, long-running Netflix series ends without addressing the topic on screen.

Season five of Outer Banks began streaming on Netflix on Thursday, following the Pogues as they grieve the death of JJ (Rudy Pankow) and pursue his killers after losing the Blue Crown. Bailey said she was "manifesting" the chance to play a queer character, teasing that a relevant project "might be coming to life right now," and stressed she wants any such storyline to be joyful rather than dark or tragic. She added that although the show itself lacked explicit LGBTQ representation, she felt able to "represent off-screen" for fans through her own identity, while praising the show's themes of found family and community.