Never Have I Ever co-creator addresses 'creepy' age gap between main stars

Never Have I Ever is back on Netflix for a third season and, while fans of the series are ecstatic to jump back in, they're struggling to get over the 'creepy' age gap between two main characters.

For those who aren't up to date, Never Have I Ever follows Indian-American teen Devi who is desperate to climb to social ladder in her high school. But her struggles with her identity, her strained relationship with her mum, and the loss of her dad don't make things any easier.

In the new season of the coming-of-age series, Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) is finally dating Paxton (Darren Barnet) after a lengthy will-they-won't-they storyline.

While most fans were rooting for Devi and Paxton from the start, many quickly changed their tune when they discovered the stark age difference between the two actors.

Despite both of them playing high schoolers on the show, Maitreyi is 20 years old and Darren is 31.

The 11-year age difference means that, during filming for season one, Maitreyi would have been 17 and Darren would have been 28. Yikes!

Viewers picked up on the gap back in season one, but are starting to notice it more than ever in newer episodes.

"Time to watch the new season of Never Have I Ever and complain [about] how creepy the age gap between Paxton and Devi's actors [is]," one fan tweeted.

Another complained: "#NeverHaveIEver the dude playing Paxton definitely looks his age and I still can't get on board with him being a high schooler."

And a third disgruntled viewer tweeted: "I love #NeverHaveIEver but they guy who plays Paxton is literally 30 years old playing a teenager and LOOKS IT.

"You mean to tell me they couldn't find someone who at least [doesn't] look their actual age?"

Lang Fisher, who co-created the series with Mindy Kaling, has previously explained why they made the unusual casting choice.

After the launch of season one, Fisher told Newsweek that the casting team had no idea Darren was as old as he was when the actor auditioned.

He said: "From the get-go we wanted these kids to feel like authentic teens.

"In Riverdale, sometimes they wear what you would wear if you were a lawyer going to work, or they're dressed like PR executives. They all seem so mature.

"We wanted [our cast] to feel like real teens. Our one outlier is Darren, who is in his late 20s."

He continued: "You just have to assume that they're a reasonable age. I don't think we found out what his age was until we were deep in the season and then we were like, 'Oh, OK.' I assumed he was, like, 20.

"And the other thing I will say, when you see an actual 15-year-old boy, they're just not going to be a heartthrob. They look like a tiny baby."

Unfortunately, (SPOILER ALERT) Paxton and Devi couldn't make their romantic relationship work this season, and now the high school senior is heading off to university.

While it certainly looked like the end for Daxton, Fisher has hinted that, love is or hate it, there was more of Paxton and Devi to come.

Fisher told Entertainment Weekly: "In season four, it continues onward. But I think the part that is done is seeing him as this unattainable dream of a hunk. He is no longer that, and they can be more like peers going forward."

You can watch the first three seasons of Never Have I Ever on Netflix now.