Oliver Stark has addressed his saucy (and surprisingly hilarious) love triangle in the latest episode of 9-1-1.
In season nine’s ‘Secrets’, the fan-favourite firefighter returns to the dating scene following his split from Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr.), separately bringing home a man and a woman (played by real-life couple Dean Geyer and Jillian Murray). Later, it transpires that they’re a married couple practicing ethical non-monogamy… and want Buck to be third.
Speaking with Deadline shortly after the episode’s release, Stark admitted that shooting with a real-life couple “made it a little awakard”: “And it didn’t feel awkward until we were shooting the intimate scenes, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s your real-life husband right there,’ or, ‘oh, that’s your real life wife right there.’
“But they were so great and coaching each other, like, ‘Do this a little bit more, arch a little bit more.’ And I was like, ‘Wow, I wish I had that, somebody to like coach me through this.’”
Stark added that Buck has begun to realise that he “just wants this person,” and that a wild life (such as threesomes) is “not always that fulfilling.”
“He sees that around him, right? He has Hen and Karen, his sister Maddie and Chimney. They have such great relationships, they have their person, they know they’re safe with them,” he explained.
“And so, while this wild life may seem appealing, I think at the end of the day, what you want is to go home and have your safety there, the person that sees you and understands you. So, I think that’s what this teaches Buck, is that he needs to find his way to that, some way, somehow.”
*SPOILER ALERT! Do not listen or read if you haven't seen the '9-1-1', Season 9 episode 'Secrets'
'9-1-1's Oliver Stark discusses Buck's bi love triangle (featuring a real-life married couple), plus 'Buddie' shippershttps://t.co/0v8ToiTSq0 pic.twitter.com/dzYFCkXAej
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) January 9, 2026
Evan “Buck” Buckley memorably embraced his bi-con status in the procedural drama’s seventh season. Ever since, Stark has continuously used his platform to advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community, celebrate Bi Visibility Day, and even share his thoughts on a potential romance with Buck’s best friend Eddie (Ryan Guzman), affectionately known as ‘Buddie’.
When asked if the writers, and showrunner Tim Minear, would ever explore such a romance, Stark answered: “Honestly, and this is may be a little of a cop out, but I don’t know. I do know, however, that Tim Minear, who writes the show, said in an interview a few days ago, he’s actively a fan of the ship of Buddie, and he understands it and roots for it, and doesn’t not like the idea of it, which, I get it as well.
“I’ve spoken about it in interviews. I say happily that I see the moments that other people see, and you see fan edits and there’s nice romantic music playing over the top of it or whatever it is, and you go, “Oh yeah, those do feel like charged moments.””
Stark continued to explain that he’s just “happy to keep telling the story of these characters, if that’s the way that, authentically, Tim decides the story goes, then I think that’s beautiful.”
Towards the end of his interview, Stark shared his hopes for Buck’s future after playing him for over nine seasons. Over the course of the next few episodes, he teased that Buck will “wrestle” with the fact that “he’s not the young guy anymore, and maybe he doesn’t bounce back from things so fast as he moves into his mid-30s, into late 30s.”
“He doesn’t feel the same way that he was feeling in Season 1, and we do have other people around us that are young and spright, and that’s going to be an adjustment of identity for Buck that he’s going to have to deal with as we go forward,” the British actor continued.
“And I like that because I think that’s part of the journey to maturing and understanding that it’s OK to not still be the 20-year old version of yourself, and so I look forward to continuing that story and watching him grow into this current form.”
In a 2024 interview with Gay Times, reflecting on Buck’s coming out journey, Stark said he was ‘proud’ to be part of the storyline. Revisit the interview below.
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