Sam Heughan of 'Outlander' speaks onstage during STARZ TCA Winter 2020 on January 14, 2020 in Pasadena, California.© Getty Images

Outlander star Sam Heughan's steamy new photo instantly has fans all saying the same thing – see here

The Outlander star will next appear in The Couple Next Door

Ahad Sanwari - New York
Senior WriterNew York
November 22, 2023

Sam Heughan is gearing up to appear on TV in a new iteration as one of the stars of the upcoming Channel 4 romantic thriller series The Couple Next Door.

The 43-year-old Scottish actor will star alongside Eleanor Tomlinson, and shared a new glimpse of the six-part series on his Instagram, and it certainly caused a stir.

In the shot, Sam and Eleanor's characters Danny and Evie passionately kiss in the rain, with Danny hoisting Evie up into his arms as their clothes get soaked.

The Couple Next Door trailer is here!

However, the framing of the shot, the rain, and even their outfits (Sam in an off-white tee, Eleanor in a baby blue dress) instantly reminded many of the actor's followers of another beloved on-screen kiss.

"Why does this look like a Notebook knockoff," one commented, with another also adding: "I thought this was the scene from The Notebook for a second." A third also remarked: "This looks like that scene in The Notebook."

Several others found it hard to separate the star from his longtime role in Outlander, leaving responses like: "Finding it hard to accept you kissing someone else than Claire," and: "It's so weird... I mean... where's Caitríona??? JK, very excited to watch it."

Sam spoke with HELLO! and other publications at a special Q&A event earlier this week about embracing some of the more intimate scenes in the show with his co-star.

MORE: Sam Heughan's surprising revelation about his love life and finding 'The One'

"All of us, in various ways, have experienced those scenes and it's a strong part of the show," he said. "Vanessa, who I worked with on Outlander, is brilliant and she created an atmosphere and a safe space and a place for us to really inject more intimacy, or what appears to be more intimacy, without having to make people uncomfortable."

© Channel 4

The Couple Next Door is coming soon to Channel 4

Eleanor also added: "She was terrific, she was amazing. She made it an incredibly safe space for everybody to be able to express what they wanted and what the scene needed to be, and we created that so that the scene could be the most powerful scene we wanted."

MORE: Sam Heughan's new drama The Couple Next Door looks seriously good – details

Jessica De Gouw and Alfred Enoch also star in the series, which sees a young couple move into an upscale suburban neighborhood, and their lives change when they get sexually entangled with a neighboring couple (Eleanor and Sam each play one half of the couples).

© Instagram

Sam stars in the series with Eleanor Tomlinson

The series will be released on Channel 4 on November 27 and on Starz in the United States and Canada, the home network for Outlander.

RELATED: Outlander: when will show return for season 7 part 2?

Meanwhile, fans of the historical drama are eagerly awaiting an update on the fate of the second half of the show's seventh season, which ended halfway through in August.

© Getty Images

Fans found a new glimpse of the series to be reminiscent of the epic romantic drama The Notebook

The season is slated to return for a second half featuring eight more episodes, which has seemingly been pushed back to 2024 due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. The show will conclude with an eighth and final ten-episode season.

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