Severide and Kidd’s relationship on Chicago Fire is solid for now, and according to Miranda Rae Mayo, Otis’s passing is only bringing them closer together.

At this year’s One Chicago press day, Taylor Kinney and Miranda Rae Mayo sat down with reporters to talk about their characters, the #Stellaride relationship, and the upcoming One Chicago crossover.

“So there is a flesh-eating bacteria that breaks out in the city. The firefighters are obviously the first to respond because we’re brilliant,” Mayo joked.

“It’s pretty crazy. It all happens at a tailgate,” Mayo explained. “We’re hanging out because we’re friends outside of the firehouse, and the police department, and the hospital. We’re first on the scene, rush over to Med — we see that it’s a flesh-eating bacteria. Med gets involved and is trying to figure out what this is, working with the CDC. And then we discover that it actually may be intentional and an act of terrorism, which is how the police get involved.”

“Last year we started airing all three shows on the same night, which I think was a gamble from the network,” Kinney said.

“We weren’t sure if we were going to put people on Chicago overload. But, it’s worked well. The fans really responded to it,” he continued. “When we do crossovers, it kind of makes it a little bit more seamless.”

“We enjoy it. We put a lot of work into it,” Kinney continued. “It will be like an epic, three-hour movie.”

Watch the full video of our interview with Taylor Kinney and Miranda Rae Mayo:

As a fun segue, showrunner Derek Haas stopped by the interview long enough to ask a question about Kidd and Severide and what’s in store for the couple this season. So naturally, that’s a conversation we had to have.

“I feel like this is nice for the both of us,” Mayo noted. “I feel like Severide at one point would have blown it all up just to do it, because his nervous system doesn’t know how to handle a long period of just like, calm, stillness, peace, routine. There’s something in him that craves that adrenaline of not knowing. So for him, I think that’s done. That is completely in the past. For Stella, I think she is so enjoying this. We talked about how Otis passed away and I think one of the things that is helping her cope, and him, is having each other and really leaning into the love that they have.”

On the most recent episode, Chicago Fire Season 8 Episode 3, Chief Boden asks Stella to take part in a leadership program, and she’s quite hesitant. But it’s helpful that she has Severide by her side.

“There’s a part of her that is very excited but also feels this imposter syndrome and doesn’t know if she really deserves it. So I don’t know if that will carry through into her relationship with Severide and her feeling like she doesn’t deserve to have something so wonderful. But as far as we can see here and now, it’s good,” Mayo explained. “They’re solid. They’re sturdy. They’re there for one another.”

Their relationship has also played a large part in the way we’ve seen Severide evolve, especially considering everything his character has been through and the losses he’s experienced.

“It’s just been tumultuous, at the least,” Kinney said. “There was always something. There was always like a thorn in the side even when things were good there was that elephant in the room of — something’s going to happen or somebody else comes into the fold, or a girl comes in. And we don’t have any of that. It feels good. I think it helps to focus and delegate your energies to other places as opposed to bickering. So when you don’t have that, and you have a support system and someone you trust, I think you can grow in other areas. I think that’s what’s going on.”

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Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC. The One Chicago crossover event will air Wednesday, October 16th beginning at 8/7c.

*Additional reporting by Charles E. Henning

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