Caitriona Balfe Reveals Exactly Who Is Keeping Her from Falling in Love with 'Outlander' Costar Sam Heughan (Hint: On-Camera Sex Scenes Are Involved)

"You're usually doing those scenes in front of about 20 people – mostly burly, sweaty men," Balfe says

Published on May 2, 2016 01:20 PM

Fans of Outlander might be hoping against hope that Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan will get together in real life because their on-screen chemistry is really that good – but sadly, it’s just really, really good acting.

During an appearance on Taylor Strecker’s SiriusXM radio show, Wake Up with Taylor on Monday, Balfe explained why she isn’t likely to fall in love with her costar despite their hot-and-heavy sex scenes – as it turns out, those scenes aren’t actually as steamy as they look.

“Well, I mean, for me I think it’s quite easy not to develop feelings like that because it’s acting, right?” said Balfe, who plays Claire Fraser. “You know, I feel very lucky, Sam and I have an amazing bond, we’re really great friends – but, you know, it’s acting.”

Plus, there’s that one nagging little detail that the intimate scene actually takes place in front of quite a large crew.

“You’re usually doing those scenes in front of about 20 people, mostly burly, sweaty men whose jeans are like halfway down their bum crack,” she said with a laugh. “So it’s quite easy not to get carried away! We call it plumber’s butt in Ireland.”

Of course, that doesn’t stop fans from lusting after the sexy duo, and Balfe admits they’ve both gotten their fair share of wild tweets.

“[There] was something about whenever Sam took his top off that there were [tweets about] women getting ‘a kick in their ovaries,’ or something like that,” recalled the actress, 36. “That was kind of weird, the whole ‘kick in the ovaries’ thing was bizarre. I don’t quite know what that meant! I think it was like reawakening their ovaries or something?”

Meanwhile, the radio interview wasn’t the first time Balfe has had to squash real-life romance rumors about herself and her costar.

“Honestly I’m tired of that conversation,” Balfe recently told Entertainment Weekly. “This is fantasy. This is our job. We are very different in our private life. We are best friends.”

As for Heughan, 36? He’s still trying to wrap his mind around it all, too.

“It saddens me a bit but I guess that means we’ve done a good job,” Heughan, who plays Jamie, told EW. “I don’t know. It’s a strange one. I’m still coming to terms with what it’s like to have people follow your personal life as well as your public life. It gets amusing. But she’s just wonderful. We’re very good friends.”

Outlander airs Saturdays (9 p.m. ET) on Starz, and Wake Up with Taylor airs weekdays (7 a.m. ET) on SiriusXM’s Stars channel 109.