:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/The-Walking-Dead-Daryl-Dixon-082225-1-59fe5ba6d58d461e9fc23bf35b70a0b0.jpg "Walking Dead star Melissa McBride opens up on emotional Daryl Dixon kiss: 'It has been a while'")
Of course, Carol may still have a few doubts. Walking Dead star Melissa McBride opens up on emotional Daryl Dixon kiss: 'It has been a while'
Of course, Carol may still have a few doubts.
Walking Dead star Melissa McBride opens up on emotional Daryl Dixon kiss: 'It has been a while'
Of course, Carol may still have a few doubts.
By Dalton Ross
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Dalton Ross is a writer and editor with over 25 years experience covering TV and the entertainment industry. *Survivor* is kind of his thing.
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October 13, 2025 8:00 a.m. ET
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Eduardo Noriega and Melissa McBride on 'The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon'. Credit:
Carol Peletier is a badass. It wasn't always that way, but after suffering through an abusive marriage and then a zombie apocalypse on *The Walking Dead*, Carol hardened herself and became a fearsome force capable of taking down both the living and the dead. But in doing so, she also developed a hardened exterior that often didn't have time for things like love and affection.
There was poor Tobin from Alexandria, with whom Carol had a brief relationship. And then there was Ezekiel, whom Carol actually married… before they eventually drifted apart after Henry's untimely death at the hand of the Whisperers. But over 11 seasons of *The Walking Dead* and two seasons of *Daryl Dixon*, that has pretty much been it when it comes to romance.
However, all that changed on last night's episode of *Daryl Dixon* (titled "Contrabando") when Melissa McBride's Carol locked lips with a character named Antonio (played by Eduardo Noriega). It was the culmination of a clear attraction between the pair — bonded by the trauma of their respective pasts.
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Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier, Eduardo Noriega as Antonio on season 3 of 'The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon'.
"It has been a while," says McBride about her character having an intimate moment on screen. And, according to the actress, the weight on the moment as Carol has to leave to smuggle Antonio's son Roberto (Hugo Arbués) out of town set that kiss into motion.
"He's just grateful, and then there's a surge," she explains. "She's got to go, and she's got to get Roberto out of there, and she's wondering what to do with this. The stakes are so high, and will she ever see him again?"
She pauses before adding, "It's really sweet, too."
'The Walking Dead' just addressed Daryl and Carol relationship confusion on 'Daryl Dixon'
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Norman Reedus was shot by water cannons for 'Daryl Dixon' premiere: 'It was insane'
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But McBride points out that even when Carol is at her most emotionally vulnerable, she still can't help but question things and have doubts. "What does this kiss mean?" she asks. "She may be wondering about that kiss. It's from a man who's desperate to save his son, and does that have something to do with this? She's on her way to get him out and into safety, and will he do anything to save his child? Is that part of it?"
Viewers will have to stay tuned to see the answer to that question, but it is pretty clear from what's transpired on screen that the connection between Carol and Antonio is not merely for show.
"Do you know what I love?" asks McBride. "I love that she is in his space in this village that is, for the most part, kind of unscathed from what's happening in the world. She's in his space, so she's experiencing him, and you can tell a lot about someone by their stuff."
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Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier, Eduardo Noriega as Antonio on season 3 of 'The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon'.
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What kind of stuff? "The pictures and posters on the wall, the cameras, the film reels, the TV," McBride explains. "That's probably the first time in a very long time she's been informed that much about someone by seeing someone in their own element. He's such a curiosity to her and a mystery and a just an interesting man. I like that aspect that I get to encounter."
Of course, no passionate encounter by either Carol or Daryl comes without lots of passionate commentary from invested fans. Is McBride able to put all that outside noise aside while filming scenes sure to get so much attention?
"We're telling a story, and these characters evolve and they experience things," says the star. "And I hope that they want that for them. However this ends, whether it ends now or later, we want them to experience life and love and all sorts of things — both of them, together and apart."
*The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon* airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on AMC.
Source: "AOL TV"
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