Madison Bailey’s ethnicity — Her European and African roots

Madison Bailey’s star shines ever brighter with every passing season of Outer Banks.

Bailey’s first major project was as close to her home as she would have hoped. She grew up as the youngest of seven siblings in Kernersville, North Carolina, several hours away from the show’s filming location in Charleston, South Carolina. 

Madison Bailey is mixed-race with roots in Italy and Mauritius

Madison Bailey was born in 1999 in Atlanta, Georgia. She is mixed-race and can trace her heritage to Mauritius and Italy. 

Bailey was adopted by Mary Katherine and Alex Bailey shortly after her birth. Mary and Katherine had one biological child and six adopted ones. “My parents are angels,” Bailey told V Magazine. “They had one kid after trying multiple times, fostered dozens of kids, and then adopted six.”

Bailey grew up sheltered from racism in her family’s predominantly white household. She experienced a rude awakening after leaving the family home. Bailey told Seventeen:

“As a kid, you don’t realize that you’re riding on a privilege that doesn’t belong to you. Growing up and going out on my own and [I realized I was] being treated differently than I had been my whole life. People using derogatory words or saying harsh things were completely foreign to me.”

The Outer Banks star talked about the struggles mixed-race people endure when trying to fit in. “I think not fitting in is something a lot of mixed people struggle with,” she said. 

Bailey told V Magazine that the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 sparked conversations with her white siblings that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. “I’ve had conversations with my siblings about things they’d never really thought about, even though I had expressed them in the past,” she stated. 

Bailey shares a tight bond with her family, though she lives a continent away on the west coast. “I moved out to LA, but I miss my family a lot,” she said. Bailey’s sister is her stunt double in Outer Banks, which helps reduce homesickness. She told The Charlotte Observer:

“She’s in gymnastics. My sister had never done stunt (work), but I talked with the stunt coordinator and it was such a chill show…It’s amazing they gave us that opportunity and experience together.”