The Walking Dead actress Melissa McBride discusses the budding relationship between Carol and Daryl, plus reveals she loves shipping and Tumblr!

Becoming the middle of a ship war probably isn’t what Melissa McBride expected when she signed on to star in a show about a zombie apocalypse. However, many fans have become obsessed with the will-they-won’t-they between her character Carol and Daryl Dixon, played by Norman Reedus. While some actors may get annoyed with fan ship wars, McBride tells Access Hollywood, “I love the Caryl-ers! I think they’re awesome and they’re so passionate and hard core.”

Although many are dying for the pair to get on with it and just kiss already, there are those who don’t want the couple to happen. That doesn’t phase McBride though, “You have the other group who’s like, ‘Argh! She’s too old for him. No, he needs somebody hot. He needs a bad a**.’ And I just love that little, ‘To ship or not to ship.’ I think it’s great.” The actress also revealed she likes to go on Tumblr to look at the ship fan art.

While fans are arguing about whether or not Carol and Daryl should become an item, McBride thinks they already are on some level, saying that they don’t have to become physical for them to be a couple: “Look at it this way, they already are, just by virtue of wanting something like the kiss or whatever… But I think people don’t see it that way ‘til there’s a physical confirmation, if you will.”

McBride goes on to explain that they already have many of the qualities of a couple, saying, “They’re friends, they care for one another, they nurture one another, there’s an easement between these two, there’s this beautiful room that they give each other and then they call each other out of it they need to.” She went on to tease that the show skipped eight months between the second and third season, so anything could have happened that fans didn’t see.

As if she didn’t say enough to make fans love her, McBride also shared a funny story about her co-star Reedus saying, “Here’s a funny little Norman story. There’s a bunch of bananas in a bowl at the craft services little tent and Norman signed all of the bananas. He was wrapped, he was leaving, he probably went over to get something to take away and thought, ‘I think I’ll sign all these bananas.’ And he just signed all the bananas and left them in the bowl.”

Do you ship Carol and Daryl on ‘The Walking Dead’?

Photo credit: AMC