Netflix listed eight returning series regulars for Outer Banks Season 5 before separately announcing two cast upgrades.
The eight named returning regulars are Chase Stokes, Madelyn Cline, Madison Bailey, Jonathan Daviss, Drew Starkey, Carlacia Grant, Austin North, and Fiona Palomo. They represent the principal ensemble continuing into the final season, including the core Pogues and important Kildare characters.
Netflix then separately stated that Tony Crane and Cullen Moss would also return and had been upgraded to series-regular status. That wording matters: the eight-person count refers to the first group listed as returning series regulars, while Crane and Moss are additions to the regular billing through promotion.
A common counting mistake is to answer ten because all ten performers are described in the same announcement. Ten is the combined total after including the two promoted actors, but the question asks how many were in the initially identified returning group. The distinction is useful when reading cast announcements, where “returning regulars” and “upped to series regulars” are presented as separate categories.