Olympic snowboarding star Shaun White is a three-time Olympic gold medalist who broke multiple world records and scored 10 ESPY Awards—but these remarkable achievements are parallel to his exciting love life.
The 35-year-old athlete has been dating actress Nina Dobrev for a solid two years, but we want to know: How did their relationship begin? And are they currently living together? Keep reading for details about their romance.
White is currently dating Canadian actress Nina Dobrev, who you might recognize as Elena Gilbert from The Vampire Diaries or, most recently, Natalie Bauer from Netflix's Love Hard. Dobrev has also appeared in Degrassi: The Next Generation, The Perks of Being a Wallflower and XXX: Return of Xander Cage.
Funny story: The two first crossed paths in 2012, when White presented Dobrev and her Vampire Diaries castmates the Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Show Sci-Fi/Fantasy, but they never spoke to each other. Seven years later, however, fate brought them back together when they both attended a Tony Robbins event in Florida. And this time, they finally connected and agreed to have dinner.
While speaking with Us Weekly in January, he said, “We have common interests. The way in which we met really kind of strengthened our relationship. And the problems that we do face, they kind of fall away through communication. It’s just been great.”
A few curious fans started to put two and two together as early as February 2020, when Dobrev and White posted similar photos on social media from the same location in South Africa. And not surprisingly, they were right. The Olympian later revealed that Dobrev had invited White to visit her on location while she was filming her movie, Redeeming Love.
White told Us Weekly, “That was actually how we kind of started our relationship. I was like, ‘All right. Yeah. OK.’ And she [thought], ‘Oh, this guy, he came to play. He’s serious.’ So that’s a thing that we share together. We both enjoy traveling.”
They sure are. Nina confirmed their romance in May 2020 by sharing a funny photo of herself holding a pair of scissors just moments before she cut White’s hair, then added footage of the final result. In the caption, she wrote, “Adding to resume: hairdresser.”
White also uploaded a video of Dobrev working on his hair transformation on IG, and he wrote, “My hairstylist said he wouldn’t, so she did. #QuarantineCuts.”
Since then, they’ve been all over each other’s feeds documenting milestone occasions like anniversaries and birthdays. In fact, to celebrate Shaun's 35th birthday, Dobrev shared a fun IG tribute that read, "The person in this photo is the funniest, most charming, sexiest, and hardest working person I know. The other person is my boyfriend. Happy birthday baby, thank you for always being older than me. @shaunwhite."
Although they just started dating a few months prior, White and Dobrev decided to move in together during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. And while they were on lockdown, they embarked on a mission to finish painting projects and home repairs. White told People, "We went to the hardware store, bought a bunch of paint and brushes and definitely got in over our heads, but it was really fun."
Even their pups seem to love this new living arrangement. According to White, his French bulldog (Steve), and Dobrev’s border collie Australian shepherd mix (Maverick) became instant pals. He said, "Steve has a bit of an attitude, but they get along amazingly. So, it was really meant to be."
Perhaps this means there are wedding bells in their future? Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
