Featured Image Credit: Getty Images
Topics: Celebs, Entertainment, Relationships
Marissa Dow
If you haven’t watched every single season of The Vampire Diaries until the bitter end I have two questions for you. A) how does it feel to have good time management skills and B) do you even know who Nina Dobrev is? Okay, fine, I’ll tell you. In addition to starring in the CW’s sillier, sluttier version of True Blood, Dobrev is an unproblematic Canadian queen who was originally born in Bulgaria and got her first big break as Mia in Degrassi: The Next Generation. You probably saw her adorbs Christmas romcom, Love Hard, in 2021 (which I will immediately be watching the second after I finish Thanksgiving dinner). While you can pretty much consider me a walking Nina Dobrev Wikipedia page, I did not know much about her boyfriend — excuse me, FIANCE — Shaun White. I mean, I obvi knew the man has very red hair (as someone who pays a lot of my money to make my hair red, this is not an insult) and that he may have a bad boy reputation in the snowboarding community. But given that my favorite Vampiress is now engaged (!!!) to the Olympic snowboarder, a deep dive is overdue. Here’s a timeline of Nina Dobrev and Shaun White’s relationship (that thankfully doesn’t include any bloodsucking).
Nina and Shaun were introduced at an event for motivational speaker Tony Robbins (who some might consider a wee bit questionable) in 2019. Um, okay, not exactly the most romantic meet cute but apparently Shaun was interested in Nina as soon as they started chatting despite having no idea who his girlfriend was. He even tried to give her social media tips which they apparently had a good giggle about after a fan asked Nina (not Shaun) for a picture at lunch. That’s kinda cute, I guess!
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In February of 2020, Nina was filming a movie in South Africa. She invited Shaun to come visit her there, the two went on a safari together, and as Shaun told Us Weekly, the rest was history. This moment was also when fans caught onto their romance since they could tell Nina and Shaun were posting from the same remote location.
During the 2020 pandemic, Nina and Shaun quarantined together. Shaun would later say Nina was a “lifesaver” who made the hard time “special.” Fans picked up on their budding relationship before the pair shared the lovey-dovey news when Nina teased a hairy red-headed arm in some of her Covid content on Instagram that spring. On May 28, 2020, Nina officially hard launched her man with a pic of her cutting Shaun’s long hair captioned “Adding to resume: hairdresser.” We love a triple threat!!
Once they were o-ffish, Instagram couldn’t get enough of the couple’s constant outings from days at the slopes to holiday vacays, and even a double date with Nina’s TVD co-star Paul Wesley (who played the less evil Salvatore brother). In January 2021, one year after their African safari, Shaun posted a lengthy carousel of all the pair’s best moments for Nina’s 32nd birthday. They also celebrated with a private dinner that Shaun hosted at a restaurant he paid to open just for them, as it was still closed during the pandemic. If he wanted to, he would working overtime here.
Shaun White retired in 2022, after he took a hard fall in the Beijing Olympics, his fifth appearance at the Winter Games. Never one to miss a moment to publicly love on her partner in crime, Nina honored Shaun’s status as the greatest snowboarder of all time with a lengthy Instagram post. His girlfriend also threw Shaun a retirement party in March where partygoers donned red wigs to match Shaun’s signature hair.
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Nina and Shaun supported Top Gun: Maverick on the red carpet, their first time being photographed together by papz on the main stage.
Nina shared scary shots of herself in the hospital after a dirt bike accident, which the star then promised was her last ride. Naturally, her boo thing was there to tend to her injuries, only making the couple stronger.
After teasing that an engagement might be in their future back in April of 2023, Shaun White officially proposed to Nina in October 2024. He pulled off the major surprise by faking an invite to an intimate dinner with Anna Wintour, which Nina pulled out the Chanel for. She wasn’t too disappointed, though, when she saw White standing under a flower arch with a diamond ring, surrounded by friends.
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The engagement came as no surprise to fans who had seen the duo all over the world together from the Vanity Fair Oscars after-party to Disneyland to Cannes for the past five years. Dobrev had also spoken about how their weekly date nights kept their relationship fresh.