Shaun White and Nina Dobrev Call It Quits: What Really Ended Their Engagement
Sources say Olympic gold met Hollywood heartbreak—here’s what insiders reveal about Shaun White and Nina Dobrev’s surprise split.
Well, that escalated quickly. After five years together, Shaun White and Nina Dobrev have reportedly ended their engagement and split. Not exactly the third act anyone was expecting.
What changed
People says a source close to the couple confirmed the breakup and framed it as amicable. The phrasing was very PR, but also pretty clear:
The decision was mutual and made with love and deep respect.
The timing is what set off alarms. The two were seen together in Los Angeles on August 31. Then, on September 7, Dobrev walked the Eternity premiere red carpet in Toronto solo — and without her engagement ring. Fans noticed she also unpinned her October 2024 engagement post on Instagram. Put that together and, yeah, the writing was on the wall.
How they got here
White and Dobrev first crossed paths way back at a 2012 awards show, but they did not actually click until 2019, when both were invited to speak at a Tony Robbins event in Florida. One post-event dinner later, a friendship turned into something more.
They went public in May 2020 and moved in together right as the pandemic kicked off. White later said that stretch ended up being a turning point for him, crediting Dobrev with making a messy period feel surprisingly meaningful.
From there, they were a consistent presence on carpets and at festivals like Coachella, and they hit plenty of stamps on the passport together. Dobrev was in Beijing for White’s final Winter Olympics in 2022, where he competed for the last time after a wildly decorated run. He talked often about how steady she was during all of that — essentially calling her a lifesaver during the toughest parts.
The proposal that looked like a Vogue night out
White proposed in October 2024 with a bit of showmanship: he staged it at The Golden Swan in New York City after convincing Dobrev they were headed to a CFDA/Vogue event. It was elaborate, it was sweet, and it seemed like a locked-in endgame. Until it wasn’t.
- 2012: First meet at an awards show
- 2019: Reconnect as speakers at a Tony Robbins event in Florida; dinner leads to romance
- May 2020: Go public and start living together during the pandemic
- 2022: Dobrev supports White at his final Olympics in Beijing
- October 2024: Engagement at NYC’s The Golden Swan with a CFDA/Vogue decoy
- August 31, 2025: Spotted together in Los Angeles
- September 7, 2025: Dobrev attends the Eternity premiere in Toronto without a ring; engagement post gets unpinned
- Now: People reports they have split, mutually and respectfully
Celebrity breakups can be messy or theatrical; this one sounds like two people calling time without drama. Still surprising, given the big proposal and the years of very public support, but sometimes even the glossy, well-produced love stories do not make it to opening night.