Inside Hallmark Star Hunter King's Relationship History

Since debuting on the network in 2022, Hunter King has explained how starring in Hallmark movies has been a refreshing change after her soap opera stint. The California native played Summer Newman on "The Young and the Restless," with King leaving the series in 2021, but has since made her mark in feel-good flicks like "Hidden Gems," "The Professional Bridesmaid," and "The Santa Summit." 

While King excels in these rom-com roles, her real-life romances are a little different, with the Emmy-winner revealing to Soap Opera Digest in 2016 that she prefers to keep her relationships low-key. "I've learned," she said, about sharing too much too soon. In this way, King has mostly kept the details of her dating life private, though she has shared snapshots with her significant others on Instagram over the years. 

Additionally, while some Hallmark movie couples have been played by real-life lovers, this probably won't be the case for King. "I don't really want to date an actor," she said. "There can be competition involved, and I don't ever want to have to experience that. Then, if one person's filming and the other person's filming ... I want to steer clear of actors. I think we're a little too much to handle." With this sentiment in mind, it's not surprising that King's known dating history has been filled with non-actors.

Hallmark star Hunter King's earliest known relationship was with Austin Hawk, who she frequently featured on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, in the early days of her career. Despite this celebrity relationship, Hawk has spent his life outside the spotlight, choosing to keep his personal life private. We do know that the California native played on Occidental College's basketball team during the 2014-2015 season, going on to work as a commercial strategist after finishing his education.

Other than that, Hawk first appeared on King's social media in July 2012. "Dave and Buster's with the fam and my boyfriend Austin!" the actor captioned the X selfie. Photographers also caught Hawk with the actor at several high-profile events, including NYLON Magazine's Young Hollywood Issue Party in May 2013 and the 40th Annual Daytime Emmy Nominees Cocktail Reception in June 2013. The two seemingly dated throughout 2014, with King sharing a photo from Fox's Sunday Funday event featuring Michael Strahan. It's unclear when Hawk and King broke things off, but he last appeared on the Hallmark star's page in March 2015. "Bachelor night" she captioned the group photo.

After her relationship with Austin Hawk, Hunter King began dating crew member and camera operator Nico Svoboda. Though it's unclear when exactly the two went official, we do know that they met on set. "He used to work on 'The Young and the Restless' as a boom operator," said King, who hasn't ruled out a soap opera return, to Soap Central in August 2015. "So, he knows all the ins and outs of the show." From there, Svoboda went on to work as a camera operator for "The Bold and the Beautiful," being credited on 280 episodes.

The couple announced that they were engaged in August 2018, with King sharing a now-deleted post to Instagram to celebrate the milestone. "Thank you for making yesterday the best day of my entire life!" she captioned the collection of engagement photos. "I can't wait to marry you and spend our future going on endless adventures together" (per People). The two were reportedly in the midst of wedding planning when King spoke to Soaps in Depth in early 2020, with the Hallmark star revealing that a destination wedding was in consideration.

Despite this, break-up speculation was sparked later that year when King was spotted in photos without her ring. Later, the split was confirmed. "They called off their engagement a few months ago," a source shared with Us Weekly in August. "It was an amicable split. They obviously still follow each other on social media and care about one another."

Hunter King debuted her relationship with Andy McNeil on Instagram in July 2022, with both individuals sharing now-deleted pictures from a trip to Disneyland. "Can someone please come get the stupid smile off my face?" McNeil captioned his post. "Thanks @hunterking it's gunna be stuck like this now #disneyland" (per TrndStreet). McNeil works as an executive producer at Filmless, a company specializing in digital video production, though it's not known how exactly he connected with King.

The timeline of the relationship is similarly unclear, but the two were seemingly together in April 2023 when King clapped back against rumors of cosmetic procedures. The Hallmark star posted a selfie in which her lips looked particularly swollen, with commenters speculating that she had received lip fillers. In the comments, McNeil came to the defense of his partner, supporting her assertion that her mouth was naturally puffy in the morning.

"LOL, relax, internet trolls. I wake up next to her every morning, and this is a common thing!" he wrote. "And spoiler alert to all the medical experts leaving comments about fillers — the swelling goes down an hour or so after waking up, calm down" (per Just Jared). We don't know for sure when King and McNeil went their separate ways, but the "Life in Pieces" actor was seemingly in another relationship by the end of 2023.

Hallmark star Hunter King likely began dating her partner Chris Copier sometime in 2023, as he's featured in an end-of-year post that King shared in January 2024. Copier is a Utah native, playing football at Utah State University in 2015 and later graduating from the University of Utah. He has a notable history in show business, being credited in positions like electrician and dimmer board operator on shows like "Andi Mack" and "Studio C." He's also listed as a director and producer in the upcoming series "Hindsight."

The stunningly transformed King has shared glimpses into her relationship with Copier through her Instagram posts, shouting out the aspiring director on his birthday. "Happy birthday to the guy who does it all," she wrote. "The guy who makes matzo ball soup from scratch for me when I'm sick. Who hates tofu but learned how to perfect it anyway because he knows I love it. Who re-watches all the shows I haven't seen and pauses them every 20 seconds to answer all my questions. Thank you for loving me the way you do." Though King has stuck to her word in keeping the details of her relationships private, it's clear that she's pretty smitten with partner Chris Copier.