Shaun White And Nina Dobrev's Relationship Timeline From Dating To Engaged

Shaun White and Nina Dobrev are officially engaged! "The Vampire Diaries" star and the three-time Olympic gold medalist snowboarder got together in 2019 and made for a very unlikely power couple. Now, they have announced that they'll be tying the knot. So, how did this celeb romance come to be? An unlikely meeting, one global pandemic, and lots of opportunities to support each other have made for a lasting love for which we're all rooting.

No two love stories are exactly the same, so of course, White and Dobrev have had a romance that's perfectly fitting for a beloved TV star and a record-breaking Olympian. While most of us knew that this couple had been together for a few years before White popped the question, it's easy to wonder — how did this romance begin and what brought them together? So, we've got the lowdown on White and Dobrev's romance and the relationship timeline that took them from strangers to fiancés.

Shaun White and Nina Dobrev make one serious power couple, but they come from very different worlds. So, how was it that their superstar paths crossed? The celebs were both giving presentations at an event led by motivational speaker Tony Robbins in 2019. Interestingly, long before that, the pair was actually photographed together back in 2012 at the Teen Choice Awards, where White posed with the cast of "The Vampire Diaries," but it would take another seven years for the two to make a love connection. 

When White formally met Dobrev in 2019, he wasn't starstruck. He told People, "I actually didn't know anything about her." He definitely wanted to get to know more about her, though, so the pair went out to dinner nearby after the event. "The place was packed, and she was like, 'Let me go see if I can get a table,'" White recalled about the couple's impromptu first date. 

According to him, when folks who worked at the restaurant approached them, White expected they'd be asking him for an autograph. Instead, a waiter asked, "Can we get a photo ... with her?" White explained, "I was like, 'What's happening? What's going on?' It was actually really funny." This seems like a very fitting start for a seriously high-profile romance. 

In March 2020, Shaun White and Nina Dobrev were photographed riding bikes side-by-side in Malibu, California amidst the COVID-19 lockdown. White was even holding Dobrev's dog while riding his bike, indicating a certain level of closeness and trust between the pair. Romance rumors began to swirl, and a source opened up to E! News about the relationship. "Nina and Shaun have been spending a lot of time together recently," the source said, adding, "Their relationship doesn't have an official title right now, but that's pretty normal for Nina." The source noted that "Nina is very private about her romantic life. She is very careful about posting photographs together because she wants to ease into things naturally and organically." 

Interestingly, by the time the paparazzi caught the pair out for a bike ride, White and Dobrev had already vacationed together. In February 2020, Dobrev reportedly invited White to join her in South Africa where she was filming "Redeeming Love." The pair both posted photos of the African safari they took, but they were clearly careful not to reveal that they were together. 

While Nina Dobrev may have been cautious about sharing her blossoming romance with Shaun White with the world at first, it didn't take her long, at all, to soft launch her athlete beau on Instagram. Since this pair was falling for each other amidst the COVID-19 lockdown, it's only fitting that the video making them social media official was a true sign of the times. Nina posted a video in April 2020, showing her followers how she was washing her groceries to keep germs at bay. The catch was that she wasn't actually using her own hands to sanitize her supermarket purchases.

Dobrev's arms in the video looked particularly muscular and freckle-covered. So, while Dobrev didn't call White out by name, it wasn't too difficult for folks in the comment section to figure out who was acting as an extra set of hands for the star and sending her into fits of giggles. In May, she upgraded from the soft launch to the hard launch and showed off her quarantine haircutting skills with two pics of White before and after she gave his locks a much-needed trim.

About two years into his relationship with Nina Dobrev, Shaun White went through something very few 30-somethings go through: retirement. White competed in his last-ever Olympic halfpipe in February 2022, and Dobrev gushed about her beau on Instagram. She celebrated all he had accomplished while also looking to the future. "The end of one chapter, means the beginning of an exciting new one with endless possibilities," Dobrev wrote alongside a series of photos. She added, "You will forever be the G.O.A.T. of snowboarding. Not to mention you are also the G.(B).O.A.T. = Greatest Boyfriend Of All Time."

Dobrev continued to be a major source of support for White throughout what was surely an emotional time. She threw him a retirement party, celebrated with him on a retirement trip to Costa Rica, and even helped him make a list of things to do post-retirement. On Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2022, White said, "My girlfriend said, 'If you're retiring, you gotta make this list of things you wanna do.'" 

In April 2023, he dished to People about how retirement freed up some time, and they asked, for ring shopping perhaps? When asked about popping the question, White said, "We're just enjoying our time together right now. No pressure," noting, "But I told her, I was like, 'Look, after the Olympics, I finally got my freedom to do whatever. And let's just have fun and be together and support each other.'" He added, "You never know. We'll see what happens."

After retiring, Shaun White joined Nina Dobrev on trips, red carpets, and movie premieres. Now, this pair is officially ready to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. On October 30, Dobrev took to Instagram to announce her engagement to White. She posted three photos of the proposal with the caption "RIP boyfriend, hello fiancé" with a ring emoji and infinity symbol. White shared three photos to his Instagram account, as well, with the caption "She said YES" and emojis to match his bride-to-be's post.

White was reportedly determined to surprise Dobrev with the proposal since she loves surprises — even though it's not easy to get anything past her. So, White made up a fake Vogue event and had a convincing invitation sent to Dobrev. Instead of the event promised on the invite, however, when Dobrev arrived, White got down on one knee with a five-carat Lorraine Schwartz ring. While White boasted that Dobrev said "Yes," according to her, that wasn't exactly what came out of her mouth when she realized he was popping the question. "I went into shock. I just froze and stared at him," she told Vogue, claiming that, in disbelief, she actually uttered "No, no, no!" The answer was, of course, "yes," though.