NEED TO KNOW
Nina Dobrev and Shaun White have broken up after five years together, just shy of the anniversary of their engagement, a source confirmed to PEOPLE
The couple, who began dating in 2019, were last seen together in L.A. on Aug. 31 as they held hands at a farmers’ market
A source told PEOPLE the split was a “mutual decision, and wasn’t an easy one”
Shaun White and Nina Dobrev were out and about together in the days leading up to their split.
On Thursday, Sept. 11, PEOPLE confirmed that the couple had broken up and ended their engagement after five years together.
“It was a mutual decision, and wasn’t an easy one, but it was made with love and a deep respect for one another,” a source close to the couple said.
The last time the pair were photographed together was on Aug. 31 in Los Angeles. They were seen holding hands as they walked through a farmer’s market, and White picked up a bouquet of flowers.
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Shaun White and Nina Dobrev are seen on August 31, 2025 in Los Angeles
Just days later, White celebrated his 39th birthday on Sept. 3, but Dobrev, 36, did not mark the occasion with a social media post, which possibly hints at the timeline of their split.
The lack of a post was a stark contrast to last year, when she shared 11 photos of the Olympic gold medalist and gushed that she loved him “too much” in a sweet tribute.
Dobrev also posed at the Toronto Film Festival without her engagement ring on Sept. 7.
In June, White told PEOPLE it was “amazing” to start planning a life with Dobrev following their engagement, as he said their future had “really become the focal point” for him.
“It’s very exciting to have new aspirations and new things that we’re going after,” he said. “It’s very humbling and very exciting.”
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Shaun White and Nina Dobrev are seen on August 24, 2025 in Los Angeles
The split comes just shy of the anniversary of White’s proposal. He popped the question in New York City in October last year at the Golden Swan, five years after they started dating.
The actress told Vogue that she “went into shock” when she walked into the restaurant to find White under an arch of white roses with a 5-carat diamond ring. “He said all the right things,” she said of the intimate proposal.
Reflecting on the engagement, White told PEOPLE, “Everyone was thrilled.”
“It was such an easy sort of like, ‘Oh yeah, well that makes sense,'” he shared. “Everybody was definitely encouraging and super supportive.”
Dobrev had been open about how keen she was to enjoy the engagement and not rush a wedding.
“You spend so much of your life having a boyfriend and then hopefully the second half of your life having a husband, the fiancé period is so short,” she told PEOPLE in March. “You should really enjoy it. I don’t want to rush it.”
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She was feeling the pressure, though, and said she was constantly asked “when the wedding is” — even by family.
“When we told Shaun’s mom [about the proposal], the first thing she asked [was], ‘When’s the wedding?’” she remembered. “We were like, ‘Literally, it just happened. We have no idea.'”
Read the original article on People