Shaun White and Nina Dobrev split: engagement called off after five years together

Five years, a 5-carat ring, and an unexpected split

Five years in, a sparkling 5-carat ring, and plans suddenly on pause: sources close to the couple confirm that Shaun White and Nina Dobrev split and have called off their engagement. Both 39, the Olympic snowboarder and the Vampire Diaries alum ended things in what one source described as a mutual, respectful decision. There’s no public statement from either yet, but the tone around them is measured, not messy.

The engagement itself was a story. After two failed proposal attempts, White pulled off a surprise in October 2024 at a New York restaurant. Dobrev thought she was heading to a business dinner with Vogue’s Anna Wintour. Instead, White proposed with a 5-carat diamond ring. He shared photos later and called it “the best night of my life.” The moment felt like a capstone for a couple that had started quietly and then leaned into showing their life together.

They first met in 2019 at a Tony Robbins workshop, an unlikely setup that stuck. White has said he didn’t realize who Dobrev was until people kept asking for photos with her. The two went Instagram official in 2020 and moved in together during the early months of the pandemic, when plenty of couples either stamped their bond in place—or realized the opposite.

As recently as August 31, 2025, they looked solid in public. They were seen holding hands in Los Angeles and browsing the Studio City Farmers Market with their dog, Maverick, White carrying a bouquet. No red flags then. But a few weeks later, fans noticed a change.

At the Toronto International Film Festival, Dobrev stepped onto the red carpet for the premiere of “Eternity” without her engagement ring. She also unpinned the engagement announcement from her Instagram. In celebrity world, those are loud, silent signals. The whispers began—and then confirmation followed: it was over.

Back in March, Dobrev signaled there was no rush to the altar. In an interview with E! News, she said she was happy in the engagement phase: that fiancé window is short, she noted, and she wanted to enjoy it. It sounded like a couple taking their time, not stalling.

A source told People the breakup was mutual and made “with love and a deep respect for one another.” That tracks with how they operated in public—tight circle, careful with details, a lot of life shared without airing everything.

The split leaves practical questions, too. They bought a home in Los Angeles about two years ago, and it’s not yet clear how they’ll handle that. Neither has addressed it, and given their approach so far, don’t expect a play-by-play.

How they got here, what changes now

White and Dobrev made sense together because they moved at the same speed. He’s one of the most decorated snowboarders ever, a five-time Olympian whose last Games came in 2022. Since then, he’s shifted more into business and events tied to boardsports. She built a career beyond Mystic Falls—films and streaming roles, red carpets and indie projects—most recently appearing at TIFF with “Eternity.”

As a couple, they leaned into adventure. Surf trips, mountain time, photo dumps from far-flung places. During White’s final Olympic run, Dobrev was a steady presence from the sidelines, hyping his last chapter and celebrating the retirement moment that followed. Their shared dog, Maverick, became part of the story—cameos in posts, goofy clips, the domestic glue you see when two lives fold into one.

Publicly, that rhythm continued this summer. The late-August sighting of them together in L.A. didn’t read like two people on the brink. Which is why the TIFF ring moment landed harder—one of those small visual edits that signals a bigger change behind the scenes.

There’s also the reality that long engagements can stretch without any drama at all. Dobrev’s March comments made that clear; she liked the in-between. But the engagement lull turned out to be a pivot point. What looked like patience may have been a process of deciding they wanted different things—or simply that the timing wasn’t right anymore.

For fans, the breakup stings because the pair felt easy together. No chaotic headlines, no public spats. Just two high-wattage careers, a shared taste for adrenaline, and a relationship that looked stable from the outside.

Here’s the timeline that maps the arc:

• 2019: Meet at a Tony Robbins workshop and start seeing each other.
• 2020: Go Instagram official and move in together during the pandemic.
• 2022: White’s final Olympics; he retires from competition and shifts focus to business and events.
• October 2024: Surprise engagement in New York with a 5-carat ring after two prior proposal attempts.
• August 31, 2025: Seen together in Los Angeles and at the Studio City Farmers Market with Maverick.
• Early September 2025: Dobrev appears at TIFF for “Eternity” without her ring; engagement post no longer pinned.
• Now: Split confirmed by sources close to the couple; described as mutual and respectful.

What’s next? Expect both to keep their heads down and move forward with work. Dobrev has festival buzz to ride and projects in motion. White keeps building beyond competition, the way many elite athletes do when they flip the page to business and mentorship. As for their home and the personal logistics, they’ve said nothing publicly—and that silence fits how they’ve handled everything else.

No drama, no finger-pointing, just an ending. For a high-profile couple, that might be the clearest sign of who they were together.