Shaun White is sharing the sweet story behind his proposal to Nina Dobrev—and it’s as romantic as you’d hope.
The 36-year-old Olympic snowboarder popped the question to the 34-year-old actress in New York City last October, staging the proposal under an arch of white roses at Golden Swan, a chic restaurant in the city. The moment was capped off with a stunning 5-carat diamond ring, as Vogue reports.
When Shaun got down on one knee, Nina was overwhelmed. “I went into shock,” she shared with Vogue. “I just froze and stared at him.” The magical night didn’t end there, though. The couple celebrated with their closest friends, who joined them for a night of champagne, caviar, and a fun twist—late-night Shake Shack and dumplings delivered right to the restaurant.
Planning the proposal was no small feat for Shaun, who wanted to pull off a memorable surprise. To keep Nina from catching on, he had his publicist send her a fake invitation to what was supposedly an intimate CFDA/Vogue dinner hosted by none other than Anna Wintour. The invite was so convincing that it caught Nina totally off guard. “He made the invite look so legitimate,” she said. When she showed up at the venue, expecting a swanky dinner with the fashion elite, she instead found Shaun waiting, ready to create one of the most memorable moments of their lives. “He said all the right things,” Nina added, looking back on the moment with a smile.
The couple’s love story dates back to 2019, when they were formally introduced while both were giving presentations at a Tony Robbins event in Florida. But their paths had actually crossed years earlier in 2012 at an awards show—though it was only a brief encounter and neither thought much of it at the time. Their connection grew quickly once they officially met, and the two took a big step by moving in together early in the pandemic, going Instagram official with their relationship in May 2020.
