Dating speculations have been swirling around Joey King and her The Kissing Booth 2 co-star Taylor Zakhar Perez ever since the movie came out – and the two of them reuniting IRL is fueling the flames even more.
Last week, Taylor tried to dispel romance rumors by setting the record straight in an interview.
“I know, we went away this weekend for some friends’ birthdays, and her birthday, and everyone kinda freaked about it. I will say that we are not dating,” Taylor told Access.
“We just became really close during filming, but then we became even closer after filming because we live really close to each other,” he added. “I think we’re like a three or four minute drive from each other. We’re kind of each other’s accountability partners during quarantine. So we got to hang out, make sure that we weren’t seeing anybody outside of the circle of people that we trusted.”
However, shippers are still pushing hard for Team Elle-Marco to happen IRL.
In a recent interview, Taylor once again addressed speculations on his relationship status with Joey.
“We were quarantine buddies so I would see her all the time because we lived five minutes away from each other. We know what our relationship is, we love each other dearly,” he said on Barstool Sports’ Chicks In The Office podcast. “It’s been interesting how everyone has been trying to make something out of it but it’s fine. I mean, hey, I would love to be dating Joey King, she’s dope.”
So…Is there hope of the two of them crossing the line beyond friends? Well, it seems Taylor isn’t closing the door to the idea.
“I’m a huge fan of dating your friend, someone that you know and you trust because that’s where it all starts right. For me, non-sexual intimacy is so much more important to me at first. I’m all about the sensitive stuff,” he continued.
“I’m all about the ROI, what’s the return on investment. If I’m investing this much time into someone I’m gonna be dating, I’m gonna make sure this is more than a three-month thing,” he added. “I’m more into long-term goal wise when it comes to work and relationships and everything. Life’s short and you want to make sure you are spending it with the best people. I’m so much more turned on by emotional intimacy than sexual intimacy at first. I love that.”
In other The Kissing Booth news…
A Joey and another The Kissing Booth co-star, Jacob Elordi, who also happens to be her real-life ex-boyfriend, recently had fans confused about a statement Jacob made that Joey countered.
In an interview, Jacob claimed he hasn’t seen the movie. “I haven’t seen it. You’ve seen more than I have. I don’t know if I’m allowed to say that, but I haven’t,” he told Variety.
When that bit came out, it seemed Joey begged to differ, tweeting, “Jacob’s seen it. He’s capping.” However, the tweet was deleted soon after.
When Joey went on The Howard Stern show Tuesday (August 11), she explained why she took down the tweet.
“‘Capping’ means lying. I heard the term ‘capping’ on, like, TikTok and Twitter and Instagram, and through friends, and I was like ‘I guess this is the new thing.’ Apparently it’s not,” Joey said. “It’s something that I should not have used as a white person. I took it down… Two accounts on Twitter called me out for it. That’s why I deleted it. People thought it was because I was like ‘Oh no, I shouldn’t have said that about him.'”
She said she meant for the tweet to be “a jovial thing” and it “wasn’t to be mean” to her ex.
“I was just like, ‘I know the Kissing Booth fans. They are always so curious about that tension of sorts… I know they’ll appreciate it,'” Joey explained. “That’s who it was for. It was for the fans to just be like, ‘Oh my God!’ And they were.”
She said she “did get [Jacob’s] permission” on the tweet before posting, adding, “So that was fine.”
In another interview, Joey also opened about working with her ex. Jacob and Joey both star in the original movie and its sequel. They play onscreen love interests Noah and Elle – and also dated for a year and a half after filming the first Kissing Booth. The pair called it quits in 2018.
“No one’s thinking to themselves, ‘That was easy,’ because it wasn’t,” Joey told Cosmopolitan about working with Jacob on the movie. “I’m sure people will analyze every movement and every detail. And you know what? Let them. But at the end of the day, I was just thrilled to be Elle Evans again.”
“Elle Evans needs her Noah Flynn, and whatever that means for my personal life, I’ll do anything to make sure the story of my character who I care about so much is complete,” she added.
