Shaun White recalls his hilarious first date with Nina Dobrev… and admits his girlfriend has been a ‘lifesaver’ through the pandemic
Shaun White revealed that his ego was put in check only minutes into his first date with Nina Dobrev in 2019.
The pair first met at an event for motivational speaker Tony Robbins in Florida where they were both on hand to give presentations, and decided to go to dinner after the event was over.
‘I actually didn’t know anything about her,’ Shaun said of the Vampire Diaries star, who agreed to head over to a nearby restaurant with him, only to find Shaun’s ego deflated when staff were more eager to meet her than him, a heavily decorated snowboarding Olympian.
True love: Shaun White revealed that his ego was put in check only minutes into his first date with Nina Dobrev in 2019
‘The place was packed,’ he recalled to PEOPLE magazine. ‘And she was like, “Let me go see if I can get a table.”‘
Shaun was used to being overwhelmed with requests for autographs and pictures as a world-famous athlete, and assumed Dobrev told the hostess, ‘There’s an old gold medalist over there who wants a table.’
Nina walked over to Shaun with a group from the host stand and several members of the staff, and White got ready for what he thought would be another photo opportunity with fans.
Jokes: Shaun was used to being overwhelmed with requests for autographs and pictures as a world-famous athlete, and assumed Dobrev told the hostess, ‘There’s an old gold medalist over there who wants a table’
‘”Can we get a photo … with her?”‘ White remembered one of the servers asking. ‘And I was like, “What’s happening? What’s going on?” It was actually really funny.’
From there, their relationship blossomed into a full blown romance.
‘We were flying all over,’ White said. ‘She’s an actress so she’s shooting movies, doing press and all these things, and I’m getting ready for competition, doing interviews and appearances.’
‘We were flying all over,’ White said. ‘She’s an actress so she’s shooting movies, doing press and all these things, and I’m getting ready for competition, doing interviews and appearances’
‘Nina’s just been so supportive and so amazing through this whole process for me. Through the pandemic, she was a lifesaver — she really made that time in my life special,’ he said
When the pandemic hit and an official lockdown went into effect in Los Angeles in March 2020, Shaun and Nina moved in together and started making their house a home.
‘We went to the hardware store bought a bunch of paint, and brushes and definitely got in over our heads, but it was really fun,’ he said.
He knew she was special when their dogs — Steve, a French bulldog, and Maverick, her border collie Australian shepherd mix — became pals.
‘Steve has a bit of an attitude, but they get along amazingly. So it was really meant to be.’
Shaun added: ‘Nina’s just been so supportive and so amazing through this whole process for me. Through the pandemic, she was a lifesaver — she really made that time in my life special.’