When news hit the web on Thursday that Nina Dobrev and Shaun White had called off their engagement and gone their separate ways, fans all across the globe were left wondering what went wrong.
Just days ago, the couple was spotted looking as happy as could be as they held hands while running errands in Los Angeles.
The shocking split that marks the end of a five-year relationship certainly seemed to come out of nowhere. But according to a source, the two stars had been moving in different directions for quite some time.
The insider claimed that the root of the problem was that Dobrev, 36, and White, 39, had different priorities: Dobrev was still fiercely focused on her acting career and ex-snowboarder White was hoping to start a family.
‘Shaun is retired and has had his last Olympics, he was very ready for marriage and kids and all that comes from that,’ they explained exclusively to the Daily Mail.
‘Nina was on board but also very interested in seeing where her acting career was going to go, as that was and is very important to her.
News hit the web on Thursday that Nina Dobrev and Shaun White had called off their engagement and gone their separate ways after five long years together
The shocking split seemed to come out of nowhere, but according to a source, the two stars had been moving in different directions for quite some time
‘Shaun has done some acting but has focused on being an entrepreneur after his snowboarding career finished up, and he was gearing up to be a father and wanting that life.
‘As much as they had the same ideals and wanted to enjoy the same ride, they naturally couldn’t come together on a common goal and that was the strain on their relationship.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Dobrev and White’s representatives for comment, but has not heard back.
The pair first began dating in 2020, and White proposed to Dobrev in October 2024.
The source said that since they got together during the Covid pandemic when most of the world was shut down, it was a hard adjustment for them when the world opened back up.
They noted that almost everything about the couple’s lives changed, which ‘took a toll’ on them.
‘They fell in love [during the pandemic] and thrived but once they got out, like many relationships both in the celebrity world and in the real world, something changed.
‘The way people managed their lives, what they thought was important and everything in between became different. And all that takes a toll.’
The insider claimed that the root of the problem was that Dobrev, 36, and White, 39, had different priorities
Just days ago on August 31, the couple was spotted looking as happy as could be as they held hands while running errands in Los Angeles
As of late, the source said, the pair started to realize they weren’t growing together anymore and had become ‘stuck in their own ways.’
‘They just kept living day in and day out and not growing as a couple.
‘Yes, there was love there, they had an incredible time with each other, but since they weren’t nurturing what they had and growing it into something more, the most logical thing to do was to break up before they ended up hating each other or entering into a loveless marriage.’
The insider said their situation ‘wasn’t getting better’ and that ‘they are both to blame.’
‘They were smart enough to get out now while they still are young and while they still can move on from each other without any baggage.’
The couple were last seen out in public on August 31, as they cozied up during an outing in LA.
On September 7, Dobrev attended the premiere of Eternity during the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival without her five-carat diamond engagement ring.
She has also unpinned her engagement post on Instagram, which featured photos from White’s romantic, candlelit proposal at The Golden Swan restaurant in New York City.
White and Dobrev often shared glimpses of their relationship with fans, from traveling the world together to supporting each other’s careers.
As of late, the source said the pair started to realize that they weren’t growing together anymore and had become ‘stuck in their own ways’
‘They just kept living day in and day out and not growing as a couple,’ the insider stated
In January 2024, Dobrev revealed they like to ‘do date night every week,’ taking turns with who organizes the activities.
‘One week I’ll plan it and he won’t have any idea what we’re doing so it’s a surprise for him. And then the following week, he’ll plan and it’ll be a complete surprise for me. And we do that every single week,’ she told People.
Dobrev explained that it was those special experiences that ‘keeps things sort of exciting and interesting and dedicates time for the two of us to spend together.
‘It’s interesting because during the Olympics and leading up to the Olympics, he was traveling all over the world, trying to get to the mountains and training.
‘So for a lot of our relationship, it was me traveling to where he had to be, except for during Covid when I was in between jobs.’
In an interview about the marriage proposal, Dobrev told Vogue that she wasn’t feeling well in the days leading up and wanted to stay in that night.
Undeterred, White arranged for his publicist to send Dobrev a fake invitation to an intimate dinner with then-Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Anna Wintour to get her to the restaurant.
‘He made the invite look so legitimate,’ she said.
Dobrev even had a styling session ahead of the event, which she thought the magazine was covering.
Once she entered the restaurant, she realized it had been a trick as White and a photographer were the only people inside.
‘I went into shock. I just froze and stared at him,’ she said, adding that her surprise quickly turned into a state of joyful disbelief.
