Shaun White and Nina Dobrev.
Shaun White’s elaborate ruse to lure his fiancée, Nina Dobrev, to his dream proposal involved Anna Wintour — but the Vogue editor-in-chief wasn’t actually there.
White, 38, revealed to Vogue in an interview published on Wednesday, October 30, that after his first two proposal plans didn’t pan out, he settled on popping the question in New York City at the end of October.
Dobrev, however, threw a wrench in the situation a few days before the proposal when she told the Olympic gold medalist that she wasn’t feeling well. White took drastic measures to make sure Dobrev, 35, would leave their house, enlisting his publicist for help.
White told the outlet that he sent a fake invitation to Dobrev for an intimate CFDA Awards and Vogue dinner with Wintour, 74, at the Golden Swan, which she accepted. “He made the invite look so legitimate,” Dobrev told the magazine.
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The Vampire Diaries alum didn’t catch on to White’s plan. Instead, Dobrev recalled running late to the alleged dinner, which made her “panic that Anna’s waiting for me.”
When Dobrev arrived at the venue, it was quiet, which made her even more nervous that she missed the cocktail hour. Once she opened the door and saw White and a photographer standing in front of an arch of white roses everything started to make sense.
“I went into shock. I just froze and stared at him,” Dobrev recalled, revealing she just started to say, “No, no, no!”
White wasn’t deterred by Dobrev’s disbelief, telling the outlet that he “knew she was nervous because when she’s nervous she’ll make jokes.”
“She’s like, ‘So, wait, Anna’s not here?’” Shaun laughed. When the retired snowboarder got down on one knee, Dobrev said she blacked out. “He said all the right things,” she said.
The couple, who went public with their romance in early 2020, celebrated their engagement with friends, toasting with champagne and caviar until 1 a.m.
“Eventually we realized — other than the caviar — we hadn’t eaten anything. So we ordered Shake Shack and dumplings to the Golden Swan,” Dobrev revealed.
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The pair announced their engagement via social media on Wednesday, sharing photos of the romantic moment. White covered the room in white rose petals that matched the floral arch where he popped the question. Candles lit the path to the arch.
“RIP boyfriend, hello fiancé ,” Dobrev captioned a series of photos from the evening via Instagram. White simply wrote, “She said YES .”
The athlete also shared behind-the-scenes snaps of the occasion via his Instagram Story calling it the “best night of my life.”
“I know this was y’all’s dream come true but let’s be honest, you made all of our dreams come true love you,” Dobrev’s longtime bestie Julianne Hough wrote in the comments section.
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Zoey Deutch replied, “MOM AND DAD ARE GETTING MARRIED,” while TVD creator Julie Plec wrote, “Holy s—, yay!!! .”
Us Weekly previously reported that White and Dobrev were ready to take their relationship to the next level. “They’ve talked about getting married, having kids, the whole nine yards,” a source exclusively revealed in February 2023.
White, meanwhile, exclusively told Us in January 2022 that his relationship with Dobrev works for a variety of reasons.
“We have common interests,” he explained. “The way in which we met really kind of strengthened our relationship. And the problems that we do face, they kind of fall away through communication. It’s just been great.”
White also revealed at the time that he would “love to be a dad” when the time comes. “It’s just something that seems so exciting, you know?” he explained. “I love being around people, and I love the idea of having someone other than my own pursuits to look after.”