Joey King and Jacob Elordi: Relationship Timeline & Where They Are Now
They played high-school sweethearts in Netflix’s The Kissing Booth — and for two years, the romance was real. Joey King and Jacob Elordi‘s relationship gave fans the ultimate on-screen/off-screen love story, until it ended and the exes had to do the unthinkable: film two sequels together.
Here is the complete Joey King and Jacob Elordi relationship timeline, where they come from, and where both are now.
The Quick Answer
Joey King and Jacob Elordi dated from 2017 to late 2018/early 2019 after meeting on the set of The Kissing Booth. They split before filming the sequels but stayed professional, completing The Kissing Booth 2 (2020) and The Kissing Booth 3 (2021) together. Both have moved on: King married director Steven Piet in 2023, while Elordi went on to Euphoria, Saltburn, and an Oscar nomination for Frankenstein (2025).
Who Is Joey King?
Joey Lynn King (born July 30, 1999, in Los Angeles, California) has been acting since she was four years old — from Ramona and Beezus (2010) to an Emmy-nominated turn as Gypsy-Rose Blanchard in The Act (2019), plus Bullet Train (2022) and A Family Affair (2024).
King is of mixed heritage: her father is of English descent and her mother is of Ashkenazi Jewish and Italian descent. She has described herself as “mostly Jewish” though not deeply religious, and her 2023 wedding to Steven Piet blended Jewish and Catholic traditions from both families.
Who Is Jacob Elordi?
Jacob Nathaniel Elordi (born June 26, 1997, in Brisbane, Australia) shot to fame as Noah Flynn in The Kissing Booth trilogy, then reinvented himself as one of his generation’s most serious actors: Nate Jacobs in HBO’s Euphoria, Elvis in Priscilla (2023), Felix in Saltburn (2023), and the Creature in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein (2025), which earned him an Academy Award nomination.
Elordi is of Basque descent on his father’s side — his grandfather emigrated from Ondarroa in Spain’s Basque Country to Australia — with Danish, English, Irish, and Scottish roots on his mother’s side. He once personally corrected his Wikipedia entry from “Spanish descent” to “Basque descent,” joking his grandfather would “strangle” him otherwise.
The Love Story
It started, as these stories do, on set. King and Elordi met in 2017 filming The Kissing Booth in South Africa. “Well, I thought he was very cute when we first met, but it started as a friendship,” King told Bello magazine. “We were spending 17 hours a day together… before long I started to realize, ‘Hey, I think I kind of like this person!’”
They went Instagram-official in April 2017 with a photo at the Hollywood Sign and became red-carpet regulars through 2018 — young, laughing, and seemingly inseparable. Fans shipped “Elle and Noah” in real life as hard as on screen.
The split came quietly: the couple unfollowed each other in late 2018, and by early 2019 the social media silence confirmed it. Reports suggested Elordi’s packed schedule — he had just landed Euphoria — strained things. Neither has ever publicly detailed the breakup.
After the Split: The Sequels
Here is where the story gets remarkable. Contractually bound to two more films, the exes reunited on set for The Kissing Booth 2 and 3, playing lovers while navigating a real breakup. King later called it “wild” but “a really beautiful time,” telling Cosmopolitan: “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 is complete.”
On Howard Stern, King admitted the relationship changed her dating rules: “I could not date another actor” afterward. “I learned the most I’ve ever learned in my life from him… doing the same exact thing as somebody is tough. It’s really tough.” She found her person off-screen instead: director Steven Piet, whom she met on The Act, engaged in 2022, married in 2023.
Why Their Backgrounds Matter
A Jewish-American actress from Los Angeles and a Basque-Australian actor from Brisbane, falling in love on a film set in South Africa for an American teen franchise — the King–Elordi story is Hollywood globalization in miniature.
Their heritages also shaped their public identities in telling ways: King’s relaxed Jewish upbringing informing a blended-faith wedding, Elordi’s fierce Basque pride (correcting Wikipedia and all). Two young stars who knew exactly where they came from, even as their relationship became tabloid property.
Relationship Timeline
| When | Event |
|---|---|
| 1997 | Jacob Elordi born in Brisbane, Australia (Jun 26) |
| 1999 | Joey King born in Los Angeles (Jul 30) |
| 2017 | Meet filming The Kissing Booth; Instagram-official (April) |
| 2018 | The Kissing Booth releases; red-carpet couple era; split late in the year |
| 2019 | Unfollowings confirm breakup; Elordi lands Euphoria |
| 2020–21 | Film Kissing Booth 2 & 3 together as exes |
| 2022 | King engaged to Steven Piet |
| 2023 | King marries Piet; Elordi stars in Saltburn and Priscilla |
| 2025 | Elordi earns Oscar nomination for Frankenstein |
FAQs
Did Joey King and Jacob Elordi date in real life?
Yes. They met on The Kissing Booth set in 2017 and dated for nearly two years before splitting in late 2018/early 2019.
Why did Joey King and Jacob Elordi break up?
Neither has given a detailed public reason. Reports pointed to Elordi’s demanding schedule after landing Euphoria. King later said dating another actor was “really tough.”
Are Joey King and Jacob Elordi still friends?
They remain professional and cordial, having completed two sequels together after the split. Neither has suggested ongoing closeness.
Who is Joey King married to?
Director Steven Piet. They met on The Act, got engaged in 2022, and married in 2023.
What is Jacob Elordi’s ethnicity?
Elordi is of Basque descent on his father’s side (his grandfather emigrated from Spain’s Basque Country), with Danish, English, Irish, and Scottish roots on his mother’s side.
More on-screen romances: Tom Holland and Zendaya Wedding — what we know about the 2026 saga.
Final Word
Joey King and Jacob Elordi gave fans the dream — the movie couple who were a couple — and then the reality: young love, a quiet ending, and the professionalism to finish the story anyway. Both are better for it, and both have moved on to bigger things. Not every love story needs a sequel.
She holds advanced qualifications in Sociology, Anthropology, and Ethnic Studies, fields that focus on human cultures, traditions, migration patterns, and identity development across the world. Her expertise allows her to break down complex cultural topics into easy-to-understand articles that readers genuinely enjoy.
Over the years, Milana has researched hundreds of public figures, communities, and global ethnic groups, making her a trusted voice in the ethnicity niche. Her writing combines factual research, historical understanding, and modern cultural analysis to ensure every article is informative, reliable, and reader-friendly.
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