Running into your exes isn't easy, nevermind co-starring in a hit Netflix rom-com with them more than a year after you split. But that was the case for The Kissing Booth co-stars Joey King, 20 and Jacob Elordi, 23—who had to reunite in the year following their 2018 breakup for the blockbuster movie's sequel. Ahead, everything we know about this celebrity couple's journey from co-stars to couple to collaborating exes.
January/February 2017
King and Elordi first met back in January 2017 while filming the surprise Netflix hit The Kissing Booth. She played Elle Evans, a high school junior who falls for reformed bad boy Noah Flynn after sparks fly at—you guessed it—a kissing booth. King later spoke about her first impression of her co-star with Bello magazine."Was it love at first sight? Well, I thought he was very cute when we first met, but it started as a friendship. Right away we were talking about gross things with each other," she explained. "But before long I started to realize, ‘Hey, I think I kind of like this person!’ It was such an interesting experience meeting your boyfriend on set because you spend so much time together and become so close so fast. We were spending 17 hours a day together, and all of us would hang out after work and watch movies together and stuff. It was great."
There's never been an official confirmation of when King and Elordi's relationship turned romantic. But King later told Seventeen that she began to view him as more than a pal about a month into filming in early 2017. “When we first met, me, him, and Joel (co-star Courtney, who plays Elle's best friend/Noah's younger brother Lee) went out to dinner and we had the best, most fun night ever,” she recalled. “By the end of dinner, we had like six inside jokes. We were so close and throughout filming, I was just best friends with Jacob. I guess there was no moment, but I feel like the friendship kind of naturally was like, ‘Oh hey, this person is super frickin’ awesome. We have so much in common and we really love spending time together. Maybe there’s something more there.'”
She added, “It was never like this moment of “Omg, I can’t let him see me like this.” You know what I mean? We were open books with each other. There was nothing we wouldn’t talk about. He’s just so great. After the first month, I was like, ‘Hmm, I think I like him.'”
Elordi and King as Noah and Elle in 2018’s The Kissing Booth.
August 2017
According to PopSugar, both King and Elordi went IG official with each other at various points in 2017—he in April and she in June. But alas, when the couple split they each wiped evidence of these moments from their feed. (Almost every trace of their relationship is no longer on their profiles.) What can't be erased is the pair's first official red carpet outing as a couple. They attended the Hollywood premiere for the documentary In The Cosmos: Where We Come From, Where We Are, And Where We Are Going on August 26.
That same month, King was asked about Elordi at the 2018 Teen Choice Awards. Us Weekly asked if dating another actor was a benefit to her relationship. “You know what, actually it does help,” she told the outlet. “It helps to have somebody by your side, cheering you on, who knows what you’re going through and who’s been through it themselves.”
May 2018
In the lead-up to The Kissing Booth's release on Netflix, King posted several photos with Elordi. Although, most of them also included their co-star Joel Courtney as to not be too couple-y.
The pair did manage to show some PDA at a special screening of the film in Los Angeles.
They also got flirtatious in a few promotional videos for the movie:
August 2018
A few months after the film's highly-successful premiere, King and Elordi made a few more public outings together. They attended Variety's Power of Young Hollywood event together, looking in love at the step-and-repeat. People also reported that Elordi supported King at the premiere of her horror movie Slender Man.
November 2018
Three months later, fans began to speculate about the status of King and Elordi's relationship, as reported by Us Weekly. It started with a lack of social media posts. While the pair had once regularly posted cute selfies together and relationship updates, King's last documented reference to Elordi was in September. (That post has since been deleted.) On November 14, Elordi reportedly wrote on his Instagram Stories that he was taking a social media break. “G’day! Like to take a moment to thank everyone for the support over the last year,” he wrote in a since-deleted post, per the outlet. “I’m incredibly grateful to be able to connect with so many of you. I’m going to be signing off on this whole social media shabang while I work. Cheers for everything, stay happy :).”
For her part, King slyly tweeted, “Thank god I have my dog tho,” on November 15.
February 2019
Several months after they quietly split, Netflix announced they'd have to come together once more for The Kissing Booth 2. King announced the news in a video not with Elordi, but co-star Courtney. Both King and Elordi were set to reprise their roles from the start. Filming on the movie wrapped that August.
July 2019
In the midst of shooting and promoting her Emmy-nominated performance in Hulu's The Act, King spoke to Refinery29 about re-focusing the narrative on her work, not her personal life. "All you can really do at that point is shut your phone off and crawl into your sister's bed and watch Friends with her, because when you're going through something and the world wants to go through it with you or [wants] to get every piece of detail from you about it, it's really difficult," she explained. "Some of these things are just meant for you."
October 2019
King was more forthcoming about what it was like shooting scenes with her ex on the podcast Mood With Lauren Elizabeth. "I'm a fan with how [the film] resonated with the world, it resonated with me. So going back and doing that and making the sacrifice of what, obviously, everyone is thinking about—outwardly addressing, but what I'm kind of on the sly addressing, making those sacrifices was totally worth it," she said.
King and Elordi as Elle and Noah in The Kissing Booth 2.
King also spoke about working with Courtney more in the sequel. "Going back and shooting with one of my real best friends in life, which is Joel Courtney, who plays Lee in the movie, was phenomenal," she said on the podcast. "He's just like one of my favorite co-stars I've ever had, because he's such a great actor."
July 2020
Ahead of The Kissing Booth 2's premiere, King and Elordi spoke about what it's like to date in the public eye during a virtual Entertainment Tonight interview. "In this world, everyone wants to know your business and what you're doing," King admitted "And I think it's very interesting when you go through things and people kind of feel like they're owed an explanation, but I understand." She continued, "For me, I've publicly gone through some things, privately gone through some things, it's all about finding your balance, finding what makes you comfortable. And it can be brutal, but you know happy endings do come to those who are patient."
Elordi said he tends to "ignore it" when people speak about his private life. "Just even the fact that somebody you don't know knows your name could be quite disembodying. But then eventually, for me personally, it's got nothing to do with me, you know," he told the outlet. "Imagine the store around the corner from where you are now. Whatever people are talking about is not your business, it's kind of how it feels. Unfortunately, it just has my name involved in it but it literally has nothing to do with me. It just doesn't affect the trajectory of my life."
The sequel was released on July 24, 2020. Notably, the film focuses heavily on the long-distance nature of Noah and Elle's relationship, meaning the exes don't share as much screen time together as the original movie.
Both Elordi and King have seemingly found love with other people since their 2018 split. Rumors of romance between King and The Act producer Steven Piet have circulated since last fall. She referred to him as her "sweet boyfriend" in a recent essay for InStyle about quarantine.
Elordi was first linked to Euphoria co-star Zendaya in February 2020 after being spotted kissing in New York City. They have yet to publicly confirm if they're an item.
