It is a tale as old as time. Boy meets girl. Boy and girl break up. Boy becomes the beloved King of Rock’n’Roll. So went the story of rising star Jacob Elordi on his fast track to success.
Perhaps most known for Euphoria’s most detestable villain — Nate Jacobs — Elordi has skyrocketed impressively in his career. Now cast in Sophia Coppola’s A24 venture, Priscilla, his role as Elvis Presley is already garnering widespread attention.
So much so that we probably all forgot there was a time when he was in a relationship with Joey King. The former child actor has become a juggernaut in her own right, getting widespread attention for her portrayal of Gypsy Rose Blanchard in the true crime series – The Act. King has recently celebrated her marriage to producer Steven Piet, putting a happy ending on her romantic prospects. But there was a time when King and Elordi had a short-lived romance not so long ago.
They met on the set of The Kissing Booth
With how much time is spent filming on set, romantic feelings can arise. So was the case for King and Elordi when they appeared in Netflix’s 2018 film – The Kissing Booth. Based on the self-published story on Wattpad, King portrays teenage Elle, who harbors feelings for Noah (Elordi) even though he is off limits. The older brother to her best friend, Lee (Joel Courtney), this forbidden love becomes more enticing when they ultimately get together. And just like their characters, Elordi and King also shared a romantic connection. For King, it wasn’t exactly love at first sight. She told Seventeen that their relationship initially started as a friendship.
“When we first met, me, him, and Joel went out to dinner and we had the best, most fun night ever. 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.’”
The two dated from 2017 to 2018 when they mysteriously seemed to cut all ties. No official reason for the split was ever indicated, but at first glance, it did not seem like the actors were on good terms. According to stylecaster.com, Elordi deleted all of his social media, causing many fans to hypothesize there was an underlying reason. King removed all her online photos with the two, essentially confirming what everyone else knew to be true.
The good news for The Kissing Booth fans was that the actors continued to collaborate for the two sequels of the 2017 film. For the final film, Elordi posted pictures on social media with his former girlfriend and costar, indicating that they were on good terms again. Both have continued to focus on their careers, which have been equally as impressive.