Jacob Elordi (2017 – 2018)
King and Jacob Elordi, who play love interests Elle and Noah, met on the set of The Kissing Booth in 2017. In a May 2018 interview with Bello, King revealed that, while she thought Elordi was attractive, the two started as friends before their relationship became romantic.
“Was it love at first sight? Well, I thought he was very cute when we first met, but it started as a friendship,” she said at the time. “Right away we were talking about gross things with each other (laughing). 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.”
Though it’s unclear when Joey King and Jacob Elordi’s relationship officially started, the Act alum revealed in an interview with Seventeen in May 2018 that a month into filming, around February 2017, was when she started to see the Euphoria actor as more than a friend.
“When we first met, me, him, and Joel went out to dinner and we had the best, most fun night ever,” she said at the time. “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 continued, “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.’” It seems like this is when Joey King and Jacob Elordi’s relationship started heating up.
Joey King and Jacob Elordi’s relationship became Instagram official in April 2017 when he posted a photo of them in front of the Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles. King’s first Instagram post of Elordi came two months later on his 20th birthday on June 26, 2017. In August 2017, King opened up about her relationship to Elordi in an interview with Us Weekly at the 2018 Teen Choice Awards. By that time, the couple had been dating for more than a year. In her interview with Us Weekly, King revealed that Elordi being an actor like her was a positive in their relationship.
“You know what, actually it does help,” she said at the time. “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.”
Three months after Us Weekly’s update on Joey King and Jacob Elordi’s relationship, fans theorized that the couple had broken up. The speculation started after Elordi announced on his Instagram Stories at the time that he was taking a break from social media.
“G’day! Like to take a moment to thank everyone for the support over the last year,” he wrote on his Instagram Stories at the time. “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 :).”
He later deleted his Instagram entirely. After that, King took to her Twitter with a cryptic tweet that convinced fans the two were over. “Thank god I have my dog tho,” she tweeted at the time.
