They were a match made by Nina Dobrev herself. That's right, Nina played Cupid for
Candice King and Joe King. For years, it seemed as though everything was perfect between the couple,
and then suddenly, news broke of their divorce. Their split has left fans scratching their heads,
wondering what could have led this seemingly perfect couple to call it quits.
Candice King, formerly Candice Accola, first met The Fray band member Joe King at a Super
Bowl event back at the beginning of 2012. But they had a little help on the side when it came
to the introduction. Candice's good friend and Vampire Diaries co-star, Nina Dobrev,
was the one who introduced her to Joe at the event.
Candice was immediately charmed by Joe, but when the party eventually came to an end,
she was too shy to ask for his number. Thankfully, that's where Nina stepped in to help her friend.
The actress confessed, "I was too chicken to give him my number, so Nina did."
At least Joe wasn't shy about making the next move and reached out to Candice the
first chance he got to ask her on a date. It didn't take long for
the pair to become a couple, and they were both completely smitten with one another.
By May of the following year, Joe decided to pop the big question while the couple
was on holiday in Italy. Nothing makes a trip more romantic than an international proposal.
Candice was over the moon, and of course, she said yes!
The actress took to Instagram to share the news of their engagement. She captioned,
"Cheers from the future, Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Aaron King!"
Candice also shared that she had no idea that Joe was going to propose
and was caught completely off guard. She said,
"The engagement was a complete surprise. It was perfect and special and just for us."
While fans couldn't have been happier for the actress, her good friend Nina also couldn't
contain her excitement over the engagement. If it wasn't for her, Joe might have never
gotten Candice's number, so of course, she played the perfect cupid for the couple.
Nina tweeted in celebration, "Dying right now! So excited/thrilled/happy/hyperventilating
over your engagement! Match made in heaven!" adding, "What colors are we
thinking for the bridesmaid[']s dresses? Because yellow isn't a good color on me."
In October of 2014, the couple made things official and got married in a New Orleans
ceremony. Guests at the wedding included a number of the Vampire Diaries cast,
like Kayla Ewell, Michael Trevino, Kat Graham, Claire Holt, and Paul Wesley. And,
of course, the matchmaker Nina. Ian Somerhalder had also been invited,
but couldn't attend the ceremony, so he sent the couple his congratulations from Atlanta.
Ian shared, "Candice and Joe- my brother, my sister.
What a magical day this is for both of you … I love you guys! So. Much."
The wedding was a huge celebration. They even had a parade in the streets of New Orleans,
which led everyone to the reception venue. It was very clearly a wedding to remember,
and there was no better way for Candice and Joe to celebrate their love.
Naturally, the actress shared an Instagram post to mark the occasion.
She captioned, "Officially Mr. and Mrs. King! Best night ever!"
King posted a similar photo to his account and captioned it, "My wife, she makes me wanna dance."
After the ceremony, the newlyweds flew off to Belize for their honeymoon.
But this wasn't the first time Joe had walked down the aisle.
In fact, he had been previously married to Julie King in 1999 when he was just 19 years old.
There is not much known about the musician's first marriage. However, we do know that they were
married for twelve years and had two daughters, Elise and Ava before they got divorced in 2011.
King often posts pictures of Elise and Ava on his Instagram account. He even posted a
cute picture of them all skiing together and captioned it, "Ski day was one for the books."
So not only was Candice becoming a wife for the first time,
but she was also becoming a stepmother. The actress admitted that she struggled
at first with the adjustment to becoming a step-mom for her husband's two daughters.
She confessed that it took her some time to get comfortable with the role,
especially during the holiday times. She realized that giving gifts was just the easy way out,
and she needed to make more of an effort to create memorable traditions with her new blended family.
Less than a year into their marriage, the couple announced that they were expecting their first
child! Joe shared a post on Instagram, captioning, "Baby King on the way!!!! So proud to welcome this
new life into the world with my beautiful wife and daughters. I truly am a lucky man & dad."
In January of 2016, Candice and Joe welcomed their first daughter,
Florence. Over the next four years, the couple enjoyed their time together as a
blended and growing family. The actress often shared snaps of them together,
giving her fans a glimpse into their lives, and they all seemed very happy.
They became the ultimate blended family, and the actress shared that it was so beautiful
seeing all the children together and having them make new memories and traditions as a family.
She shared, "While kids might not always remember the presents they receive, they do remember the
magical moments that make families feel like one. What a beautiful tradition that is."
Then, halfway through 2020, Candice shared that she was expecting her second child,
and later that year, she gave birth to a bouncing baby girl they named Josephine.
The actress shared on Instagram, "Last week,
our baby girl flew into the world and into our hearts. "We love you, Josephine June King!"
However, since she had her second baby around the time of the international pandemic,
the actress confessed that she struggled for the first few months after giving birth.
She explained that the environment at home had become incredibly demanding because
everyone was stuck indoors and had to adjust to a very isolated and restricted lifestyle.
"I was living in quarantine due to the ongoing global pandemic, with two teenagers doing
distance learning, a 5-year-old begging for a playmate, a dog begging for a walk,
and a newborn baby who was having trouble sleeping … Needless to say, as a parent, and as a partner,
I was not the best version of myself," she added, "We needed sleep. I wanted help."
However, Candice explained that once she knew that she needed help and she didn't have to do it
all on her own, it made everything a lot easier. She felt like all the pressure that she'd put on
herself to "do it all" disappeared. She was able to take the time that she needed to heal for her
hormones to settle, and she got stronger and "more capable as a mother" for all of their children.
In October of 2021, the couple celebrated their seven-year wedding anniversary.
Joe commemorated the occasion with a sweet Instagram tribute to his wife.
"7 years with my wife today," he wrote at the time. "I love you."
Unfortunately, it seems it was around that time that everything changed for the couple.
Just one month after their seven-year anniversary,
Candice was spotted without her wedding ring in several photographs.
It didn't take long for rumors of a breakup to start spreading when both Candice and Joe made
changes to their Instagram accounts by deleting posts of them together.
It was safe to assume that things were probably not going well for
the couple if they were deleting pictures of themselves together on their social media.
Then around the beginning of April, Candice shared a mirror selfie on social media,
and there was no wedding ring in sight. The next month, the actress celebrated her
birthday with her friends and daughters, but Joe was nowhere to be seen. He also
didn't wish his wife her birthday on social media as he had done all the years before.
Finally, in May of 2022, news broke out that Candice had filed for divorce from Joe,
citing the usual "irreconcilable differences." Neither of them has come out to comment about
the divorce, so no one has any idea what could have caused the split.
The only thing that could be assumed was that the international pandemic took its toll on the couple
- as it did for so many others. The pandemic put a very unique and uncomfortable pressure on a lot of
couples, and a lot of married couples were faced with difficulties they had never expected during
their marriage. Perhaps the pressure was all too much, and they weren't able to work things out.
Or maybe they learned something about themselves individually, and things simply changed.
Whatever the case may have been for Candice and Joe, we just hope they're able to settle
their divorce amicably, for their sake and, of course, the sake of their daughters.
Thank
you for watching our video, Juicers! Don't forget to subscribe and hit that
notification bell so that you don't miss out on any of our latest videos!