The Vampire Diaries fans were in for a surprise when Candice Accola subtly confirmed her relationship with Steven Krueger.
Accola, 36, took to Instagram on Wednesday, December 27, to share a Reel of moments from the past year, writing, “I laughed. I cried. I laughed til I cried. I loved. Thanks for the dance 2023 🥂.”
The actress’ followers noticed a familiar face in a brief clip of Accola and Krueger, 34, sharing a kiss.
“Caroline and Josh were not on my 2023 bingo card but I’m here for it 😍,” a social media user wrote in the comments section. Another follower praised Accola for the creative way of soft launching the relationship, adding, “Candice had the chance to do the most Swiftie thing ever and she did it😭🎀.”
Accola rose to fame playing Caroline Forbes on The Vampire Diaries from 2009 to 2017. The show expanded into two spinoffs, The Originals and Legacies,and Krueger subsequently joined the fictional universe in the role of Josh Rosza. More recently, the twosome have both attended cast get-togethers and fan conventions dedicated to the popular CW franchise.
Earlier this year, Krueger shared a group photo that included Accola in Us Weekly‘s Inside a Day in My Life feature.
“We’ve all moved on to new projects, but we still jump at the opportunity to catch up any chance we get,” he told Us alongside a snap of him sitting next to Accola at dinner alongside their other former costars, including The Originals’ Charles Michael Davis.
Accola’s romance with Krueger marks her first public relationship since her divorce from Joe King. The former couple started dating after they met at a Super Bowl event in 2012. They got engaged one year later and tied the knot in an elaborate New Orleans ceremony.
In 2016, Accola and King, 43, expanded their family with daughter Florence. They decided to keep the news of her second pregnancy more private.
“Something I have not shared yet on this podcast is that I’m actually pregnant,” Accola said during an episode of her “Directionally Challenged” podcast in August 2020. “I feel comfortable and confident enough to discuss it now. I am someone who likes to keep pregnancy to myself and obviously with my partner, my husband, and our immediate friends and family until I feel comfortable and confident that I’m in a place in my pregnancy and the baby’s OK and I’m OK, the best it can be. But I’m finally at that place right now, which feels really good.”
Accola and King welcomed their second daughter, Josephine, later that year. After seven years of marriage, Us broke the news in May 2022 that Accola filed for divorce from King due to “irreconcilable differences.”
According to the legal paperwork, they called it quits three months before the legal petition was officially filed. The petition also noted that Accola moved to Nashville following their split while King remained in Brentwood, Tennessee.
Accola and King have remained largely tight-lipped about the end of their relationship.
Krueger, meanwhile, has never publicly discussed his personal life, but did hint in April that he would like to have kids, telling 26 Magazine, “A family is definitely in my future as well.”
Us Weekly has reached out to King and Krueger’s reps for comment.
