It wasn’t happily ever after for Shantel VanSanten and Victor Webster.
After meeting on the set of Love Blossom — a Hallmark Channel movie that followed VanSanten’s character working with Webster’s character to meet a production deadline for a new perfume following the death of her father — the duo became friends. They later struck up a romance.
After posting pics of their various date nights and trips via social media for years, they celebrated their fourth anniversary in February 2021.
“Happy 4 years of being stuck with me @therealshantel Seems like a lifetime, a wonderfully adventure filled lifetime already,” Webster wrote via Instagram at the time. “Through thick and thin, ups and downs and everything the world has tried to throw at us, you’ve still managed to put up with me. Love you babe, happy anniversary. ❤️”
That same month, he popped the question.
“We hiked 2000ft to the top of the mountain where @iamvictorwebster told me he loved me for the first time years ago! What happened next still has me in shock … He told me he wanted to spend forever with me, as he got down on one knee and asked if I would marry him!!” VanSanten explained at the time via Instagram. “I didn’t say anything for awhile, not out of suspense although it would have been a good prank, but because my legs stopped working, I had to sit down and I couldn’t stop crying and kissing him … I forgot to say anything at all … BUT OBVIOUSLY I SAID YES!!! I cant wait to spend FOR-EV-ER with my best friend!!!! I F—KING LOVE YOU.”
The couple went on to have three wedding ceremonies — tying the knot for the first time at Pasadena City Hall in California on VanSanten’s grandparents’ anniversary.
“When my grandfather unexpectedly passed away on Father’s Day, the heartbreak was unbearable; I had been planning on him walking me down the aisle in Minnesota. In the midst of my grief, I looked at Victor and said I wanted to do a spontaneous civil ceremony on my grandparents’ wedding date, August 9,” the One Tree Hill alum told Brides.com. “The idea of my grandparents being reunited and watching over our ceremony from above gave me some peace. They were married for 63 years, had such a special, deep love. They were the example to me of how love is a choice and takes work. It wasn’t perfect, but their love was always pure.”
She added: “I am so grateful for this spontaneous decision to do a civil ceremony with my parents present — it was the only opportunity my mother had to be a part of our union, as she was in ICU for the other two weddings, fighting for her life.”
In October 2021, VanSanten and Webster wed again in Napa, California. They held a third wedding in Minnesota for her family members who couldn’t travel for the nuptials.
“Through all of this, the biggest lesson Victor and I have learned is the resiliency of the human spirit and our hearts,” she gushed to the outlet. “As I looked at my side, when the world felt like it was falling apart, there stood my rock, my home, my husband. As there are unwritten chapters ahead, we will surely experience more hardships on this grand adventure. I couldn’t be more sure we can overcome anything together.”
Less than two years later, Us Weekly confirmed that Webster filed for divorce. He cited irreconcilable differences and listed their date of separation as January 10, 2023.
Scroll through for VanSanten and Webster’s timeline:
