Nina Dobrev was ‘in a panic’ before Shaun White surprised her with marriage proposal

Moments before getting proposed to by longtime boyfriend and Olympic gold medalist Shaun White, Nina Dobrev found herself "in a panic." 

On a Friday night in late October, the "Vampire Diaries" actress was gearing up for a private CFDA/Vogue dinner with Anna Wintour at the Golden Swan in New York City. However, unbeknownst to her, the "fake" event was actually a planned proposal set up by White. 

"[Shaun] made the invite look so legitimate," Dobrev told Vogue of receiving the formal invitation days prior. 

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Before arriving, Dobrev – who was running late at the time – said, "I was in a panic that Anna’s waiting for me." 

As she opened the main door to the event space, Dobrev said she immediately "went into shock." "I just froze and stared at him," said Dobrev, who was standing in front of her future fiancé and a photographer who was hired to capture the moment. 

Dobrev said White "said all the right things," while proposing to her with a five-carat Lorraine Schwartz ring underneath an arch of white flowers. 

"I knew she was nervous because when she’s nervous she’ll make jokes," White said. "She’s like, ‘So, wait, Anna’s not here?’"

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White and Dobrev went public with their romance in May 2020, with an Instagram post shared on both their accounts featuring the actress cutting his hair. "Adding to resume: hairdresser," she captioned the post.

During a January interview with People, Dobrev revealed how their relationship is "sort of exciting and interesting," saying they make sure to set aside "time for the two of [them] to spend together."

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"In general, I'm more of a planner in life. Yeah, I like a schedule and I like a plan for sure. I'm a Capricorn so that's very much part of my personality," she said. "But, we implemented something, I think, it's really cool. We do date night every week and we alternate [planning]." 

She continued: "So, one week I'll plan it and he won't have any idea what we're doing so it's a surprise for him. And then the following week, he'll plan and it'll be a complete surprise for me. And we do that every single week." 

Fox News Digital's Emily Trainham and Janelle Ash contributed to this report.