Nina Dobrev suffered more than physical injuries from her electric dirt bike accident months ago.
The Vampire Diaries alum detailed the emotional toll from the May crash, sharing how the lengthy recovery time for her ACL and meniscus tears as well as a broken knee left her feeling in a difficult place with her mental health.
"With the pain meds and the physical pain that you're going through and not being able to walk and seeing everybody gallivanting across Europe on Instagram, enjoying the summer and I'm sitting in bed," Dobrev told E! News during the Shiseido Blue Project Beach Clean-Up at the 2024 US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach, Calif., Aug. 7. "It was just mentally, it was really challenging. Even the pain meds mess with your head."
The 35-year-old continued, "I definitely was in a depression. I had a really hard time."
After all, Dobrev and boyfriend Shaun White are known for being a fairly active couple. So it was jarring for it all to come to an end so quickly on her first-ever electric dirt bike ride.
"I've never ridden before, and it was going fine for a while. It was right at the very end, I just lost control of the bike, and I ended up in a wheelie," she recalled. "I landed on one leg, and the pressure of the landing snapped my knee."
Now, post-surgery, Dobrev plans to stay away from dirt bikes—and many other riskier activities—as she focuses on her recovery.
"I feel like I have a fear now," the Perks of Being a Wallflower alum explained. "I used to be so adventurous and down to do anything. And now, since the injury, maybe it's because I'm still healing and it's a nine-month process. I'm only on month three-and-a-half of nine months. I’m still having to relearn how to walk and so the idea of getting back to the snowboard or getting on a dirt bike ever again is definitely not happening."
She has been staying active as much as she can, walking with the help of a knee brace. And this includes making the trip to Huntington Beach, Calif. and partnering with Shiseido, World Surf League and WILDCOAST to help raise awareness about using ocean-friendly products such as Shiseido sunscreen.
And she credits her "incredible support system" for keeping her spirits up throughout her recovery. "So many of my friends came over, brought flowers, brought food, watched movies with me. Gave me neck massages. Took care of me," she said. "And so it really helped pull me out of that funk."
And among those leading the charge was boyfriend of four years Shaun. In fact, the Olympic snowboarding champion was by her side as they made the trip to Paris to watch the 2024 Olympics opening ceremonies—where she got to show off her second best accessory: her cane.
As for how the duo are all these years into their romance? "Things are going good," she gushed. "We’re very happy."
—Reporting by Amanda Champagne-Meadows
Look back at the couple's road to romance...
Dobrev and White hit it off after they partied together with friends, including her Vampire Diaries co-stars Kayla Ewell and Candice Accola King, at the opening of the Bellagio Resort & Casino's new supper club The Mayfair in Las Vegas on New Year's Eve.
A year later, amid the coronavirus pandemic, Dobrev would share this photo of her and White at the bash, as well as a video of him lifting her up Dirty Dancing-style only to have them both topple into the snow. She wrote, "How we thought 2020 would go...how it actually went."
Dobrev and White spark romance rumors after they are spotted riding bikes together in Malibu, Calif. A source tells E! News that the two began to "ease into a relationship" after spending New Year's Eve together, adding that things "really accelerated" between the two after the coronavirus pandemic broke out.
"After spending weeks together during quarantine," the source says, "Nina and Shaun have made it clear to their friends that they are a serious couple."
The two make their relationship Instagram official when both share a photo of the actress trimming White's red hair. Most hair salons closed due to COVID-19 restrictions. Under her post, Dobrev writes, "Adding to resume: hairdresser."
Dobrev and White celebrate Thanksgiving with his family, as seen in photos he posts on Instagram.
Judging from their Instagrams, Dobrev and White vacationed together in the Zion National Park area in Utah twice in 2020, in May and in December.
The two spend the holidays together in December 2020.
Just before New Year's Eve, another source tells E! News that the two "are genuinely so in love."
"They openly talk about their future together," the insider continued. "They're just super happy, and things are going really well with them."
Dobrev celebrated a "redo" of her 31st birthday on her 32rd and White paid tribute to her with photos of the two sporting these looks.
Alonside pal Adam DeVine, the couple dressed up as characters from The Queen's Gambit for Halloween with White going as as the iconic Beth Harmon and Dobrev channelling U.S. chess champion, Benny Watts.
Dobrev hit the slopes with her pro snowboarder love at Copper Mountain in Colorado.
After White finished fourth in the Men's Snowboard Halfpipe at the 2022 Olympics and officially retired from competing, Dobrev expressed how proud she was of him.
"The end of one chapter, means the beginning of an exciting new one with endless possibilities," she wrote in part of an Instagram post. "You will forever be the G.O.A.T. of snowboarding. Not to mention you are also the G.(B).O.A.T. = Greatest Boyfriend Of All Time."
The couple finally went red carpet official at the Top Gun: Maverick film premiere in London.
Alongside her tux-clad boyfriend, Dobrev sizzled in a red Monot gown at the 28th annual amfAR Gala during the 75th Cannes Film Festival.
The pair watched the qualifying for the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco ahead of the big race. For the occasion, Dobrev looked wore a chic, chalk-colored suit by Smythe.
The two turned up the heat while vacationing in the Maldives.
"I really picked a winner [ and he really picked a booger ]," Dobrev wrote in an Instagram tribute for White's 36th birthday. "Happy belated Birthday you weirdo. My weirdo. @shaunwhite."
What did White really think of Dobrev's cheerleading scene from Degrassi: The Next Generation? The athlete gave his reaction on TikTok and proved once again they're always on each other's squads.
The duo celebrated the holidays with a family trip to Mexico.
"What planet are you from and will you take me with you?!" White wrote on Instagram for Dobrev's 34th birthday during their trip to Antarctica. "Thanks for making life incredible! Happy birthday my love."
"Life is a roller coaster with you," the actress wrote on Valentine's Day 2023. "It goes from serious to baby birding in seconds … thank you for always making me smile. happy valentine’s day @shaunwhite."
"Life with you has been my greatest adventure!!" White wrote on Instagram for Dobrev's 35th birthday. "Happy birthday my love!!"
The duo looked so sharp at the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party they deserve their own trophy.
The two celebrated the Fourth of July with several celebrity friends, including Miles Teller and Keleigh Teller and Usher.
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