Barbara Palvin and Dylan Sprouse have always taken their time, and it has clearly worked. A joke at a party, a DM that went unanswered for six months, a trip to China that almost didn’t happen, and from there, everything fell into place at its own pace. An apartment in Brooklyn, a proposal kept quiet for nearly a year, and a wedding in the same Hungarian church where Barbara’s parents had married decades earlier.
Now expecting their first child, the two are settling into a chapter that feels like the natural next step after everything that came before. Below, we trace their story from their first encounter in 2017 to the Cannes red carpet announcement that had everyone talking.
Photo: Courtesy of Barbara Palvin
2017: The Initial Meeting
Barbara Palvin and Dylan Sprouse met at a Harper’s Bazaar party, and the chemistry was instant. “I cracked jokes, she cracked jokes, and we clicked,” Sprouse later told Page Six. Neither of them could have guessed where it would lead.
August 2017: The DM
Barbara followed Dylan on Instagram, and he took that as his cue. “She followed me, so I was like, I guess I’ll give her something,” he recalled in their joint W magazine cover story. “I slid into her DMs and said, ‘Hey, I don’t know if you’re in New York for very long, but we should hang out. Here’s my number.’ And she didn’t message me for six months.”
May 2018: A Trip to China
When Barbara finally did respond, she more than made up for the wait. After three months of talking, a work trip to China fell through, but she decided to go anyway, just to see him. “I was like, ‘Do you think that’s crazy that I still want to go and see you?'” she told PEOPLE. Dylan’s response left no room for doubt: “He’s like, ‘Please come.'”
That trip to China became their first real date, and from there, everything moved quickly. “There’s a little language barrier for me, so I was never good with texting or flirting,” Barbara told W. “With Dylan, everything seemed so easy.”
August 2018: Going Public
Barbara made their relationship public with a birthday tribute on Instagram. “Even though it’s your birthday, I feel I just got the biggest present of all,” she wrote. “Happy birthday Boss Baby.”
Photo: Courtesy of Barbara Palvin
November 2018
Five months in, Barbara was clearly smitten. In a video for Vogue Australia, she reflected on her timing. “I was single for six years. It did pay off,” she said. “Because I feel like I’ve found the perfect guy. He’s very kind and gentle. I’m very much in love right now. It’s a very good feeling.”
Dylan supported Barbara at the 2018 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, her first in six years, and showed up with exactly what she had been craving. “He is bringing Shake Shack burgers for me,” she told PEOPLE backstage, and Dylan delivered, keeping the bag safe under his seat throughout the show. Afterward, Barbara posted a photo of herself kissing him with a caption that needed no further explanation: “Better than burgers.”
Photo: Courtesy of Barbara Palvin
January 2019: Moving In Together
The couple took the next step, moving into an apartment together in Brooklyn. Less than a year after that first trip to China, they were already building a life together.
Photo: Courtesy of Barbara Palvin
February 2019: The Cover Story
For their joint W Magazine digital cover, Dylan and Barbara posed together for the first time, and the interview that came with it gave fans a real look at the relationship behind the PDA. They confirmed the DM story themselves, with Barbara adding the detail that sealed it: after six months of silence, she texted Dylan the same day he found himself thinking about her for the first time since they’d met, ten minutes after he mentioned it to his manager. Both major anime fans, both recent additions to each other’s families, Dylan had already been to Hungary twice to meet his future in-laws, though Barbara had yet to meet Dylan’s twin Cole Sprouse. The two even disagreed sweetly over who the better cook was, Dylan insisting it was Barbara, Barbara countering that his food “always tastes better” because hers was “broccoli and cauliflower soup made with water.”
Photo: Alex Lockett for W Magazine
June 2019: One Year In
Barbara marked their first anniversary with a post that needed nothing else added to it. “Happy anniversary. I love you,” she captioned a series of photos of the two of them together.
Photo: Courtesy of Barbara Palvin
August 2019: World's Best Snuggler
Barbara marked Dylan’s 27th birthday with a cozy black-and-white photo on Instagram. “Happy birthday to the world’s best snuggler,” she wrote. “Thank you for letting me be part of ur life. I’m so proud of the hard working man you are and I hope this year is filled with all the love and happiness you deserve. I love you.”
Photo: Courtesy of Barbara Palvin
February 2020: Dream Dress, Dream Date
Barbara and Dylan attended the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party together, Barbara in a Versace gown that turned heads. She shared a series of photos from the night with a caption that summed up the evening perfectly: “In my dream dress with my dream date.”
Photo: Courtesy of Barbara Palvin
May 2020: Growing Closer in Quarantine
Lockdown brought the couple even closer, and Dylan told ET that the experience had strengthened their relationship. “What we’ve come out noticing is that we’re super compatible,” he said. “It’s like we know when to give each other space. We know when the other needs space. We’ve already divided labor around the house in certain ways. And quarantine has really brought us together in a good way.”
Photo: Courtesy of Barbara Palvin
July 2022: Miss America
Barbara and Dylan both appeared in Bazzi’s music video for “Miss America,” Barbara playing a pageant contestant and Dylan a judge. “Miss America song and video out now,” Barbara wrote, sharing photos from set. “Congrats @bazzi and thank you for having @dylansprouse and I, we love you.”
September 2022: A Proposal in Big Sur
During an appearance on the Tamron Hall Show, Dylan shared the full story behind his proposal in Big Sur, a location he chose because it’s “one of the most populated sea otter zones in California.” There was just one problem. “As soon as we were walking into the wildlife park, one of the rangers came up and said, ‘Hey, just to let you guys know, we haven’t seen sea otters here in months,'” he recalled. “I was like, all right, we’re here anyway, and I’m already in a button-down on a hike.” He went ahead regardless. “Got down on one knee over a beautiful vista, did the thing, she said yes, thankfully, and then immediately afterwards, we see a little head bob out of the water.”
June 2023: Making It Official
The engagement was finally confirmed in V Magazine’s Fall 2023 issue, in an interview conducted by Dylan’s twin brother, Cole Sprouse. “We got engaged in September,” Barbara revealed.
July 2023: The Wedding
Barbara and Dylan married in a deeply personal ceremony at a church in Albertirsa, Hungary, the same church where Barbara’s parents had married. A full-circle moment in every sense.
Photo: Eskuvoifotosom, Bence Barsony, Reduster
October 2024: Back on the Runway
Barbara returned to the Victoria’s Secret runway after years away, and Dylan was right there in the audience, cheering her on and holding up signs of their pets. The kind of moment that said everything about where they had ended up.
Photo: Courtesy of Barbara Palvin
February 2025: The Rule That Keeps Them Close
With both of their careers as demanding as they are, distance has always been something Barbara and Dylan have had to actively manage. Speaking with PEOPLE, the couple shared the rule that has kept their relationship steady through years of busy schedules and time apart. “When he’s on set, I try to visit him,” Barbara said. “We have this rule that we’re not supposed to be away from each other longer than two, three weeks.” Simple, practical, and apparently, it works.
Photo: Courtesy of Barbara Palvin
October 2025: Raising Awareness
A year after holding up signs of their pets in the audience, Dylan was back at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, this time supporting Barbara’s runway return after she underwent surgery for endometriosis. He spoke to Entertainment Tonight about the pin he wore in her honor. “I bring something different every year,” he said. “This one’s a lot more subtle though. This is an endometriosis awareness pin, trying to raise some awareness for that. Barbara had just gone through a surgery for endo, and as we were talking about it and as she discovered with her own research, there’s sadly a lack of research.”
2026: A New Chapter
After years of quietly building a life together, Barbara and Dylan announced they are expecting their first child, choosing the red carpet at the 79th Cannes Film Festival for the reveal. Barbara walked the carpet in a custom light blue Givenchy gown, her pregnancy on full display, marking one of the most talked-about announcements of the festival and the next chapter in a relationship that has always moved at its own pace.
Photo: Courtesy of Barbara Palvin
