A lot of viewers who watched Netflix‘s The Kissing Booth 2 actually rooted for Elle (Joey King) and Marco (Taylor Zakhar Perez) as opposed to Elle and Noah (Jacob Elordi). So of course, everyone is all into these speculations that Perez and King could be a couple in real-life. Perez addressed all of this in a new interview.
Here’s why people began to think Taylor Zakhar Perez and Joey King were dating
Fans noticed that the duo would frequently post photos and videos with each other and leave comments that added fuel to the fire. For example, a Instagram post that Perez made for King’s birthday had people think that maybe the real-life actors who play Elle and Marco were really the endgame.
Perez wrote in part, “Honestly I could write about this woman all day. She is the reason I joined the KB2 family, she welcomed me with open arms and love, she supported me, she pushed me, she made me laugh (like pee my pants laughter and had to check my underwear), she inspired me to be a bettter actor, she shared her family with me, THE LIST GOES ON. Grateful for you forever.”
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Fans went wild in the comments as King commented on the post and said, “Can’t imagine my life without you. I heart you T.”
The actor addressed the rumors as they began to spread
In a recent interview with ET Online, Perez spoke openly about his relationship with King. “We just kind of hit it off,” he said. When we were in South Africa, we had dinner together. I cooked for her, she cooked for me. We just became kind of like the best of friends.”
After filming, he says that they began hanging out during quarantine and both needed someone to lean on during these times. He explained, “When we got back to Los Angeles we just kept hanging out. We live really near each other. And then the quarantine hit and we kinda just needed someone to trust during that time, like, ‘OK, I know you’re not going out. I know who you’re seeing.’ So we just became really close.”
“Last weekend we went to celebrate her birthday and a friend of mine’s birthday,” he added, noting that the group of friends all got coronavirus (COVID-19) tests to be safe. “We just went together and had a good time.”
However, despite them being very close, Perez denies that he and King are more than friends. “I love her. I love her dearly. I’d do anything for her,” he said. “We’re not dating. I’ll end it with that.”
Joey King has actually dated a ‘The Kissing Booth’ star before
Before these rumors, King was in a relationship with one of her cast mates from The Kissing Booth. She dated Jacob Elordi, but they broke up in 2018. By the time they began filming The Kissing Booth 2, the couple was not together. One would think that would have contributed to awkwardness, something that Perez also addressed in the recent interview.
“I’m sure it was odd for her [King] to go back into a production with someone that she dated,” he said. “And so me being this new castmate and Joel [Courtney] being there and Meganne [Young], we kind of just all meshed really well together.”
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King and Elordi seem to be on good terms, though she did delete a tweet in which she called him out after he claimed in an interview that he had not watched The Kissing Booth 2.
The Kissing Booth 3, which has already filmed, will debut on Netflix in 2021.