Joe King is the Candice King ex husband who spent seven years married to the Vampire Diaries actress before their 2022 split. He is the guitarist and co-founder of the rock band The Fray. The two married on October 18, 2014, in New Orleans, after meeting at a Super Bowl event in February 2012. After seven years and two daughters together, Candice filed for divorce in April 2022, citing irreconcilable differences. She has since retained the surname King and remarried in early 2026.
Who Is Candice King Ex-Husband Joe King
Joe King (full name Joseph Aaron King) is an American musician born on May 25, 1980. He co-founded the Denver-based rock band The Fray in 2002 alongside his former schoolmate Isaac Slade, and he serves as the band’s lead guitarist, backing vocalist, and primary songwriter. Before the band achieved mainstream success, King was working as an auto damage appraiser in Colorado.
The Fray’s debut album, How to Save a Life (2005), launched the band to international recognition. King contributed significantly to the record’s songwriting, and the title track became one of the defining songs of the mid-2000s, appearing in everything from television dramas to graduation playlists. Joe also provided lead vocals on several tracks including “Heaven Forbid,” “Ungodly Hour,” and “Rainy Zurich.” He co-wrote nearly every song the band released across multiple studio albums.
Beyond The Fray, King has pursued independent musical projects. He released a six-song solo EP titled Breaking in 2013 under the moniker King. He also contributed to Timbaland’s album Shock Value 2 on the track “Undertow.” The Chainsmokers’ global hit “Closer” (featuring Halsey) sampled elements of The Fray’s “Over My Head (Cable Car),” connecting King’s work to a new generation of pop audiences long after The Fray’s commercial peak.
It’s a particular kind of irony: Joe King spent years as an anonymous auto damage appraiser writing songs in his spare time, only to become the guitarist behind one of the most-played tracks in TV history, all before his personal life became tabloid material.
How Candice King and Joe King Met
The two first crossed paths in February 2012 at a Super Bowl event in Indianapolis. Candice Accola (as she was known before marriage) was there on a trip organized by her The Vampire Diaries co-star and close friend Nina Dobrev, who invited her along to lift her spirits during a difficult personal period. At a celebrity flag football game that was part of the Super Bowl weekend activities, Candice and Joe ended up on the same team.
She noticed him partly because he happened to be wearing the same color shirt as her. But despite the instant connection, she was too shy to give him her number. Nina Dobrev stepped in, wrote down Candice’s contact information, and passed it along through a chain of intermediaries including a tour manager and cleaning staff until it eventually reached Joe. According to Candice’s own account to People magazine in June 2013: “I was too chicken to give him my number, so Nina did.”
The couple texted and spoke for roughly three months before Joe persuaded Candice to meet in person for a first official date. Their relationship developed gradually from there, with both busy careers giving the timeline a natural, unhurried pace.
The story of Nina Dobrev shepherding a phone number through backstage corridors to the guitarist she thought her friend should meet says something about how love gets its footholds, sometimes through the most roundabout logistics imaginable.
Their Engagement and New Orleans Wedding
After about a year of dating, Joe proposed to Candice on May 29, 2013, while the couple was vacationing in Florence, Italy. She confirmed the engagement to People magazine and described feeling “so excited and grateful.” The Italy setting would carry sentimental weight beyond the proposal itself.
The couple married on October 18, 2014, at the Montegut House in New Orleans, Louisiana. The ceremony had a French Quarter theme and included a traditional second line parade through the streets of the city, a New Orleans wedding tradition in which guests follow a brass band through the neighborhood after the ceremony. Several of Candice’s The Vampire Diaries castmates were present, including Paul Wesley, Nina Dobrev, and Kat Graham.
The wedding received wide coverage in entertainment media, with People, Us Weekly, and multiple outlets running photos from the ceremony. Candice took Joe’s last name, becoming Candice Accola King, the name she continues to use professionally to this day even after the divorce.
Candice also became stepmother to Joe’s two daughters from a previous relationship, Ava King and Elise King, blending families from the start of their marriage.
Their Children: Florence and Josephine
Candice and Joe welcomed their first daughter, Florence May King, on January 15, 2016. The name Florence was a deliberate tribute to Florence, Italy, where Joe had proposed three years earlier. Their second daughter, Josephine June King, arrived on December 1, 2020, during the pandemic year. Candice had documented her second pregnancy on her podcast, Directionally Challenged.
With Joe’s daughters Ava and Elise from his prior relationship included, the household was a blended family of four girls. According to E! Online (December 2020), Josephine joins “big sister Florence May King, 4, and stepsisters Ava and Elise, Joe’s daughters from a previous marriage.”
The timing of Florence’s name would take on a different resonance years later: it was both a celebration of the city where the marriage began and, in retrospect, the last uncomplicated geography of the relationship. The second daughter’s name, Josephine, carries Joe’s name inside it, one of those quiet decisions that families make without knowing how permanent the echoes will be.
Candice King Ex-Husband Divorce: Seven Years and Irreconcilable Differences
Candice filed for divorce from Joe King on April 29, 2022. Court documents, obtained and published by People magazine at the time, listed the official reason as “irreconcilable differences.” The papers also revealed that the couple had actually been separated since January 2022, making the filing several months after their private decision.
Fans had begun speculating about a split earlier in 2022 after both Candice and Joe quietly removed photos of each other from their social media accounts, and Candice was observed not wearing her ring. Neither party made a public statement immediately after the filing. A representative for Candice did not respond to comment requests from People.
Following the separation, Candice relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, while Joe remained in Brentwood, Tennessee. The divorce was finalized in 2022. Despite ending the marriage, Candice chose to retain the King surname professionally, a decision that reflects both her established career identity under that name and, perhaps, the shared children who carry it.
The fact that Josephine had just turned 14 months old at the time of separation, and that the couple had publicly shown no visible signs of conflict during the pregnancy and immediate post-birth period, suggested a private unraveling that came as a surprise to many who had followed their relationship since the Super Bowl story first circulated years earlier.
Candice King’s Life After Joe King
After the Candice King ex husband chapter closed formally with the 2022 divorce, Candice confirmed a new relationship in December 2023, when she shared a photograph kissing American actor Steven Krueger, her co-star from The Originals. The reveal came through social media over the Christmas holiday period, with Us Magazine reporting the confirmation on December 28, 2023.
Krueger is best known for playing Josh Rosza on The Originals, the spinoff series to The Vampire Diaries in which Candice had also appeared as Caroline Forbes. The couple had worked together in that shared television universe before any romantic connection became public.
Their relationship moved quickly. On December 8, 2025, Candice announced she was expecting her third child, her first with Krueger. The couple had initially planned a larger wedding ceremony for fall 2026 but moved up their timeline after learning about the pregnancy. They married on February 28, 2026, in an intimate elopement-style ceremony at The Chapel at High Point Farm in Nashville, with only 15 guests including Candice’s two daughters and Steven’s nieces. According to Vogue, which covered the event, the pair described it as a “family affair.”
Joe King, meanwhile, has maintained a lower public profile since the divorce. His musical work with The Fray and separate projects continues, and he remains the father of four daughters between his two families.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the Candice King ex husband?
The Candice King ex husband is Joe King, the guitarist and co-founder of the rock band The Fray. They married in October 2014 in New Orleans and divorced in 2022 after seven years of marriage. Joe King’s full name is Joseph Aaron King, and he was born on May 25, 1980, in the United States.
Why did Candice King and Joe King divorce?
Candice King filed for divorce from Joe King on April 29, 2022, citing “irreconcilable differences” as the official reason in court documents obtained by People magazine. The couple had reportedly been separated since January 2022. No further public explanation was given by either party.
How did Candice King and Joe King meet?
Candice and Joe King met in February 2012 at a celebrity event during Super Bowl weekend in Indianapolis. Their mutual friend and Vampire Diaries co-star Nina Dobrev introduced them and then passed along Candice’s phone number to Joe after Candice was too shy to give it to him directly.
Do Candice King and Joe King have children together?
Yes, Candice and Joe King have two daughters together: Florence May King, born January 15, 2016, and Josephine June King, born December 1, 2020. Candice is also stepmother to Joe’s two daughters from a previous relationship, Ava King and Elise King. Joe has four daughters in total across both families.
Is Candice King remarried after Joe King?
Yes. Candice King married actor Steven Krueger on February 28, 2026, in an intimate ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee. The two, who co-starred in The Originals, went public with their relationship in December 2023. They welcomed a baby boy in spring 2026. Candice continues to professionally use the surname King.
Who is Joe King the musician from The Fray?
Joe King is the guitarist, backing vocalist, and co-founder of The Fray, the Denver-based rock band. He and Isaac Slade formed the band in 2002. The Fray’s debut album, How to Save a Life (2005), reached international success. King also released a solo EP titled Breaking in 2013 under the name King.
Did Candice King keep Joe King’s last name after the divorce?
Yes. Despite filing for divorce in 2022, Candice Accola has continued using King as her professional surname. She is credited as Candice King in her subsequent television work, including her role in the Amazon Prime Video series We Were Liars (2025). The decision appears to reflect her established professional identity under the King name rather than any ongoing connection to her ex-husband.
What the Story of Joe and Candice King Tells Us
The relationship between Candice King and her ex-husband Joe King spanned roughly a decade from first meeting to divorce: a Super Bowl weekend introduction, an Italian proposal, a jazz-funeral-adjacent celebration in New Orleans, two daughters, and a quiet ending in a Tennessee court filing. Joe King remains one of the more interesting supporting figures in the celebrity biography, a working musician whose band wrote one of the most recognizable songs of the 2000s, who fell into a high-profile relationship through a chain of phone-number handoffs, and who now raises four daughters between two families.
Candice King has moved forward, professionally and personally. Her decision to keep the surname after the marriage ended is the kind of small, telling choice that reveals something about identity and pragmatism in the modern celebrity era, where your name is both history and brand.
