Tanner Novlan and Kayla Ewell's Relationship: All About the Actors' Romance (and Their Sweet Connection to 'The Bold and the Beautiful')

Tanner Novlan and Kayla Ewell have been married since 2015, but if it weren’t for a missing pair of sunglasses, they may not even be together at all.

The couple met on the set of Australian band Sick Puppies’ music video for their single “Maybe.” After filming wrapped, Ewell and Novlan connected when they both realized they left their sunglasses on set.

“He texted me after the shoot and said, ‘Hey, I can pick up your sunglasses and bring them to you,’ and I thought, ‘What a gentleman. This nice Canadian man is picking up my sunglasses for me. I’m so grateful,’ ” Ewell told Soap Opera Digest in June 2021. Novlan added, “Little did she know I was holding them ransom.”

The actors met for a two-hour date and have been together ever since. Now, The Vampire Diaries star and The Bold and the Beautiful actor share two children. Novlan and Ewell's daughter, Poppy Marie, was born on July 16, 2019. Three years later, the couple welcomed their son, Jones Douglas, on June 6, 2022.

From starring on TV together to growing their family, here’s everything to know about Tanner Novlan and Kayla Ewell’s relationship.

They met while filming a music video

Ewell and Novlan met on the set of Sick Puppies’ music video for their single “Maybe" in 2010. In the video, she plays a waitress and he, a mechanic.

“It was my birthday and I got a phone call to do a music video,” Ewell told PEOPLE. “I was with my girlfriend at lunch and she was like, ‘It’s your birthday and you got a phone call out of the blue to do this music video? I think you should do it!’ I joke with Tanner that he was the best birthday present that I ever got.”

After the shoot wrapped, Ewell realized she left her sunglasses with the makeup artist. Novlan also left his sunglasses on set and texted his scene partner, offering to pick up hers and drop them off.

“He used them as a way to see me again, which is kind of romantic,” she told Soap Opera Digest in June 2021. “I feel like it’s something you’d write in a Hallmark movie — or a soap opera!”

Ewell and Novlan met for a long lunch and the rest is history. Novlan said, “I remember thinking, ‘Wow. Okay. This is it. There’s no more looking.’ It was really natural and easy and that’s the main thing. It was just always easy.”

They got engaged in January 2015

Novlan popped the question in January 2015 while the couple were on a private sailboat ride in Santa Monica, Calif., after five years of dating.

“Kayla is a tough one to surprise,” Novlan told PEOPLE. “I told the captain over the phone, ‘We have to do it right away because the nerves are going!’ He said, ‘Why don’t I take a picture of you in front of the sunset, so she went up and I got my sweater which had the ring in it.”

They celebrated with champagne and Ewell enjoyed another surprise when the boat returned to shore. “My entire family flew in and had sparklers and champagne and were jumping up and down,” the actress said. “The celebration isn’t complete without my family. It was a really special time.”

Ewell and Novlan married in 2015

Ewell and Novlan married in front of 200 of their closest family and friends in Los Angeles in September 2015, the couple told PEOPLE exclusively at the time.

The bride wore a Monique Lhuillier gown and the groom wore a Theory tux as Ewell’s uncle officiated. Rather than opting for a first look ahead of the ceremony, the couple saw each other for the first time when she walked down the aisle. “It was really important for both of us to have that real moment,” Ewell told PEOPLE. Novlan added: “It’s emotional!”

The newlyweds danced to “You Ain’t Alone” by the Alabama Shakes for their first dance, and Ewell’s grandfather sang “The Way You Look Tonight” for her father-daughter dance.

After their wedding, Novlan and Ewell flew to Belize for their honeymoon. He shared a snap on Instagram from the trip of the couple cave diving with the caption, “She's my ‘Indiana Jane.’ ”

Ewell and Novlan share two children

Ewell and Novlan welcomed their first child, daughter Poppy Marie, on July 16, 2019, and their son, Jones Douglas, followed on June 6, 2022.

“And just like that, our whole world has changed,” Ewell captioned a photo of herself holding Poppy in her hospital bed in 2019.

The actress has loved watching her husband step into the dad role. “It is the sexiest thing to watch Tanner be the best dad ever to Poppy. He is so involved and enthusiastic," she told Soap Opera Digest. "He teaches her so well, and she listens, and for me it’s just a different level of love.”

The couple wanted their kids to be close in age and were excited to welcome their son in 2022. "I really wanted to be a boy mom. I'm excited to meet him. It'll be fun," Ewell told PEOPLE when they announced her pregnancy.

Jones Douglas surprised the family, arriving seven weeks ahead of his due date, weighing just 3.9 pounds. "He couldn't wait to join us," Ewell wrote on Instagram, adding, "We're still processing all of this, but he & I are both healthy, and we couldn't be more excited to have him here with us."

On Jones' first birthday, Ewell shared an Instagram photo of the family celebrating with a rainbow-tiered cake. “Jones, being your Mama is such an adventure, I can’t wait for all that’s to come. 🎉,” Ewell wrote.

They enjoy couples costumes

In the decade since they’ve been married, Ewell and Novlan have dressed up in several couples costumes together, from famous celebrity duos to emojis. In 2024, Novlan shared on Instagram that the couple dressed in head-to-toe denim to impersonate Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards.

In another fun moment, the duo transformed into Squints and Wendy Peffercorn from The Sandlot for a Casamigos Halloween party in 2022, as Novlan shared on Instagram. 

The year before, they even involved their daughter in the fun, dressing as two chefs with Poppy in a cupcake costume.

They both worked on The Bold and the Beautiful and Roswell, New Mexico

While Novlan and Ewell are both known for their roles in the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, they appeared on the show at different times. Ewell played Caitlin Ramirez in 2004, while Novlan began his run on the show in 2020.

Ewell did help her husband out for some love scenes on the show, the couple told Soap Opera Digest. She served as the intimacy double for Novlan’s love interest in The Bold and the Beautiful during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It is difficult to build intimacy with someone across the room," Novlan said, which was part of the social distancing rules when filming picked back up. Since Ewell was not only a former cast member of the show but also his wife, she made for a perfect body and intimacy double, Novlan said. “It was amazing,” he shared.

Ewell and Novlan also both acted in Roswell, New Mexico. In March 2024, the couple appeared on a panel at Epic Cons in Chicago, where they reunited with the cast.

“This show felt like family, not just because my husband & I were able to work on the same project together but because the people, truly everyone involved, were some of the best,” Ewell wrote on Instagram. “Thanks for helping us honor a great work experience, this one was special.”