Why Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas Are One of Hollywood’s Coolest Pairs

Once upon a time a Jonas Brother shocked the world by revealing he’d proposed to a well-known actress. 

Nope, not that one.

What withNick Jonas marrying Priyanka Chopra over and over again, it was easy to lose track of the fact that his older brother put a ring on it first. In fact, Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner had been celebrating their engagement for 14 full months before Nick and Priyanka began collecting wedding receptions like some newlyweds acquire place settings. 

The singer-actor’s romance with the former Miss World champ turned international actress and philanthropist certainly captivates, even earning the freshly minted bride and groom their own Vogue cover. And Jonas’ decision to gift his wife a $199,000 Mercedes Maybach a handful of months into their union just ’cause places them squarely in the oh-so-desirable “goals” category.

But dare we say it’s Joe and Sophie’s love story—now adding a new chapter—that’s most covetable. 

Because, let’s be real, not many celebs have the star power to turn the Billboard Music Awards into the opening act for their surprise Vegas vows.

Not long after taking the stage alongside his reunited bandmates at the event last May—and just weeks before their planned vows in southern France—Joe and his bride were off to the chapel and they went and got married in a ceremony complete with an Elvis impersonator, the exchange of Ring Pops and Diplo acting as unofficial videographer. Country music duo Dan + Shay even serenaded them down the aisle with their song “Speechless,” and then everyone joined in for a big bash at the MGM Mansion.

The whole extravaganza, while not exactly unplanned, was just as breezy as their origin story.

Noting they “have a lot of mutual friends” who had “been trying to introduce us for a long time,” the British actress (a.k.a. Game of Thrones‘ Sansa Stark) told Harper’s Bazaar UK she and the DNCE vocalist, 30, were following each other on Instagram when “he direct-messaged me one fine day, out of the blue.”

So, no, it wasn’t mutual pal Hailee Steinfeld that played matchmaker, though it’s a rumor she doesn’t hate.

“Are they saying that? I will totally take credit for that, if they are saying it,” she shared last October on The Tonight Show. Because she did play a role. 

Since she had teamed up with DNCE for their 2015 hit “Rock Bottom”, she told host Jimmy Fallon, “I definitely got the, like, ‘Tell me about Joe Jonas’ call. Sophie and I have been friends for years. She’s one of my favorite humans. And Joe, same. Joe and I worked together a couple years ago, and he is also a wonderful person and it worked.”

The 23-year-old called, remembered Steinfeld “cause she knew that I knew him and sort of asked for my opinion. I gave her the truth.” While Steinfeld neglected to details the specifics of the chat, the overview was clear. As she summed up during a January 2018 sit-down with Nova 96.9’s Smallzy, “I was like, ‘Go for it.'” 

So, Turner up and went. 

The native of New Jersey by way of Arizona already possessed Sophie’s most-desired trait in a mate. As someone who’s been squarely in the spotlight since her 2011 GOT debut at age 16 it just seemed easier to date someone who got “it,” the fact that her time wasn’t always hers and sometimes they would need to make do with on-the-fly dates and Facetime catch-ups. 

“I found it easier to date someone who understands the industry or is in that world,” she noted to In Style in 2017. “You realize that you’re not going to see each other all the time. And you don’t feel like a jerk when you’re like, ‘My publicist says I can’t do this…'”

As for Sophie, she had the requisite easy-going nature Joe was after (“I would say she’s gotta have a sense of humor and find my weird sense of humor funny,” he told People of his ideal gal) and the ability to pass his patented girlfriend barometer. 

“The biggest test is bringing her around friends because I have friends who are really tough about new people—we have a really tight circle,” he explained to the mag months before they began dating in 2016. “You bring them around friends and see if they can handle themselves well—that’s usually a good test.”

And so Joe, who just that summer had told Us Weekly, “I’m dating, but nothing serious. I’m really trying to just focus on myself and the music,” found himself falling hard. As he joined Sophie at a friend’s 2016 Halloween party (she clad as a bunny; he a Dalmatian) and a pre-MTV European Music Awards Kings of Leon concert in the Netherlands that November he realized this romance wasn’t destined to be like the others. 

“They’re dating exclusively,” a source told People. “He was playing the field, but he really likes her and is willing to settle down for her.” 

That meant integrating her into his famous fam (she joined him on a group ski trip to Mammoth; he met her teacher mom Sally and dad Andrew, an employee at a pallet distribution company at a North London pub near their home in Warwickshire) and even going Instagram official, Sophie posting a photo of her guy casually lounging on the back of a boat in Miami while smoking a cigar.

And by January 2017, they had advanced to the making out at a Golden Globes party level of devoted. 

“Joe is taking this relationship very seriously,” an insider told People. “She’s different from the other girls he has dated.”

But while their union has all the earmarks of a Serious Relationship, the pair committing to a shared husky puppy before Joe slipped an impressive pear-shaped diamond on her left hand in October 2017, it’s anything but stuffy. 

Their matching tattoos—the hallmark of any important twentysomething relationship—came from their shared love of Toy Story and his 2018 Halloween costume was a take on his fiancée’s fame-making character. (Proving she possesses not one ounce of pretension, the actress opted for an elephant onesie when the duo turned out at Kate Hudson‘s annual bash.) The look, complete with a redheaded wig could be seen more as homage than sendup but Sophie has said she appreciates someone who can take the piss out of her, so to speak. 

“I have a lot of friends who were brought up in the UK like me [who] are working in L.A. as actors. When I go over, I’m giving them s–t and being sarcastic. They’re like, ‘Thank god,'” she shared with UK’s Marie Claire in 2017. “They’re stuck in this place where everyone is so far up your arse. It’s a business town, it’s understandable. But sometimes you just need someone to tell you that you’re not a f–king superstar.”

And while both she and Joe are thrilled to have identified their lifelong companion, neither subscribes to the notion that becoming a spouse is the pinnacle of their accomplishments. 

“I’m still like, Holy s–t! I’m engaged,” she admitted to Marie Claire last year. “There’s this weird misconception that being married is the greatest thing that’ll ever happen to you. But I’ve always found that my career is something I work for, and when I achieve something, there’s a sense that this is the greatest thing I’ll do in my life. It’s lovely to be engaged. Not like I achieved anything, but I found my person, like I’d find a house that I love and want to stay in forever. There’s a sense of peace that comes with finding your person. But there’s a drive that comes with your career.”

Not as though that made them any less stoked about tying the knot. 

Having watched both Nick and older brother Kevin Jonas enter into matrimony (the eldest Jo Bro wed bride Danielle Jonas at New York’s Oheka Castle when he was just 22), he’s now an expert level groom. “They were both absolutely beautiful,” Joe said of their nuptials during an appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden. “All 18 of Nick’s were amazing. For Kevin, Kevin had a snowstorm during his wedding, which was fantastic. So maybe don’t get married in December. And for Nick, there were quite a few but I would say stick to one. One and done.” 

Okay, maybe two. 

Because the quirky Vegas bash proved to be a precursor to the duo’s long-planned French nuptials, a way to make it all nice and legal that was more fun than a visit to the justice of peace. 

“We had to do a legal marriage before we did a real big one,” Jonas told Harper’s Bazaar in June. “It was either the courthouse, or our version, and I preferred our version. Friends, Elvis, and Ring Pops.”

Their June 29 extravaganza was far more elaborate, with Turner donning a flower-embroidered tulle and silk gazar custom Louis Vuitton gown to wed her groom at Château de Tourreau, but no still heavy on the levity. Following a reception DJed by Diplo (who kept his iPhone in his pocket this go-round), the pair hosted an after-party with enough French fries, burgers and chicken fingers to soak up any damage from the many open bars. “Sophie and Joe wanted their wedding to be a huge party,” said an insider. 

Naturally their nearest and dearest were fully chuffed to watch the duo ink their permanent relationship status and they’re even more thrilled with this latest development, with multiple sources telling E! News that Turner is expecting. 

Because who wouldn’t be psyched that such a strong duo are becoming a trio? “They truly are the best couple,” another source told E! News, “and everyone is obsessed with them together.”

Count us amongst good company, then. 

(Originally published May 2, 2019 at 7:00 a.m. PT)