Sam Nivola and Iris Apatow are, without a doubt, one of Hollywood's cutest couples, and though they have been enjoying a nice private relationship up until now, all eyes have been on the pair after the premiere of The White Lotus season 3.
But what brought Sam Nivola and Iris Apatow together? And where exactly did they meet? Speaking to British Vogue, Nivola quipped that both he and Apatow belong to “some secret cabal of nepo kids who hang out in black robes—a little refresher, Nivola's parents are Emily Mortimer and Alessandro Nivola, while Apatow's are Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann—but nepo jokes aside, their genesis is, well, very much straight out of a movie.
In a conversation with Teen Vogue, Nivola revealed that the pair met through their mutual friend, Isa Barrett. The two had their meet-cute at a bar in London. It was love at first sight for him, but she was not interested at first. That serendipitous encounter has now progressed to the two moving in together and sharing a flat in New York City's East Village, where they are raising a cat named Kumo. (Fun fact: Kumo and Apatow were Nivola's lock screen when season 3 of The White Lotus premiered.)
“I'm so in love, and she's so amazing,” Nivola said about Apatow. “I think the thing about moving in with someone is that when you're this young, it's always like, ‘Oh my God, you're going to get sick of them.’ You're going to spend all day, every day together, and then it's going to be routine, and you're going to feel like you've been in a marriage for 30 years. I don't think that would happen with her anyway, just because we're so in love."
While Apatow is Nivola's first known partner (and the first romantic partner he's moved in with), Apatow has a brief known dating history herself, which is part of the reason she showed no interest at first, as Nivola confirmed. As noted by E! News, she was romantically linked to Ryder Robinson in 2022 and photographer Henry Haber in 2023. Nivola revealed that though she tried to get with Apatow after their London meeting, she had a boyfriend at the time and “was not having it,” and it wasn't until months later, when they broke up, that the two hit it off, so that gives you a slight indication of the timeframes.
Since then, though, Sam Nivola and Iris Apatow have been pretty much inseparable, and we have the full breakdown on their relationship timeline below—from their most recent update to the first time they made it official. (If you'd rather see the timeline in chronological order, just click here and scroll up!)
March 1, 2026: Iris Apatow and Sam Nivola made their joint awards debut
Iris Apatow and Sam Nivola jetted off from their cozy NYC nook to Los Angeles to attend the 32nd Annual Actor Awards. The duo posed on the red carpet together during what marked not only their first joint event of 2026 but their first award ceremony together ever! The duo posed in matching black outfits, Nivola's by Dior Men.
The duo attended the event because The White Lotus had racked up quite a few nominations for the night, including Ensemble in a Drama Series, so Apatow served as Nivola's plus-one. Given that Apatow is booked and busy, having just appeared in the final season of Tell Me Lies and about to star in Prime Video's ballerina thriller Pretty Lethal as well as the long-anticipated Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping movie, we have a feeling this won't be the last red carpet the duo graces together.
February 2026: Sam Nivola reveals the sweet gift he got Iris Apatow for her birthday
As part of the publication for Cold Worm Production, a new production house based in New York set up by Nivola, Maddie Schumacher, and Anthony Ertle, Nivola interviewed Apatow and took the chance to spill on the sweet gift he bought her for her 23rd birthday in October.
“This week, I sat down with the brilliantly talented, gorgeous, and devilishly funny young actress Iris Apatow. Funnily enough, I tend to ‘sit down’ with her at least once a day because she is in fact my girlfriend, and we do in fact live in the same apartment," Nivola wrote in his intro.
He then continued, “A few months ago was Iris's birthday, and I got her a Broadcast News poster signed by James Brooks that I found on eBay. I put it in a pink frame, and she loved it. Broadcast News means everything to her. It’s the movie that got her into movies, and furthermore, acting. Every actor has one, and they often hold a sacred and even holy place in their hearts.”
September 2025: Sam Nivola and Iris Apatow do promo parties together
In the middle of promo season, Sam Nivola brought Iris Apatow and her bestie Olivia Rodrigo as his guests to the HBO Max Primetime Emmy Awards Afterparty held in West Hollywood. The trio spent the night together, even posing for photographers during the celebration.
The week before, the duo was also spotted at the Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale premiere after-party at the New York Public Library. The duo posed together for the event, showing off he cool and casual style.
June 18, 2025: Sam Nivola and Iris Apatow are #CoupleGoals at a party
Sam Nivola and Iris Apatow were the cutest at a cocktail party held by CULTURED Magazine and Nivola's White Lotus costar Leslie Bibb at the Chelsea Hotel. The duo mingled and posed together for the event, and were later photographed getting cozy on a tiny sofa while looking at Apatow's phone. Do we think they were ordering their takeout for when they got home? Regardless, it's so cute seeing them act like only each other exists in a room full of people!
March 22, 2025: Iris Apatow posts a sweet selfie with Sam Nivola
Just days after having a Ratliff family reunion in NYC for St. Patrick's Day with Nivola's White Lotus costars, the couple enjoyed a weekend date in the city on their own, which Apatow immortalized with a sweet mirror selfie with full cheek-to-cheek action.
February 25, 2025: Sam Nivola and Iris Apatow attend the Gucci show in Milan together
A couple that does fashion week together stays together. Sam Nivola and Iris Apatow flew all the way to Milan to attend the Gucci fall-winter 2025/2026 show as part of MFW. The couple posed hand in hand, decked out in all Gucci for the occasion, with Apatow going for a monochrome pistachio green look. The duo enjoyed the show from the front row and sat beside Parker Posey, Nivola's on-screen mom on The White Lotus.
February 10, 2025: Iris Apatow supports Sam Nivola at the White Lotus season 3 premiere in Los Angeles
They might have their base in NYC, but Iris Apatow did not hesitate to fly out to the other side of the country to support Sam Nivola at the Los Angeles premiere of The White Lotus season 3. (Because, duh, of course, you want your partner to be at the premiere of the highly-anticipated show you've been waiting to premiere for years!)
Not only did the duo walk the red carpet together, but Apatow also joined Nivola for an afterparty held at Paramount Studios, where she wore his jacket to keep warm, making for an extremely cute coordinating couple moment.
Ah, and you know who also stopped by to support Nivola? Her dad, Judd Apatow. You can see the three posing with The White Lotus creator Mike White below:
January 2025: Sam Nivola and Iris Apatow ring in the new year with a star-studded vacation
Sam Nivola and Iris Apatow rang in 2025 alongside friends and other fellow star couples—namely Tate McRae and The Kid LAROI and Olivia Rodrigo and Louis Partridge. The three couples and more friends spent some time together in the Caribbean and documented it briefly on social media.
October 23, 2024: Iris Apatow and Sam Nivola attend the 2024 MoMA Film Benefit presented by Chanel in New York City
Is there anything chicer than NYC-based film-loving and film-bred lovebirds attending a film benefit at the MoMA? Well, perhaps Apatow's full Chanel look.
October 16, 2024: Sam Nivola and Iris Apatow attend the Burberry 57th Street store reopening in New York City
Earlier that month, Apatow traded the Chanel for Burberry as the two attended a reopening of the British brand's stores in the city. They, of course, both rocked Burberry for the occasion and were snapped smiling and strutting around the venue as if they had just stepped out of an ad.
August 2024: Iris Apatow posts a photo kissing Sam Nivola
In one of her summer photo dumps, which you can see below, Apatow included a sweet pic of herself giving Nivola, who already has lipstick stains on his face, a little smooch on the cheek.
Instagram content
June 26, 2024: Sam Nivola posts a picture of Iris Apatow kissing his cheek
Staying faithful to his B&W aesthetic, Nivola posted a photo dump that included a picture of Apatow giving him a kiss on the cheek.
Instagram content
May 17, 2024: Iris Apatow posts Sam Nivola for the first time on her socials
Apatow posted Nivola for the first time on her IG in May 2024, including a black and white picture of the two smiling together in a dump that also included Olivia Rodrigo. (You can see those pics here.)
April 7, 2024: Iris Apatow makes her debut on Sam Nivola's Instagram with The White Lotus BTS
Speaking to Teen Vogue, Nivola revealed Apatow actually visited him in Thailand while he was filming The White Lotus, calling her “a lifesaver.” The actor made sure to immortalize the moment, posting black and white pictures of his castmates and Apatow to his Instagram account. (You can see the pics here.)
Speaking to People about the experience of bringing Apatow along, Nivola said: “I brought my girlfriend for a few months, which was amazing. It was so great to have a taste of home because it was 10,000 miles away from home, and it was so nice of her to sacrifice that time to come be with me, and I’m incredibly grateful to her.” (For even more timeframe references, The White Lotus season 3 was filmed between February and August 2024.)
