Taylor Zakhar Perez is singing Joey King’s praises! 360aproko spoke with the 28-year-old actor amid speculation that he and his Kissing Booth 2 co-star are dating. While Zakhar Perez had nothing but kind words for the 21-year-old actress, he denied romance rumors between the pair.
“We just kind of hit it off. When we were in South Africa, we had dinner together,” he said. “I cooked for her, she cooked for me. We just became kind of like the best of friends.”
As for what sparked their initial friendship, Zakhar Perez pointed to the fact that he was new to the cast, which included King’s ex-boyfriend, Jacob Elordi.
“I’m sure it was odd for her to go back into a production with someone that she dated,” he remarked. “And so me being this new castmate and Joel [Courtney] being there and Meganne [Young], we kind of just all meshed really well together.”
That friendship continued into quarantine, when the pair leaned on each other throughout isolation.
“When we got back to Los Angeles we just kept hanging out. We live really near each other,” he explained. “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.”
After taking precautionary measures, like getting tested for COVID-19, Zakhar Perez and a group of friends, which included King, embarked on a recent getaway. The actor shared pics from the adventure on Instagram, which caused the internet to go “crazy,” something he said “cracked [King and I] up.”
“Last weekend we went to celebrate her birthday and a friend of mine’s birthday,” he explained. “We just went together and had a good time.”
“I love her. I love her dearly. I’d do anything for her,” he added, before stating, “We’re not dating. I’ll end it with that.”
