Inside Hallmark's Victor Webster & Shantel VanSanten's Divorce

Hallmark co-stars-turned-IRL-married-couple Victor Webster and Shantel VanSanten went all out for their 2021 nuptials. However, in 2023, the couple went their separate ways. And, while neither actor has spoken about the cause of the divorce, there are some clues. 

Back in 2021, VanSanten spoke to Brides about her and Webster's decision to have three weddings. As she explained to the outlet, they'd already planned on ceremonies in both California and Minnesota to make it possible for family who couldn't travel to attend. However, VanSanten suffered a tragic loss just before the wedding, so they decided to do a civil ceremony on her grandparents' wedding anniversary as well, at the Pasadena City Hall. The story shared with the outlet indicated a super sweet, touchingly close relationship — so it certainly came as a shock when court documents revealed that they'd split in 2023. 

The first to file was Webster. In April 2023, TMZ reported that he'd named January 10, 2023, as the separation date. However, there wasn't much else to go on. In fact, the outlet noted that Webster hadn't even confirmed if the reason for the split was irreconcilable differences. Granted, a few months later, in a filing of her own, VanSanten revealed that it was the case. As was reported by People in June 2023, VanSanten named irreconcilable differences and revealed that they were in mediation. 

While many former celebrity couples issue statements on their divorces, to date, neither Victor Webster nor Shantel VanSanten has done so. Far from it, other than the court filings which noted they were in mediation, they've kept almost all details relating to it under wraps. 

In light of that, there's a decent chance we'll never know exactly what prompted their split. However, in the wake of their engagement, VanSanten had told People that they had quite a few differences in their personalities — and that might have played a role in their parting ways. For starters, where VanSanten preferred staying in, she shared that her then-fiance was an avid adventurer. VanSanten also pointed out that neither of them was willing to budge in disagreements. "When it comes to making decisions, we can be fire and fire," she said. Granted, they tended to come around, so perhaps that wasn't a factor. 

One sure thing is that around the time of the separation, Webster had posted a cryptic message to Instagram about faking smiles to dupe himself into believing he was happy. VanSanten took a nearly year-long hiatus from IG around the same time. As for her return in January 2024, she didn't mention the divorce but did point out that she faced a ton of loss the year prior — no doubt referring to both the split and losing an aunt to cancer. 

While Victor Webster and Shantel VanSanten never had kids together, they did share a dog named Nova — and it's safe to say, she was the apple of both of their eyes. Luckily, though, the split hasn't seen either one of them lose custody. 

Webster's Instagram posts with Nova never waned in the wake of the divorce news. In fact, on the day of his and VanSanten's separation, he posted a picture of the two of them on a gloomy weather stroll. In the time since many more pics have followed, and it seems he's been able to get his outdoor fix with the gorgeous pup. As he captioned one Instagram post, "Always exploring with my adventure buddy." As for VanSanten, the former "One Tree Hill" cast member was absent from IG for almost a year post-separation, since returning, she's shared pictures of herself kissing the dog, and another of the two of them having coffee with her mom. 

As with most of the divorce, the arrangement over Nova hasn't been spoken about publicly, and we're not banking on that changing. However, we're glad to know that even amidst the divorce, both actors continue to have her in their lives. Whatever happened between Webster and VanSanten, we're wishing them both peace going forward.