Shanna Moakler revealed she’s been quietly dating soap opera star Greg Vaughan since fall 2023 but she’s now ready to publicly profess her love.
“We’ve both been through the highs and lows of public relationships, and after living in the Hollywood spotlight for so long, we really just wanted something for us,” Moakler, 50, told the Daily Mail on Thursday, April 17. “No pressure, no headlines — just real moments, privately shared.”
The model revealed it’s been “so refreshing to build something healthy, peaceful, and full of joy without the noise.” Moakler noted, “Sometimes the best love stories grow quietly and that’s exactly what we needed.”
While Moakler only recently announced her and Vaughan’s relationship — she made it Instagram official last month — they have known each other for decades.
“Greg and I actually first met in 1994 in South Beach when we were both aspiring models,” she recalled, revealing that she and the Days of Our Lives star, 51, “had a little Miami moment and briefly dated” before they were pulled in different directions.
Three years after they first met, Moakler and Vaughan costarred in Poison Ivy: The New Seduction. In the decades since, the pair have “run into each other in Los Angeles, on set, or through mutual friends,” Moakler said.
While she said “nothing ever really lined up” that changed when the two crossed paths again in November 2023 at Jason Momoa’s vodka launch.
Despite being happy with the former General Hospital actor, Moakler confessed it “wasn’t easy” at first since they lived in separate states. Vaughan was in Texas, while Moakler resided in California.
“We’re both back and forth between Texas and Los Angeles for work and family, but we’ve found a rhythm that really works,” she said, confirming she relocated to Texas in September 2024 to be closer to her boyfriend.
More than one year into their relationship, Moakler is feeling like she hit the jackpot. “This feels like a mature love built on honesty, mutual respect, and real communication,” she shared. “In the past, those things weren’t always present. With Greg, there’s no drama, no guessing.”
Moakler noted that the couple shows up for each other “in the most genuine way,” calling Vaughan a “rare soul” who understands her. “He didn’t break my heart, but somehow he managed to heal it, and that says everything,” she continued.
“He’s my best friend, my safe space, and the person I can totally be myself around, no filter needed,” Moakler concluded. “Plus, he’s a hardworking, loving dad with that classic southern charm. Chivalry is definitely not dead with him!”
Prior to her relationship with Vaughan, Moakler has been in several high-profile romances. She was engaged to Oscar De La Hoya, with whom she shares daughter Atiana, 26, from 1998 to 2000. Moakler then married Travis Barker in 2004.
Moakler and Barker, 49, filed for divorce in 2006, but briefly reconciled. They parted ways for good in 2008. Moakler shares son Landon, 21, and daughter Alabama, 19, with the Blink 182 drummer.
Moakler has since romance Hells Angels biker Bryan Sollima and had an on-off relationship with Matthew Rondeau that ended in 2023.
Vaughan, meanwhile, was married to Touriya Haoud from 2006 to 2014. The exes share three sons, Jathan, Cavan and Landan. The soap star was most recently in a relationship with Angie Harmon. The pair got engaged in December 2019, but called it quits two years later.