Trevor Noah traveled home for the holidays and brought along a very special guest: Minka Kelly!
On Wednesday. Dec. 29, he posted on his Instagram a photo of himself with the actress and several other people at a birthday party for his best friend Xolisa Dyeshana, who works in Johannesburg, the Daily Show host's hometown in South Africa. Earlier this month, celebrity gossip Instagram account Deux Moi featured a fan submission of a reported sighting of Trevor and Minka on a flight to Johannesburg.
The 2022 Grammys host's post marked the first time he has shared a photo of the Friday Night Lights actress.
Trevor, 37, and Minka, 41, began dating in 2020 and broke up this past summer. However, the two were soon spotted vacationing together in St. Barts and in June, were seen walking together in New York City, sparking rumors of a reconciliation.
"Things are going well between them. They are taking things slowly," a source close to Minka told E! News at the time. "They really like each other but needed to take a step back and slow things down."
The insider continued, "They are just enjoying going on dates and seeing what happens."
In September, Trevor and Minka were seen walking together in New York City again, this time with her dog.
The stars have not commented on the status of their relationship, which they have always kept private.
Trevor has also rarely spoken publicly about his love life. In 2019, he said on SiriusXM's The Howard Stern Show that he is "not opposed" to marriage but is also "a big advocate for not living together ever, even if you're married."
He added, "I think one of the biggest reasons people get divorces and relationships break up is because of this cohabiting bulls--t that we've come to believe is the way relationships are supposed to be."
Trevor is not the first fellow celeb to date Minka. See Minka's romantic history below:
The actress began dating the Daily Show host in mid-2020. The two broke up around May 2021 but weeks later, appeared to be back on when they were spotted walking in NYC together. In December 2021, he brought her home to Johannesburg, South Africa for a holiday trip.
Before going on to have her perfect cheerleader world turned upside down as Lyla Garrity on Friday Night Lights, Kelly dated Faison right after his first marriage, to Lisa Askey, ended in 2005.
Aside from photographic evidence that she and the Scrubs star were cuddly in public, however, neither actor ever went on to kiss and tell, and Faison met future wife CaCee Cobb not long after he and Kelly broke up.
She found another discreet partner in crime in FNL co-star Taylor Kitsch, whom she was rumored to be dating in real life just as Lila and Tim Riggins were falling for each other on the show.
Well, at least fans got to see them steam up the screen. "I think [Tim] is probably the love of [Lyla's] life. I don't know, maybe they do end up back together, maybe he gets his s--t together, and they work things out," Kelly mused to Vanity Fair last year for the 10th anniversary of FNL's premiere.
She said of her fellow cast mates, "It's not like we are texting each other all the time, but we certainly check in with each other every so often, and we're like a little family. It's not hard to hear about what's going on with any of them."
Kelly first dated Evans in 2007, back when he was just the Human Torch—albeit an impressive Human Torch. Dueling schedules prompted an amicable split.
With Kelly firmly established as the toast of young Hollywood, it was time for the age-old rite of passage: dating John Mayer. She had a brief fling with the musician in the fall of 2007 that was over by New Year's, but they reportedly remained friendly. Maybe that's another reason why she never has a cross (or kind, or any) word to say about her exes—she prefers to avoid the stress of a public feud and keep it amicable.
Also, you get a free pass to go on about Mayer after the fact, but...nope. Not a word from Kelly.
"Minka told a couple friends that she and John had broken up but she really didn't want to tell anyone," a source told People in early January 2008, at least a month after the breakup.
Mildly thickening the plot for a hot second was Kelly's pizza date with the That '70s Show star in May 2008—but her rep actually denied that they were dating, a rare nugget of information.
Not an actor or singer, but easily one of the biggest sports stars in the world and perhaps the sporting world's most endearing bachelor. When not involved in a relationship with a fellow bold-faced name, the New York Yankee handled his off-the-field playtime like a champ, leaving fellow athletes like Alex Rodriguez to make the more salacious headlines.
Jeter made headlines with Kelly, of course, whenever they were out on dates, or on vacation or when she was in the stands at a Yankees game. Yet somehow...they had a relatively low-key adventure together, so they were kindred spirits in that respect.
It wasn't shocking in hindsight when they broke up for good in 2011, as they were based in different states and Jeter's career was priority No. 1 (he put off even getting engaged to Hannah Davis until after he retired in 2014), but apparently Kelly was a little blindsided after they had maintained a steady off-and-back-on status for more than three years. But no muss, no fuss on the surface.
"They kept their relationship very, very quiet—there are no rumors of cheating, nothing," a source told E! News at the time. "And Minka is handling this the way she handles everything. She's a down-to-earth, real person, a sweetheart, and this took her by surprise."
She must have also found Jeter's eye-on-the-prize attitude to be most attractive, having told Men's Health in 2009, "A man has to be passionate about something. He has to be focused and genuine. He has to have drive. I really believe that our careers are our first loves. And I think a career should be as important for him as it is for me. And that we should be able to understand that we come second."
So breaking up with the 14-time All-Star didn't put her off of famous, ambitious guys, nor did her most high-profile relationship to date snap her streak of moving on with utmost discretion. It would've been her prerogative to give a big post-split, "I'm fine now!" interview, but that's not her style.
With Jeter out of the picture, the timing couldn't have been better to link Kelly to her Charlie's Angels co-star, but as the show fizzled upon arrival, so did the romance rumors.
About seven months after Jeter flied out to right, Kelly was spotted in Australia with the That '70s Show star in April 2012, while he was on the outs with Demi Lovato.
They didn't get serious, though, and Wilmer reconciled with Demi later that year.
Now a full-fledged Captain in the Marvel Universe, Evans popped back into the picture in late 2012—and he stayed there for another year, before busyness once again prompted an undramatic split in 2013. But they stayed friends, sparking rekindling rumors in 2014 and again in 2015.
Though Evans has talked about other ex-girlfriends (he sang Jenny Slate's praises, for instance), he has been no help in cracking the code of what it's like to date Minka Kelly.
And Kelly had once again proved herself right to not autopsy a relationship in public, because you never know when you might want to give it another shot.
After the barely single Oscar winner was spotted at Kelly's 35th birthday dinner in July 2015, headlines were awash in speculation that the pair, who knew each other from past charitable endeavors, were a new item.
This one proved to be a little much for the actress.
"Not my nature to address gossip but hoping this last one goes away already. Not dating a friend I had a group dinner with. #sillymedia," she tweeted.
It's funny, really, that she has such a connection with the onetime king of kissing and telling.
Kelly and Valderrama, newly single again, picked up where they left off four years prior and took off for Mexico together in September 2016.
Yet Kelly insisted that looks were entirely deceiving—both times! "He's a good friend to me," she said in a Power 106 interview just days after spending Labor Day weekend with Wilmer in Cabo. "And it's funny—he's not my ex. We are good friends, and we always have been. We're not exes!" She added, "Wilmer's a really, really good person, and any woman would be lucky to have him."
According to Us Weekly, these two had a blinked-and-you-missed-it romance after things ended (or didn't end, because nothing was ever going on) with Wilmer.
They met doing voice-over work for the video game Detroit: Become Human earlier this year and are now "dating exclusively," according to a source.
And while mum has been the word for Kelly, of course, as they've only just progressed to being spotted together in public, Williams was compelled to provide a little clarification since he just filed for divorce from his wife of almost five years in April.
"I was in a relationship 13 years, 13 real years, not 5 years, not 7 years, 13 years and all of a sudden mother f---kers are writing think-pieces that I somehow threw a 13-year relationship," the Grey's Anatomy star opened up in Footnotes for 4:44, a companion video to Jay Z's latest album just released via Tidal. "Like thee most painful experience I've had in my life like with a person I've loved with all of my heart—that I threw a person and my family in the trash because a girl I work with is cute."