Barbie and Ken: Inside their sweet and sour romantic journey

Barbie and Ken share a decades-long love story with many ups and downs since 1961 when they first crossed paths with each other for the very first time while shooting a commercial.

Amid release of one of the most talked about films of this year Barbie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as leads, let’s take a look at Barbie and Ken’s iconic love story.

Barbie and Ken’s creator Mattel revealed that they first met while filming a commercial together in 1961 and subsequently fell in love. However, after nearly four decades of being a beloved couple, their relationship hit a rough patch, and they decided to take a break, spending some time apart.

Talking of their romance, Russell Arons, then vice president of marketing at Mattel said, “Like other celebrity couples, their Hollywood romance has come to an end.”

He noted that Barbie and Ken realized that it was “time to spend some quality time apart” while alluding that Ken not proposing Barbie despite 40 years of relationship may have played a significant role in their breakup.

Soon after Barbie moved on with an Australian boogie boarder named Blaine and maintained friendly bond with her ex. It took Ken two years to realize that he was still in love with Barbie and in an effort to win her back, opted for a complete makeover.

Speaking of his makeover, Phillip Bloch, Hollywood stylist and Mattel consultant said back in 2006, said, “Ken has revamped his life—mind, body, and soul. Everyone knows how difficult it is to change, especially when you’ve lived your life a certain way for more than four decades.”

Bloch said Ken’s new look was “world European,” before revealing that main inspiration behind changing his appearance was to woo Barbie by “looking hot.” But it still took Ken seven years to reconcile his romance with Barbie and finally on Valentine’s Day, he was able to win her back after meeting her on the set of Toy Story 3.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Lisa McKnight, vice president of marketing at Mattel enthralled Barbie fans by revealing, “As we like to put it, they found they were kind of missing each other.

“They had a lot of fun together. Now a little time has passed since the shoot and all the premiere noise around the movie and all that good stuff, and I think they both realized that they’re made for each other,” she added.

The duo is still together but Ken seems to be confused about putting a ring on Barbie’s fingers.