Is Karl Cook the new man in Kaley Cuoco’s life? The Big Bang Theory star sparked rumors of a new romance with a series of Instagram snaps that showed her cozying up to the professional equestrian — and billionaire’s son — this week.
Cuoco famously split from her husband of less than two years, tennis player Ryan Sweeting, last fall. Just this past January, Us Weekly linked her romantically to actor Paul Blackthorne, but if that romance was ever real, neither Cuoco nor Blackthorne ever confirmed it.
Cook and Cuoco share a love of horses as both compete in the sport in prominent shows. In her time off from The Big Bang Theory , Cuoco is often seen at riding events around Los Angeles. In a 2010 interview with Phelps Sports , Cook, then 18-years-old, said he’d been riding since he was young, and that his family has always owned horses. E! Online reported this week that both Cook’s mother and his sister have competed in the sport of horse riding.
Kaley Cuoco and Karl Cook continue to add fuel to those romance rumors… https://t.co/FmlxfU9pfc pic.twitter.com/vRz7vQEl26
— E! Online (@eonline) April 2, 2016
Karl Cook’s father is entrepreneur Scott Cook, whom Forbes reports is worth approximately $2 billion. Scott Cook is a co-founder of the software company Intuit , whose current offerings include the tax preparation software TurboTax, the accounting software QuickBooks, and the personal finance website Mint . Intuit is publicly traded on NASDAQ .
Cook had a spectacular career as a young equestrian. At the time of the 2010 interview, he was studying Political Science at the University of Santa Clara. He had withdrawn from studies to pursue equestrian competitions in Europe, but had planned to return. By the time of a 2012 interview with The Chronicle of the Horse , Cook had gone through a professional slump, but was sticking with his sport.
“It sounds silly, but I didn’t know how to do anything else. I really didn’t want to go to school, so it was either that and be very unhappy, or really get after riding.”
Part of what got Cook on the right track was partnering with a new trainer. At the time of the Chronicle piece, Cook had just pulled off a significant win. The article noted that Cook competed, at that time, as an amateur equestrian.
Cuoco has also been a rider for many years, since her youth. She suffered a serious injury a few years back, but didn’t let it stop her from continuing with one of her favorite activities. She often talks about her horses in media interviews and shares pictures with fans.
Kaley Cuoco posts snuggly pictures with billionaire’s son – and equestrian hunk – Karl Cook https://t.co/q4wxGLl7D4 pic.twitter.com/ngEiPpxU5l
— People Magazine (@people) April 1, 2016
So, did Kaley Cuoco actually say anything that would hint at a new relationship? The captions of the Instagram photos featuring her and Cook — Cuoco means “cook” in Italian, which led E! Online to conclude that “he might already have the perfect last name” — didn’t reveal much. On one picture where Cook has his arm around Cuoco and plants a kiss on her forehead, she simply wrote, “we absolutely mastered the ways of the #selfiestick.”
On Friday, Cuoco mentioned her own jumping activities by posting a photo of her own horse engaged in mid-stride . The caption says simply, “getting ready for next week!!”
The Big Bang Theory airs new episodes every Thursday night at 8 p.m. on CBS.
[Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images]
