AJ Michalka Recalls ‘Very Sweet’ Breakup With 1st Boyfriend Joe Jonas on the Phone

AJ Michalka and Joe Jonas ended their teenage love story the way many start — on the telephone.

“We didn’t break up over text, [but] it was over a phone call,” Michalka, 34, recalled on the Thursday, January 8, episode of the “Podcrushed” podcast. “I feel like it was a very sweet, amicable [breakup]. I know that sounds crazy at that age.”

She continued, “It was sweet and, I think, it was mutual.”

Michalka and Jonas, now 36, dated in 2006 for nearly a year.

“We had also toured together, so we got to know each other on [the road],” she added. “That’s how it started.”

AJ and her older sister, Aly Michalka, had opened for Jonas’ own sibling band during the Jonas Brothers’ Living Room Tour. AJ’s connection with Jonas was her first-ever romantic relationship.

“We were, like, 15,” AJ previously said on “The Viall Files” podcast in 2023 when asked whether Jonas was a good kisser. “We were so young, eh, I think we were both sloppy and inexperienced.”

After AJ and Joe amicably called it quits, he moved on with the likes of Demi Lovato, Taylor Swift — who famously claimed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that he dumped in a 20-second voicemail — and Gigi Hadid. Jonas later married actress Sophie Turner in 2019, but filed for divorce in 2023. The now-exes, who share two daughters, settled their divorce the following year. Jonas has since moved on with model Tatiana Gabriela.

As for AJ, she has been in a relationship with actor Josh Pence since 2017. The pair even collaborated on Aly & AJ’s 2020 song “Dead on the Beach.”

“An open dialogue and open communication [helps us],” AJ said on “The Viall Files” at the time, detailing the secrets of her longtime relationship. “I think it’s hard when you’re touring and you’re on the road for three months and you’re not seeing your loved one consistently.”

She continued, “You have to have some sort of connection that you at least build virtually that can be your, like, ‘This is sustaining me for three months even if I’m not seeing this person.’ … It’s a really beautiful partnership, and he’s in the industry too, so he gets it even though he’s not a touring musician [but] an actor.”

AJ has also maintained a friendly dynamic with the “Cake by the Ocean” singer long after their 2006 breakup.

“I think that there is a friendship there that will always be there,” AJ told People in September 2025 of where she stands with Jonas. “We were together when our music careers were just taking off, so there’s a nuance that most people don’t understand. That’s kind of cool.”

AJ further praised how Jonas is able to balance his music career with his parenting responsibilities.

“He’s a dad now. He works really hard, and he still has a really good sense of humor.” AJ added last year. “And he is really kind.”

Joe and his brothers — Kevin and Nick Jonas — even invited the Michalka sisters to join them for a surprise duet during their Los Angeles Greetings From Your Hometown concert last fall.

“We were like, ‘Yes, of course.’ It was a really awesome moment,” AJ told People of accepting the performance invitation. “I think the fans were pleasantly surprised, and it had been so long that I think it was really refreshing for a lot of fans to see us back together, but he’s lovely. It was a really fun night.”