In March 2014, Dantes graduated from West Negros University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration Major in Marketing. On May 5, 2014, Dantes was appointed and sworn-in by President Benigno Aquino III as commissioner-at-large of the National Youth Commission. Two years later, he decided to resign as the NYC commissioner to give way for his endorsement for Grace Poe as president and Leni Robredo as vice president in the 2016 national elections.
Dantes proposed for the second time to his perennial leading lady and longtime girlfriend, Marian Rivera, on the Marian dance show on August 9, 2014. They met on the set of Marimar in 2007. His first proposal was in Macau in August 2012.
On December 30, 2014, Dantes married Rivera in the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Cubao, Quezon City. Both Dantes and Rivera are exclusive artists of GMA Network. After years of hard work and proven successes of their television projects, both individually or together, GMA gave them the honor of the title as their network's primetime king and queen. Thus, their wedding was given the title "The Royal Wedding". They announced an expected first child in April 2015; Rivera gave birth to Maria Letizia on November 23, 2015, and later gave birth to their second child Jose Sixto IV on April 16, 2019.