Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper share a moment at the Oscars. Photo / Getty
It was the 2019 Oscars moment that set tongues wagging — had Lady Gaga and her A Star Is Born co-star Bradley Cooper's on-screen romance spilt over into real life?
The pair took to the stage for one of the most anticipated moments in yesterday's ceremony, performing their hit duet Shallow for only the second time in public.
Even devoted fans of the film were stunned by the pair's undeniable sexual chemistry:
Gaga gazed at her co-star adoringly as he opened the song, before he joined her behind the piano, embracing her as they sang in unison.
As the song finished, the camera closed in tight on Gaga and Cooper's faces, the pair lingering just millimetres from each other and looking like they'd kiss any second.
Spice Girl Melanie B even ludicrously accused Gaga of breaking "women's code"with the performance, which she found "uncomfortable" to watch.
"See, I felt so uncomfortable for Bradley's girlfriend, oh my gosh," she said during a British TV appearance today.
But candid unseen photos form inside the Dolby Theatre show that perhaps we should all cool it with our Gaga/Cooper erotic fan fiction.
Here's Cooper giving Shayk a big kiss as he and Gaga return to their seats following the performance.
And Gaga giving Shayk a kiss on the cheek.
And finally, Gaga and Shayk warmly embracing.
Hardly the salacious love triangle the internet is frothing over. It makes sense that Gaga and Cooper would pour every last bit of energy into the performance — the Oscars were the final victory lap for A Star Is Born, a film that pundits speculated before release could be Gaga's own Glitter but ended up a critically acclaimed, near-half-billion-dollar worldwide box office hit.
Speaking to news.com.au's Andrew Bucklow after winning the Oscar for Best Original Song yesterday, Gaga explained that she and Cooper had given her one Marie Kondo-esque direction for the performance.
"What Bradley said to me yesterday right before we did our last rehearsal for this performance of Shallow … He said, 'Let's just drop a little bit of joy.' And I said, 'OK'."
Mission accomplished.
New York Times: The Forrest Gump stars were game to reunite for an experimental film.