Renee Zellweger's surprising new romance with reality star Ant Anstead

BANG! Showbiz

25 Jun, 2021 10:20 PM3 mins to read

Renee Zellweger attends The Women's Cancer Research Fund's An Unforgettable Evening 2020 at Beverly Wilshire. Photo / Getty Images

Renee Zellweger is reportedly dating British reality star Ant Anstead.

The 52-year-old actress met the 42-year-old presenter on the set of his Discovery Plus show, "Celebrity IOU Joyride", and it has been claimed the pair hit it off during filming and have begun a relationship together.

According to TMZ, Zellweger returned to set after filming to deliver some work boots to Ant, and from there the new couple kept in touch and subsequently began dating.

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The couple will likely keep their romance out of the spotlight, as Zellweger said last year she wanted to take a break from her career in the public eye in order to focus on her personal life.

She said: "I'm sitting still for a second. I got to take care of some dogs and get over this flu and then I'll think about some other things."

Zellweger previously took six years away from the spotlight in 2010, after she decided to prioritise her mental health.

In 2019, she explained: "I wasn't healthy. I wasn't taking care of myself. I was the last thing on my list of priorities."

The "Bridget Jones's Baby" star went to therapy during her time away from fame, and said the professional help allowed her to navigate her emotions.

She added: "He recognised that I spent 99 per cent of my life as the public persona and just a microscopic crumb of a fraction in my real life. I needed to not have something to do all the time, to not know what I'm going to be doing for the next two years in advance. I wanted to allow for some accidents. There had to be some quiet for the ideas to slip in."

Zellweger viewed her break as "important".

She said: "I had a good five-year period when I was joyful and in a new chapter that no one was even aware of. Six years. It was important, that time. It's a quieter life, and I love it."