Renee Zellweger Opens up About Her Relationship With Ant Anstead

Renée Zellweger is opening up about the “serendipity” that brought her and boyfriend Ant Anstead together on the set of his show Celebrity IOU: Joyride. The Thing About Pam actress told Harper’s Bazaar in a new profile that Brad Pitt actually had a role in her romance with Anstead after inspiring her to go on the show as a guest. 

While filming Judy, Zellweger recalled watching Property Brothers Drew and Jonathan Scott on an episode of Celebrity IOU with Pitt after the actor nominated his makeup artist for a garage renovation. Zellweger was then inspired to give back to twin nurses Jerome and Jerald Cowan, who cared for her good friend, publicist Nanci Ryder, during her battle with ALS before she passed away in 2020.

The Oscar-winner told the publication that after meeting Anstead during filming, the couple still wonders if Ryder was the one who ultimately brought them together. “Yeah, we do joke about that,” she said. “She’s always doing her best. It made me smile. It made me smile to think on this, yeah, the serendipity of it all.”

Zellweger and Anstead were first romantically linked in June 2021, nearly a year after his split from ex-wife Christina Haack. In September, the Wheeler Dealers alum told PEOPLE, “Renée and my relationship is something that’s really private. It’s something I’m not really willing to talk too much about. It’s really early in our relationship and I don’t want to put any pressure on that.”

An insider added to the outlet at the time, “Renée is creative … and often goes for guys who think out of the box. She’s smart, thoughtful and always looking to expand horizons and nurture those around her. …Both of them are private and dislike public scrutiny, so they have that in common. He’s a creative guy with lots of interests, and she likes to write and produce, so they have things to talk about when together.”

In October, Anstead shared a photo kissing his girlfriend to Instagram after taking a trip to New Orleans. “WOW there is something very special about New Orleans! The late night wandering, the mind blowing history this nerd loves, the architecture, the blend of cultures, the food, the people, the smells and noises!” he wrote in the caption. “All made made better by magical company to share it with…. [heart].”