IN PLAIN SIGHT?
Bridget Jones star Renée Zellweger fuels rumors she’s secretly engaged to Ant Anstead with bizarre bandage on left hand
Boyfriend Ant made a rare comment about their relationship in a recent TV interview
BRIDGET Jones star Renée Zellweger has continued to fuel engagement rumors at the latest screening of her new film.
The actress, 55, set tongues wagging two weeks ago at the world premiere of Mad About The Boy in London's Leicester Square when she wore a band-aid over her ring finger.
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Immediately fans speculated that her boyfriend Ant Anstead, 45, had popped the question.
Renée has done nothing to quash the rumors and in New York last night the band-aid was once again fixed firmly around the same finger.
She looked elegant in a stunning satin dress and gave the paparazzi a regal wave as she posed for pictures.
The bandaged finger was in line with her beaming smile as she carried out her promotional duties.
The couple, who began dating in 2021, largely keep their relationship private but Ant did make a very rare comment about his other half in an interview on the Jeremy Vine show last October.
Appearing via videolink from their LA home to promote his new discovery+ show, Born Mechanic, Ant took questions from stand-in host Vanessa Feltz in his stride.
She asked: "Everybody knows that you're in this relationship with the beloved, and she really is adored in this country, Renée Zellweger.
"Did you ask her to join you? She could have done a bit of light welding or pumped up a few tyres or something."
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Ant replied: "I met Renée on a show I host on the Discovery Channel. She was an episode one, blimey, four years ago now."
Going on to jokingly thank the network for their "dating services", he continued: "But unfortunately, while I was filming during the summer, she was also busy, so it didn't work out."
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Vanessa probed: "I think we've got some very vague idea of what she might have been busy doing. I mean, the whole country's waiting with bated breath for Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy.
"And we're hoping, of course, that she will fly over for the premiere and that you'll come with her, will you?"
Ant responded: "I know that the premiere is due to be, I believe, on Valentine's Day in February, so I'm sure there'll be some plans involving UK travel then. But nothing is confirmed."
Ant, who was a 22-year-old police constable when Renée starred in Bridget Jones's Diary all the way back in 2001, was then asked if he is a fan of the franchise.
He joked: "Blimey, that feels like a trap. I feel like the entire nation is a Bridget Jones fan.
"It's a duty for us Brits to be a Bridget Jones fan, so yes, I mean, it's not by any mistake that the movie it on its fourth movie, you know, great movies return and it is a great movie."
Vanessa then enquired whether it feels "weird" to be in a relationship that is "so minutely gazed upon by total strangers".
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After some thought, Ant answered: "I don't give it any time. I mean, ultimately, it is microscopically examined, I'm sure, but I don't really think about that. She's so incredibly normal and I often forget that she's famous."
Ant and Renée have been dating since 2021, when they met on the set of Discovery+ series, Celebrity IOU Joyride.
The series sees celebrities celebrate deserving people in their lives with refurbished cars.
Renée gave a car to twin brothers Jerome and Jerald, who had looked after her friend and former publicist Nanci Ryder after she was diagnosed with ALS.
Ant later teased the romance by telling People: “I'm really grateful to the show because these amazing things happen in your world and sometimes when things collide, they collide at the most obscure times when you least expect them, and that's what happened in this case."
The couple went public with their relationship that July, but have largely kept their romance out of the spotlight.
However, both have been seen supporting each other’s projects, and sometimes give rare glimpses into their life online.
Ant is a father of three children from his previous marriages, Archie, Amelie and Hudson, and often shares pictures of them on his Instagram account.
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He’s teased his toddler son, Hudson, calls her ‘NayNay’, and she celebrates holidays with the family.
In 2023, he shared a picture of Renée with teens Archie and Amelie as they attended a ball together.
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