Are Renée Zellweger and Ant Anstead Getting Married? He Says...
Renée Zellweger's longtime boyfriend, Ant Anstead, has addressed speculation about whether the couple plans to tie the knot after five years of dating, stating, "We don’t need the pressure of a label."
The Oscar winner currently has no wedding plans in her diary. Anstead, who frequently refers to her as " ," confirmed they are not rushing down the aisle. "I still believe in marriage, but right now we’re really happy," Anstead, previously married to Louise Storey from 2005 to 2017 and to from , shared in a July 24 interview. "We don’t need the pressure of a label."
The famously private couple enjoys a quiet life, dividing their time between Orange County, California, and the English countryside in Hertfordshire, where Anstead is building a house for his parents and restoring vintage cars. The 47-year-old raved about Zellweger, saying, "She's a very real person. She’s absolutely brilliant, the most grounded, humble person. If there’s a car job to be done at home, I say, ‘We’re doing this together. Put your overalls on, let’s go.’”
Zellweger's passion for cars initially captivated Anstead when they met on a 2021 episode of his show, Celebrity IOU: Joyride. “Renée is a hands-on car girl," he revealed. "She used a grinder to cut metal, she was welding, she was on the spanners.” The Wheeler Dealers alum added, "A lot of people in America don’t drive stick but, on the first day of filming, we needed to relocate a car for a scene. Ren jumps in, goes, ‘I’ll do it!’, slams it into first, and off she goes. I'm like, ‘Wow. This lady really knows her cars.’”
Since then, Anstead, who has children Amelie, 22, and Archie, 19, with Storey, and 6-year-old son Hudson with Haack, has grown even more fond of Zellweger's proactive spirit. The Bridget Jones's Diary star even played a significant role in helping him locate a set of reclaimed gates for his parents' home. Anstead recalled, "Ren was looking over my shoulder without me realizing. The next day I went to buy them and they were gone. I was mad. I arrived here and they were in the barn with a balloon on them for my birthday." He remembered, "She’d secretly contacted my dad and arranged for him to collect them," adding that "as a gift, it knocks a pair of socks on the head."
Zellweger and Anstead began dating shortly after the April 2021 filming of his Discovery+ series Celebrity IOU: Joyride, initially keeping their relationship private. Anstead confirmed in August 2021, "Everybody knows that Renée and I have become because we for a while and now, unfortunately, and put out there. But it was a real pleasure to work with her. She's a super pro and she can weld."
The couple made their relationship Instagram official in September 2021, five months into dating, with Anstead sharing a cozy photo with the Oscar winner. In October 2021, he posted about their trip to New Orleans, captioning it, "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! All made made better by magical company to share it with..."
