It’s fair to say that Renée Zellweger has struggled to find her Mr Darcy – with her first marriage to Kenny Chesney annulled after just four months.
But loyal fans of the 56-year-old Oscar winner had hoped she had finally broken her so-called Bridget Jones ‘curse’ after falling in love with British TV host Ant Anstead, who is ten years her junior.
However, DailyMail.com reported today that the Wheeler Dealers host and the A-lister have been living apart for the past year, after he was spotted staying overnight at the Laguna Beach home of divorcee and spin instructor Julia French, 36, while Renee filmed in New York.
Anstead, who is facing bankruptcy for his car company and has seemingly been selling off his assets, has since pushed back against the speculation.
‘Mr. Anstead is working mostly in the UK, and he has spent some of his limited time back in [Orange County] at his friend’s home,’ the TV presenter’s representative told Page Six on Thursday.
‘His friend Jules has a separate, detached guest house, and the suggestion that their relationship is anything other than platonic is unacceptable and untrue,’ they added, before confirming that ‘Mr. Anstead and Ms. Zellweger are still together.’
The couple, who began dating in 2021 and are notoriously private about their relationship, have not been seen together in public since early March when they were snapped supporting Anstead’s young son at a football game.
If Renée’s relationship is turning sour, it wouldn’t be the first time that she’s been unlucky in love, with the American actress mirroring her famous British character when it comes to both having frequent romantic struggles.
Fans of the 56-year-old Oscar winner had hoped she had finally broken her so-called Bridget Jones ‘curse’ after falling in love with British TV host Ant Anstead (pictured together), who is ten years her junior
Read below to explore the star’s relationship history – from Bradley Cooper to Jim Carrey.
Jim Carrey (1999-2000)
Sparks flew between the actress and her co-star Jim Carrey on the set of their 1999 movie Me, Myself and Irene.
After wrapping filming on the comedy, the pair began dating and attended the 2000 Golden Globes together.
Despite the brief length of their relationship, he described her as the ‘great love of’ his life in his 2020 semi-fictional book, Memoirs and Misinformation.
Two decades after calling it quits on their whirlwind romance, he also referred to his ex as someone ‘very special’ to him. ‘I think she’s lovely,’ he said on The Howard Stern Show.
While their film’s director, Bobby Farrelly said that Carrey ‘flipped for her immediately’, she was hesitant to mix business and pleasure.
At the time, she told CNN: ‘I liked him, a lot, but you’re not going (to the set) for the love connection… When the picture wrapped, we’d spoken a couple of times on the phone and then all those rumours came out that I was dating him. I was so mad.’
Jim Carrey dated the Bridget Jones stars for a year from 1999 to 2000 after starring together on a film
Smitten with each other: Ahead of their breakup, Zellweger Renee called their relationship ‘a very unexpected, wonderful thing’ (seen in 2000)
After denying the rumours, she joked about getting home and thinking: ‘God, I do miss him.’
Ahead of their breakup, Renée proudly called their relationship ‘a very unexpected, wonderful thing.’
In the same interview with Entertainment Weekly, he gushed: ‘She’s a very connected person. She thinks having a good time is renting a U-Haul and taking furniture to Texas. She’s real in that way and I absolutely love it.’
Speaking about their relationship, Renée told The Guardian: ‘We have business associates in common and a couple of mutual friends, so I’d known about him and said hello and things for a long time, and then met him a couple of years ago at a dinner party. So I’d known him for a while.’
Despite speculation they were engaged during their one-year romance, she denied the claims to Cosmopolitan in 2003.
‘I’d only been dating him for three months. As if I would consider marriage after only three months!’ she mused.
Jim was married to Melissa Womer from 1987 to 1995, and Lauren Holly for a year in 1996, and also dated Jenny McCarthy for five years until 2010.
Jack White (2003-2004)
Younger man: Her fateful meeting with rocker Jack White, who is six years her junior, led to them dating for a year and a half
Christine Taylor, Jack White and Renee Zellweger at the 2004 Oscars Vanity Fair party
Three years later, the native Texan found love on set again, this time while shooting the 2003 civil war epic Cold Mountain, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Her fateful meeting with rocker Jack White, who is six years her junior, led to them dating for a year and a half.
Jack had been commissioned to write music for the movie, and had a small role playing her husband.
Although the couple rarely spoke about their relationship, they made a public appearance together at the 2004 Oscars.
During their relationship, he infamously got into a physical altercation with his bandmate, Jason Stollsteimer, which he pled guilty to, according to Rolling Stone.
He was fined $500 and sentenced to court-appointed anger management classes for his assault and battery charge.
Upon announcing their breakup, the actress’ spokesman said in a statement: ‘They remain good friends. There’s no scandal and no new relationships.’
Kenny Chesney (2005)
Renee Zellweger with her new husband Kenny Chesney just after their wedding in May 2005
Renée and country music singer Kenny Chesney experienced a meet-cute worthy of a rom-com, after both attending NBC’s Concert of Hope tsunami aid telethon in January 2005.
After reportedly hoping to meet him at the event, and pass him a flirty note, a source told People that once the ‘broadcast wrapped’ he approached Renée and said: ‘I hear you are trying to pass me a note – don’t let the principal find out.’
Two years prior, he listed her as one of the three sexiest people on earth in 2002 during a chat with The Tennesseean, alongside, Charlize Theron and Janet Jackson.
‘Here’s a country girl who’s still down to earth,’ the singer said. ‘That makes her really, really sexy. Plus she seems like the kind of girl who could fit in and be at home anywhere.’
Months after discovering their mutual crush on each other, Renée confirmed they were a couple by bringing him a margarita and sharing a kiss with him on stage at one of his concerts.
After three months of dating, they wed on the island of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
But to the world’s shock, just four months later, in September 2005, she filed to annul their marriage, citing ‘fraud’ as the reason.
Neither has provided any further information on their split, but she said that it made her ‘said’ to see widespread speculation that their marriage failed because Kenny was ‘gay’.
Short-lived marriage: To the world’s shock, just four months after tying the knot, in September 2005, she filed to annul her marriage to Chesney, citing ‘fraud’ as the reason (seen in 2005)
‘It made me sad that somehow people were using that as a way to be cruel and calling someone gay as a pejorative, which has fateful consequences,’ she told The Advocate in 2016.
As for why she remained silent as the allegations swirled, the performer responded that she wasn’t in the habit of pouring her heart out to the tabloids.
‘I’d said all I needed to say on that subject. I’m an old-fashioned gal who doesn’t feel it’s appropriate to hang out your laundry on the lawn,’ she told the publication.
‘I feel you devalue yourself as a human being when you share very personal things with a bajillion strangers who are making fun of you. I just don’t see that there’s any dignity in that.’
She did go on to acknowledge, though, that ‘sometimes it is difficult to just let something be what it is, especially when it’s unnecessary ugliness.’
In 2007, Kenny shut down the rumours and said they were simply ‘not true.’ ‘I didn’t have to prove to anybody that I wasn’t. I didn’t feel like I really did,’ he said in a 60 Minutes interview
Bradley Cooper (2009-2011)
Like several of her high-profile relationships, the Judy star fell hard for another handsome co-star after meeting Bradley Cooper on set of their film Case 39 in 2009.
Rene Zellweger and Bradley Cooper attend the 92nd Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood and Highland on February 09, 2020 in Hollywood
While they both stayed tight-lipped about their time together, Bradley couldn’t help but sing her praises in one interview.
‘I just love her. I [loved] coming to work. I love acting with her. I can learn so much from her,’ he told ET in 2010.
She told the outlet that he is ‘a great, great actor’ and admitted to being ‘so excited’ to get to ‘work with him.’
They went on to move in together that same year, but parted ways in 2011.
Following the death of his father, Charles Cooper, she skipped the Golden Globes to be with him, according to People, who reported she was ‘close to Cooper’s mom, Gloria.’
Both were coming off of brief marriages at the time of their relationship since Cooper was married to actress Jennifer Esposito in 2007 for a four-month frame.
An insider told US Weekly in 2011 that the Hollywood relationship crumbled under the weight of Cooper’s burgeoning career.
‘If I had to pick any possible mistress it would be Brad’s career. He worked really hard to get into leading man status’ while ‘Renee had to take a backseat’ and even ‘traveled with him to make it work.’
Sweet: Like most of her high-profile relationships, the Judy star fell hard for another handsome co-star (seen in 2009)
The source noted that Renée, at the time, had ‘accomplished a lot of her professional goals’ and ‘took some time out to be a great girlfriend and see if this is what it took to make a relationship work.’
Eventually, the source said that Renée ‘stopped fighting’ to keep it working. ‘It was just not working out,’ the source added.
However, the pair were reunited in 2020 at the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, where they were pictured enjoying a brief chat with one another.
Doyle Bramhall II (2012- 2019)
Renee and Doyle Bramhall, 55, who is now in a relationship with supermodel Elle Macpherson, dated for seven years before it was revealed in 2019 they had parted ways.
The former couple met when they were just students at the University of Texas in the early nineties. In 2012, two years after Doyle ended his marriage, they decided to give dating a try.
Though they never considered a romantic relationship during their college days, the two made up for lost time as they stuck by each other’s sides from 2012 to 2019.
Upon speaking about their romance in 2015, she gushed: ‘Isn’t he cute? He’s a very sweet man. I’m very, very happy right now,’ the star told People.
Longtime love: Upon speaking about her romance with Doyle Bramhall II during a 2015 interview, she gushed: ‘Isn’t he cute? He’s a very sweet man’ (seen in 2014)
According to documents, obtained by E! News, he lived for free with her and she paid his credit card bills in the midst of his separation from his former spouse, Susannah Melvoin.
The site reports that Renee had been subbing the credit card fees which varied between $4,000 to $5,000 a month, with the court documents detailing that this was a loan and a repayment was expected.
Renee was also said to have paid for Doyle’s expenses in 2015 that added up to nearly $60,000.
During a hearing in Doyle’s divorce from ex Susannah Melvoin, the judge ruled that Renee’s income should not have any bearing on what the musician pays in spousal and child support to his estranged wife.
Doyle, who also dated Sheryl Crow, was married to Susannah from 1997 to 2010 and they have two daughters together.
According to Radar Online, his jealousy contributed to the end of their longtime relationship.
‘She and Doyle built a happy home life together and they even discussed adopting a baby together,’ a source told the outlet in 2016.
Ultimately, they ‘drifted apart emotionally when they were separated for weeks at a time’ and weren’t ‘able to rekindle the spark.’
Renee and Doyle, who is now in a relationship with supermodel Elle Macpherson , dated for seven years before it was revealed in 2019 they had parted ways
The insider added: ‘Renee hit her breaking point over the jealousy issues.’
But in May 2024, the pair appeared to be the friendliest of exes as the Bridget Jones star showed her support at his Royal Albert Hall gig in the British capital.
Renee was pictured catching up with her old flame as they proved they are still on great terms following their split.
The duo appeared delighted to see each other as they sweetly embraced inside the London venue.
Ant Anstead (2021-present)
Ant and Renée initially met while filming an episode of his series Celebrity IOU Joyride in April of 2021.
But the couple have not been seen together in public since early March when they were snapped supporting Anstead’s young son at a football game.
DailyMail.com reported that the pair have been living apart for the past year amid Ant’s financial trouble.
Ant and Renée (pictured) initially met while filming an episode of his series Celebrity IOU Joyride in April of 2021
In recent years, he owned a multi-million-dollar house in the exclusive town of Laguna Beach, California, and was pictured in 2022 moving in with Renée in her $30,000-per-month clifftop home across the street.
But for the past year he had downgraded to a modest, 832sqft, two-bed rental listed at $4,250 per month.
Ant’s spokeswoman told DailyMail.com the small house he left over a month ago ‘was rented solely by Mr. Anstead’. His landlord confirmed Renée was not on the lease.
The Bridget Jones’s Diary star, meanwhile, is currently in New York City filming a new season of popular Hulu show, Only Murders in the Building, while Ant was believed to be spending time in his home country, the UK, in recent weeks before returning to Laguna.
His rep told DailyMail.com he ‘continues to remain private about his cherished personal relationship.’ Renee’s rep declined to comment.
Meanwhile, a source close to the Bridget Jones star told DailyMail.com they are still dating, despite living apart.
But last week, Ant was spotted staying overnight at the home of wealthy 36-year-old Laguna woman Julia French, who goes by ‘Jules’.
Jules, who has worked as a certified spin instructor at Rhythm Ride Laguna Beach according to her Facebook page, is currently divorcing her hedge fund founder husband, James Hanna III, the father of her two young children.
The Bridget Jones’ Diary star is currently in New York City filming for a new season of popular Hulu show Only Murders in the Building
A keen-eyed observer told DailyMail.com that in recent months Ant was even spotted meeting Jules on the beach for a sunset rendezvous, a romantic setting in the sought-after Southern California coastal town.
However, the pair have never been seen engaging in any non-platonic behaviour.
A source close to Ant claimed he had been staying in the apartment on the property since he moved out of his modest rented house around April.
‘One of her kids goes to the same school as Hudson. When Ant’s working late or needs childcare, Hudson goes back with Jules’ kids. Then in the evening Ant picks Hudson up,’ the source said.
The French family are well-known in Laguna and own several properties around the elite seaside town.
Her beachfront, five-bed home is worth an estimated $8million according to real estate site Redfin, and has a separate two-bed unit.
A friend of French who helps manage her properties told DailyMail.com last week that Ant had not been living at French’s home.
But the TV presenter was spotted returning to the clifftop mansion after watching his son Hudson’s football game last Tuesday, the evening of May 20, his car was in the driveway at 7am the following morning, and he was later spotted emerging from the property for a coffee run with a male friend, suggesting he had slept over at the property that night.
A source close to Renée said the actress is wary of having him move in with her, even after four years of dating.
‘Renée currently has a rental in Laguna. When Ant lost his rental, the obvious thing would have been for him to move into the rental with Renée. But she doesn’t want them cohabiting, so he has to find his own place to stay,’ the source said. ‘That’s kind of how the relationship works.’
Rumours have been swirling of the couple’s potentially rocky relationship status as his financial woes mount.
This month, Ant’s supercar company Radford Motors filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Delaware court, which usually results in the liquidation of a firm.
Ant even posted a video on Instagram saying he was selling his prized Land Rover Defender – though he revealed in the post that he had a ‘new car incoming’.
Responding further to DailyMail.com’s story today, Anstead’s rep responded that ‘Mr. Anstead and Miss Zelwegger (sic) are still together.’
The rep added: ‘Mr. Anstead is working mostly in the UK, and he has spent some of his limited time back in OC at his friend’s home.
‘His friend Jules has a separate, detached guest house and the suggestion that their relationship is anything other than platonic is unacceptable.’
