Brian Austin Green says face masks helped him bond with Sharna Burgess: 'It really helped us connect'
Brian Austin Green credits an unusual thing for boosting his bond with Sharna Burgess when they started dating last year amid the pandemic: face masks.
The couple appeared on Australia's Kyle & Jackie O Show and the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum was asked about how they got together. The romance was made public in December when the duo vacationed together in Hawaii for the holidays, a month after he and estranged wife, Megan Fox, filed for divorce.
"It started during the pandemic," Green, 47, said. "So everything — connections with people — were much more tangible."
He continued, "One of the positives that I think has come out of wearing masks, which nobody likes doing [because] they're terribly uncomfortable, people have reconnected again. I can't tell you how many people I have looked at in the eye and really connected with that I didn't before."
When it came to his early dates with the 35-year-old Dancing With the Stars pro, "For us, sitting at coffee shops and doing what we could — within the confines of that and the [COVID] rules — it really helped us connect more," he added.
The Australian Burgess said it also helped that they were "not rushed" because the world, and their work schedules, had come to a halt. She said they were able to "just take time to actually connect."
Amid the pandemic, it also took them four dates until they shared their first kiss, Green said.
In March, Burgess spoke to Entertainment Tonight about the early days of their romance, which began in October.
"We took out time and we really got to know each other for who we are on the inside," Burgess said. "And we really built something beautiful... It was a different way of dating" amid the pandemic. "There's less outside distractions. I'm not traveling as much... It allowed us time to get to know each other."
Burgess has also gotten to know Green's children, especially the three he shares with Fox. Green recently shared a photo of her playing with them in the pool. He's also dad to a son with ex-fiancée Vanessa Marcil.
Green confirmed his split with Fox in May 2020 after Fox was seen quarantining with her Midnight in the Switchgrass co-star and rock star Machine Gun Kelly. Green explained that Fox returned from filming a movie in late 2019 and said she wanted to separate. The couple, married nearly 10 years, was living apart when she met Kelly (real name: Colson Baker) on set in February 2020 and there was an immediate attraction.
Fox filed for divorce in November — after making her red carpet debut with Kelly. They've since made more PDA-filled appearances — and they likely won't slow down as Midnight in the Switchgrass is set for release on July 27.
The trailer for the film was released Wednesday:
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