SMITTEN PITT
Timing is everything! After years of knowing each other, Brad Pitt and Charlize Theron are both single and letting the sparks fly
Longtime pals Brad Pitt and Charlize Theron appear to have moved out of the friend zone.
It was, Charlize Theron admitted, an “incredible date.” In June 2017, the Oscar winner spent time with someone who “really impressed me,” she confessed to radio host Howard Stern. “We went for a nine-mile hike in the middle of the night. It was a full moon. He was just, like, a really cool dude.” Though fans speculated about the mystery man’s identity at the time, they came up empty.
But now there’s a new theory: Was it Brad Pitt? Hollywood’s been buzzing ever since a mid-january report claimed that the two A- listers were spotted meeting up at an LA hotel bar. “There have always been sparks when they’ve seen each other at industry events over the years, but neither of them acted on them,” explains an insider to Life & Style, noting that things seemed to change after the duo worked together on a Breitling watches ad campaign that debuted in September. “Brad and Charlize got along very well at the Breitling shoot — there was definitely more of a connection than ever before. I would say a seed was planted.”
FEELING THINGS OUT
That seed has since grown. “Now they’re definitely closer. They talk more, there’s a friendly flirting, a mutual attraction. Absolute chemistry,” explains the insider, adding that the two have a lot in common, from shelves full of awards to their adopted children (Charlize, 43, brought home Jackson in 2012 and August in 2015; Brad, 55, and ex Angelina Jolie, 43, share Maddox, 17, Pax, 15, and Zahara, 14, plus biological kids Shiloh, 12, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 10). “There’s always been this unsaid dynamic, and now there are definite feelings between them. But I’ve heard both sides — that they’ve secretly hooked up and decided to stay mum about it, and that they’re into each other and it’s just a matter of time before they do hook up.”
There’s nothing standing in their way. Charlize’s last big romance, a reported engagement to Sean Penn, 58, ended in 2015. Brad and Angelina split the following year. As for rumors that he’s reconnected with newly single first wife Jennifer Aniston, 49, in recent months, says the insider, “Jen and Charlize have been friendly to each other over the years, too, but there’s no loyalty there — definitely
no girl- code issues about dating an ex.”
But Brad and Charlize know that a relationship could stir up drama. So for now, “they’re being very cautious about what gets out,” says the insider, “because they know the snowball effect it will have on their privacy and that of their kids — and they’re both already under a microscope.”