Florence Pugh, 28, explains why she defended relationship with ex Zach Braff, 49

Florence Pugh has opened up about why she defended her relationship with Zach Braff after copping “nasty” criticism for their 21-year age gap.

Florence Pugh is looking back on why it “was necessary” to clap back at haters over her and ex-boyfriend Zach Braff’s relationship.

“People were bullying me and bullying my partner,” the UK actress, 28, recalled in a British Vogue interview published Wednesday, referencing her two-decade age gap with the 49-year-old Scrubs actor.

“Mine and Zach’s relationship was actually quite private until it was nasty, and I could see the toll that it was taking on him and us and our families,” she added. “And that’s when I spoke out.”

Pugh continued, “I think for anyone I’m with, I want to protect them. It’s not nice knowing that people are saying the worst things I’ve ever read about someone I love. I needed to talk about it.”

She noted that “any relationship in this limelight is going to be stressed.”

Zach Braff and Florence Pugh have since split.

When the former couple dated from 2019 to 2022, the Don’t Worry Darling star came to Braff’s defence on multiple occasions.

Her first clapback happened via Instagram after a troll pointed out the actor’s age — and his then-girlfriend replied, “And yet he got it.”

The following year, Pugh spoke to Elle UK about the “hurtful” social media comment.

“People have no right to educate me on my private life,” she insisted in the June 2020 cover story. “It’s bizarre that normal folk are allowed to display such hate and opinions on a part of my life that I’m not putting out there.”

Additionally, the Little Women star blasted naysayers in an April 2020 video for telling her whom she “should and should not love.”

Seen in her photoshoot for the magazine, Pugh also confirmed she’s seeing someone new. Picture: Venetia Scott/Vogue

She and Braff have remained amicable since calling it quits, with the Emmy nominee calling his ex a “legend” in a January 2023 birthday tribute.

As for Pugh’s current relationship status, she teased a private new romance to the magazine Wednesday.

“We are figuring out what we actually are,” she gushed. “And I think for the first time, I’m not allowing myself to go on a roller coaster. I’m allowing myself to take time to let something evolve and let it be completely real to its core, as opposed to racing into that.

“Falling is the most amazing feeling, but unfortunately if that’s the only thing that you know in a relationship, then that’s the thing that you chase,” the Oscar nominee continued. “That’s not gonna last.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Pugh noted that she is “always thinking about starting a family” and “just figuring out when” to do so.

This story originally appeared on New York Post and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Florence Pugh, 28, explains why she defended relationship with ex Zach Braff, 49