Justin Long and Kate Bosworth debut relationship in loved-up photos

A few months after announcing her divorce, Kate Bosworth has stepped out with her new boyfriend, fellow movie star Justin Long.

Movie stars Justin Long and Kate Bosworth have revealed they are a couple in a series of loved-up photos.

After striking up a secret relationship some time last year, the Hollywood A-listers were photographed in public for the first time at the weekend, as they enjoyed an intimate date night at an Italian restaurant in Santa Monica.

The Dodgeball actor, 43, who previously dated Drew Barrymore and Amanda Seyfried but has been single since 2015, revealed in December that he had a “girlfriend” but didn’t say who it was.

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Justin Long and Kate Bosworth were all smiles as they held hands leaving a romantic dinner date in Santa Monica. Picture: BACKGRID

And in a podcast interview today, Long finally opened up about his relationship with Bosworth, saying she was “the one”.

“I had gotten to a place where … I was comfortable with myself, I was ready to be — I didn’t know it at the time — but I was ready for the one,” he told The Bachelor alum Nick Viall on The Viall Files podcast.

The Going the Distance star added, “And the one I had met … I had found.”

He also commented on why they’ve kept their relationship out of the spotlight, saying they don’t want “share everything with everyone.”

“It’s weird. I want to, but I also want to be protective,” Long said. “I want to scream it from the rooftops but I also want to be protective. It’s sacred.”

The pair hawere photographed in public for the first time. Picture: BACKGRID

Kate wore a black dress, while Justin kept it casual in black jeans, a buttoned up dress shirt and a green bomber jacket. Picture: BACKGRID

Long and Bosworth first met while filming the upcoming movie House of Darkness in early 2021.

The co-stars grew close, with the 39-year-old Blue Crush star gushing about Long in an Instagram post in May when they wrapped production on the film.

“Holy moly @justinlong you are a truly spectacular / fun / funny / kind / rare / thoughtful / totally. fckn. rad human being,” she wrote on Instagram at the time.

A few short months later, Bosworth announced her split from her husband of eight years, US film producer Michael Polish.

At the time, Bosworth shared a loving post on Instagram that featured a black-and-white photo of the former couple kissing.

“The beginning is often the best part of love,” Bosworth wrote in a lengthy caption of the post, uploaded in August.

Kate and Michael announced their split in August. Picture: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for InStyle

“Fireworks, magnets, rebellion — the attraction. The onset signals a wide open expanse of possibility.”

“What if we chose not to fear but instead, to love,” she wrote. “If that most delicate and vulnerable last flicker to the flame became another type of furnace entirely.” Bosworth shared that their “hearts are full” as they have “never been so enamoured and deeply grateful for one another as we do in this decision to separate.”

Long and Barrymore dated in 2007. Picture: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Before he moved in with Amanda Seyfried. Picture: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

At the time, there were unconfirmed reports Bosworth had been spotted hanging out with Long in the town of Fayeteville, North Carolina.

Long, for his part, dated his Going The Distance co-star Drew Barrymore for a year, with their relationship ending in 2008.

He later shared a two-year relationship with Mamma Mia! actress Amanda Seyfried, before the pair split in late 2015.