Real reason Renee Zellweger, 55, may not be in a rush to marry Ant Anstead, 45, despite finally finding Mr Right after years of heartbreak

It is a love story worthy of any Bridget Jones movie – but unlike the titular heroine, Renée Zellweger has no plans to say ‘I do’ to her real-life Mr Darcy, insiders claim.

The Texan, 55, has been smitten with her British boyfriend Ant Anstead, 45, ever since they met and fell in love on his TV show Celebrity IOU: Joyride four years ago.

Twice-married Anstead is keen to tie the knot for a third time – but those close to Zellweger believe she is in no rush to walk up the aisle again, 20 years after terminating her short-lived marriage to Kenny Chesney on the grounds of ‘fraud’.

Sources have told DailyMail.com that friends believe a fear of falling into the trap of unsettling a perfectly happy relationship by succumbing to the pressure to take it to the next level is stopping her from rushing into marriage.

‘Renée and Ant have been dating for over three years,’ an insider said. ‘She loves the relationship the way it is. She’s seen so many couples, especially celebrities like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie who have happily dated, only to split not long after getting married.

‘Why would she risk rocking the boat and rushing to take her relationship with Ant to the next level?’

Her ill-fated marriage to country singer Chesney in January 2005 has reportedly proved to be a deterrent.

Five months after she met him, they tied the knot in the Virgin Islands.

But come the November, Zellweger had filed for an annulment, citing ‘fraud’.

‘Her one marriage, to Kenny Chesney, was very brief and turned out not to be a good experience for her,’ the insider said. ‘Some friends feel it put her off marriage.’

Anstead, best known for co-presenting British show For the Love of Cars, certainly looked content as he proudly joined Zellweger at the after party for her latest film, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy last month.

The loved up couple left hand-in-hand after celebrating with her co-star Hugh Grant and his wife Anna Elisabet Eberstein, with Zellweger sparking engagement rumours due to a bandage on her ring finger.

Zellweger is relatively private about her love life but recently revealed she had moved to Southern California, near San Diego, because ‘that’s where my fellow lives, and his little boy’.

The TV presenter shares son Hudson, five, with ex-wife Christina Haack, who is in the process of divorcing her third husband Josh Hall.

He also has daughter Amelie, 21, and son Archie, 18, with his ex-wife Louise Anstead.

The insider said Zellweger has a good relationship with Haack, with the trio happily co-parenting.

‘Renée and Ant are happier than ever,’ they said. ‘Ant and his son Hudson have given her the family she never had. She gets on well with Christina now that Ant does. 

‘Renée isn’t high maintenance like most Hollywood stars. She’s really easy going and not into drama.’

After decades of failed relationships, it is perhaps no surprise that Zellweger is hesitant to risk a good thing.

She was left heartbroken by her split from her then-fiancé Jim Carey in 2000, with the devastation nearly causing her to miss being presented with the Best Actress Golden Globe for her turn in Nurse Betty.

‘I’d just finished Bridget Jones and gone through a break-up,’ she told OK! in 2020. ‘Then it’s time to put on a dress and go and do your thing and you don’t even really feel like putting on jeans to go to the coffee shop.

‘During the ceremony I thought, “I can just go for a little walk and I’ll just go to the bathroom for a second. I’m going to put on some lipstick.” So, I went to the bathroom and I’m putting my lipstick on and I hear this man screaming, “Hey come on!” I think the moment would have come and gone if sweet Hugh Grant hadn’t stretched out his screen time.’

Despite only dating from 1999 to 2000 after meeting on the set of Me, Myself and Irene, the relationship was clearly significant, with Carey later referring to Zellweger as ‘the great love of my life’ in his 2020 biography Memoirs and Misinformation.

Two years after splitting from the comedian she fell into a brief romance with Jack White, lead singer of rock band The White Stripes, who was six years her junior.

The seemingly unlikely pair hit it off while shooting the 2003 civil war epic Cold Mountain.

White, 49, played her onscreen husband and was also commissioned to write music for the movie – which won Zellweger the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

But with only one public appearance together, they called time after a year and a half, insisting in a statement that there was ‘no scandal’ and that they ‘remain good friends’.

Next up was her doomed marriage to Chesney, the break down of which prompted fierce speculation about his sexuality after Zellweger cited fraud as the reason for an annulment of their four-month union.

Two years later, Chesney furiously denied he was gay and revealed the reason they opted for ‘fraud’ was because they believed it was the ‘least harmful’.

The following year, Zellweger went on to meet actor Bradley Cooper on the set of psychological thriller Case 39, with the pair reportedly striking up a romance three years later. But by 2011 they had parted, with rumors that his blossoming Hollywood career was to blame.

She then embarked on a relationship with guitarist Doyle Bramhall II, who she described as a ‘special person’ – but they split around May 2019.

Finally, in 2021, things started to look promising for the star after she met Anstead on his Discovery+ show which helps celebrities give refurbished cars to deserving people in their lives.

At the time Zellweger was still grieving for her friend and publicist Nanci Ryder, who died of ALS in 2020. She took part in the show to give back to twin brothers Jerome and Jerald Cowan who cared for Ryder up until her death.

Zellweger and Anstead went Instagram official after three months when he shared a black and white selfie of the pair. 

He opened up about their ‘amazing’ relationship on Extra, joking that Celebrity IOU: Joyride doubled up as a ‘dating service’.

‘Renée’s really lovely… It’s really nice … It’s kind of amazing,’ he said.