Florence Pugh has spoken about keeping her relationship with Finn Cole private while protecting the stability they have built together.
In a Vanity Fair interview published on Friday, September 25, 2026, the actress said she wants a balance between openness and privacy.
Pugh, 30, and Cole, 30, were first linked in July 2024 after attending the Glastonbury Festival together.
They later confirmed their status on social media following an event in Milan.
Pugh declined to share specific details about how their partnership began.
"I don't want to be a secret, but I also don't want everything to be divulged," she said, according to Vanity Fair.
"The important thing is that we're happy, and I feel solid and safe and sturdy. And that's worth its weight in gold in our lives."
When asked how the romance started, the Thunderbolts star kept her answer light while leaving precise details undisclosed.
"You can [ask me, but] I might not tell you everything," Pugh said, as reported by Vanity Fair.
Lessons From a Publicly Scrutinized Relationship
Her approach reflects lessons from her relationship with actor Zach Braff, which lasted from 2019 to 2022.
The pair faced significant online abuse and commentary over their 21-year age difference.
Pugh made public statements addressing social media harassment before they quietly separated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I am [in a relationship].
OK, so something that I resonate with is that I believe that if magic is real, then it's falling in love," she said, as reported by British Vogue.
"There is someone, yes. We are figuring [out] what we actually are."
"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."
The actress previously described how non-stop public commentary forces unnecessary pressure onto high-profile couples.
"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.
That's not gonna last," she said, according to British Vogue.
Reflecting on her past effort to defend her personal life online, Pugh recalled how public backlash affected her loved ones.
"I had to be public in the past because people were bullying me and bullying my partner," she said, as reported by British Vogue.
"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 explained that the relentless online commentary eventually left her with no choice but to speak out publicly to protect those close to her.
"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 that I love.
… I needed to talk about it.
I think any relationship in this limelight is going to be stressed," she said, according to British Vogue.
Pugh previously confronted persistent online harassment in an April 2020 social media video where she directly told followers that personal relationship decisions remain entirely her own.
"I'm 24 years old.
I do not need you to tell me who I should and should not love," she said, according to a 2020 social media video.
"I would never in my life ever, ever tell someone who they can and cannot love. It is not your place.
And really it has nothing to do with you."
During that time, Pugh made clear that toxic comments directed toward her former partner were equally offensive to her personally.
"The abuse that you throw at him is abuse that you are throwing at me, and I don't want those followers," she said, as reported by suaragarut.
id.
"I do not want to have to be protecting my comments every time I post a picture of him.
I really hope that I can continue this relationship with a lot of you."
The former couple ultimately opted to keep their separation quiet in 2022 to avoid public reaction over their breakup.
"We've been trying to do this separation without the world knowing," Pugh said, according to Harper's Bazaar.
"We just felt something like this would really do us the benefit of not having millions of people telling us how happy they are that we're not together.
So we've done that. I automatically get a lumpy throat when I talk about it."
In March 2026, Pugh posted photos on Instagram alongside Cole at the Bulgari Eclettica gala in Milan, captioning the post with "Bvlgari with my boys 😍."
