Brian Austin Green opened up about what his 15-year relationship with Megan Fox taught him about how to approach future connections.
“Until Sharna [Burgess], my ex and I were together for almost 15 years. We were married for almost 10 years and I led with physical attraction,” Green, 52, said on the Sunday, July 12, episode of the “I Do, Part 2” podcast. “First, I’d be physically attracted to somebody and then sort of build a relationship around that.”
Green chose a “different” approach with Burgess, 41.
“I was divorced, which I didn’t expect. I had three kids. I was a single parent,” he recalled. “And I knew that I didn’t want to repeat things that I had done. So I went through all sorts of therapy and all sorts of things to really figure out what it was that I brought into a relationship that was just toxic and wasn’t good and wasn’t helping the relationship at all.”
After putting in the work, Green realized he needed to “be friends with someone first” before pursuing a romantic relationship.
“I think when you started from a place of a genuine connection with someone, then you’re not so concerned about whether they are truly into you or not,” he explained, “because you guys are already speaking to each other in a very transparent way. Sharna and I talked about our best qualities and our worst qualities together. We sort of put it all out on the table.”
Green was glad he built an emotional connection with Burgess first.
“For us, it was pretty apparent then like, ‘Oh, hey, we should stick with us. This seems to be working,’” he continued. “Your approach to a relationship is the best way to know if it’s just a purely physical connection. That’s only going to last for so long that you’re going to get to a point where you go, ‘I can’t stand that other person. So they’re not hot to me anymore.’”
Green rose to fame on Beverly Hills, 90210, where he dated castmates Tori Spelling, Tiffani Thiessen and Vanessa Marcil. He later found love with Fox, 40, after meeting on the set of her sitcom Hope & Faith.
The pair began dating in 2004 and got engaged two years later. They briefly broke up in 2009 but eventually reconnected and tied the knot in 2010. Us Weekly exclusively reported in 2015 that Fox and Green had split, but they were back together by the following year.
Though Fox filed for divorce in 2015, the case was dismissed in 2019 2019. Green announced in 2020 that he and Fox had split for good.
The exes share kids Noah, 13, Bodhi, 12,and Journey, 9. During Sunday’s podcast episode, Green spoke about coparenting with his ex after their split.
“I know I grieved the concept of missing half the life of my kids. That meant a lot to me. That was a big deal. Then I quickly realized, ‘Oh man, while they are at their mom’s house, I get a chance to recharge,’” he explains. “Then when they come back over, I can give them all of my attention. And I’ve spent the four days out of the seven days or whatever it is just taking care of myself and being with my partner that I have now and doing things for me so I don’t have that overwhelmed feeling the same way when my kids come back.”
Green moved on with Burgess in 2020, competing together on season 30 of Dancing With the Stars. They welcomed their son, Zane, in 2022 and got engaged one year later.
Fox, for her part, has been in an off-and-on relationship with Machine Gun Kelly since 2020. The pair share 16-month-old daughter Saga.
