FINDING new love was always going to take time for Brad Pitt after his marriage to Angelina Jolie turned into a blockbuster to rival any of his films.
But eight years after the acrimonious Brangelina split, the Hollywood hunk appears to be smitten once again.
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The Oscar-winner already shares a home with high-flying businesswoman Ines de Ramon and they spend major celebrations such as New Year and birthdays together.
But glitzy, A-list couples have different relationship milestones to everyone else — and this pair just passed the most key one.
At the weekend Brad, 60, and Ines, 34, stood side by side on the red carpet.
After two years of dating, the decision to pose for the cameras at the premiere of his £152million movie Wolfs in Venice means they are telling the world they are an item.
Indeed, so in love is the twice-married father of six that friends say he is ready to get hitched again and have more children.
Brad certainly has a lot in common with Ines, who at 34 is 26 years his junior.
They both love dogs and are hard workers and divorcees.
Insiders say she is “feisty”, which is exactly Brad’s type — see Angelina for details.
Their grand entrance at the Venice Film Festival could have been spoiled by the appearance of his ex-wife at the same event.
The warring pair’s paths almost crossed in Italy because both Angelina and Brad’s latest movies had their premieres there, but organisers ensured they would not be at the annual event at the same time.
Painful few years
Either way, Brad and Ines, a jewellery executive, seem to have shrugged off the shadow of his previous marriage, with the pair spending time at the French vineyard where the actor got hitched to Angelina in 2014.
Brad Pitt, 60, makes red carpet debut with girlfriend Ines de Ramon, 34, on double date with George Clooney and Amal
Pals say she is helping him get over a painful few years.
Brad isn’t someone who does this for show. He is really happy. Appearing together in Venice is another step in the relationship. Friends are pleased for him – he’s been through a lot
Brad’s friend
A friend told The Sun last night: “Brad isn’t someone who does this for show. He is really happy.
“Appearing together in Venice is another step in the relationship.
“Friends are really grateful that he’s so happy because he’s been through a lot.”
Brad stood alongside his old pal George Clooney and his wife Amal when Ines made her red carpet debut on Sunday.
George, who also stars in Wolfs, which will stream on Apple TV+ later this month, is helping them ease into the public glare.
Like lawyer Amal, 46, Ines was not part of the showbiz world, and neither are American by birth.
Ines grew up in Geneva, Switzerland, in a reportedly comfortable lifestyle, before studying business administration at university.
Ines, whose family come from Spanish capital Madrid, then worked for a hotel and Christie’s auction house in Geneva.
Her other roles have included “nutrition health coach”.
It was not until 2014 that Ines moved to the US, where she got a job at the upmarket De Grisogono jewellery company in New York.
Four years later she fell for The Vampire Diaries actor Paul Wesley, 42, and they set up home in Los Angeles.
Shunning the limelight, they got hitched in August 2019 after what appears to have been a whirlwind romance, but the union was not announced until February the following year.
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The private businesswoman did not post about their relationship on social media and Paul only made occasional mentions of their holidays together.
The romance was over within three years, with the only conflict appearing to be who would get custody of their rescue dog Gregory.
Paul, whose first marriage to co-star Torrey DeVitto, 40, only lasted two years, filed for divorce in February 2023 citing “irreconcilable differences”.
But the relationship is said to have come to an end the previous year in April.
A few months after that Ines began seeing Brad.
The couple, who had been friends before dating, were first spotted together at a Bono concert in Los Angeles in November 2022.
A month later she was seen in the background at a launch event for Brad’s movie Babylon and she also turned up at his birthday party.
They go skinny dipping in the ocean. He hasn’t felt this way in years
A Brad Pitt insider
The couple saw in the New Year together — by going on a romantic break in Mexico — and in February they were in Paris, the city of love.
A source told one magazine that Brad would cook candlelight dinners at his home in Carmel, California, which has views of the Pacific.
The insider said: “They go skinny dipping in the ocean. He hasn’t felt this way in years.
“Ines is a handful — and he likes that.”
Earlier this year Brad sold one of his other homes, a mansion in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles.
Highly educated
It seems this was so the couple could start afresh in a place of their own in the same city, a three-bed modernist property with its own swimming pool.
He is said to have introduced Ines to some of his children, although that is unlikely to include his eldest Maddox, 23, and Pax, 20, who have little or nothing to do with their dad.
Having previously been married to film stars Jennifer Aniston, 55, and Angelina, 49, and dated a string of models, the new romance is far more low key.
Ines is a highly educated businesswoman who has made a success of her life without the need of a famous husband.
Even before she met Brad, she had risen to the lofty role of vice-president of Anita Ko jewellery, a brand which has been worn by the likes of Charlize Theron and Scarlett Johansson.
A friend said: “Their relationship is about them, it is not about the public.”
Even when Ines did attend society events and film premieres, she would not be photographed with her other half.
But that started to change at this year’s British Formula One Grand Prix at Silverstone, where the pair were spotted holding hands.
Brad, whose other children are Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 18, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 16, certainly does not need any more drama in his personal life.
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He is embroiled in an ongoing legal battle with Angelina over their French vineyard, Chateau Miraval.
Brad, who got divorced in 2019, is angry that his ex-wife sold her share to another person without getting his say-so first.
He is determined to hang on to the beautiful property and took Ines, who speaks fluent French, there this summer.
During their lengthy custody battle, Angelina’s legal team also made accusations via court depositions that he had been violent during a flight with their family in 2016.
Brad admitted that he’d had drinking problems and had attended an Alcoholics Anonymous group but his friends insist the boozing is behind him.
They said: “Next week will be the eight-year anniversary of the break-up. He has taken steps to change.”
Matching white shirts
By focusing more on his career, he enjoyed his biggest awards success in 2020 when he won a best supporting actor Oscar for his role in Quentin Tarantino’s critically acclaimed Once Upon A Time . . . In Hollywood.
Both Brad and Angelina were keen to be at the 81st Venice Film Festival, where this autumn’s major movies vie for attention.
On Thursday Angelina turned up for the premiere of her major comeback movie Maria, in which she plays opera star Maria Callas.
Two days later, Brad arrived on a speedboat with Ines at Venice’s Lido island where the festival is held, both dressed in matching white shirts.
Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera said: “There is no way that they can cross each other at the Lido.”
While Angelina’s movie received a seven-minute standing ovation, the critics have not been so kind to Brad and George’s Wolfs, which will not have a cinematic release in the UK.
But perhaps with Ines in his life, Brad will finally get over his eight-year feud with Angelina.
