Renée Zellweger says she avoids social media and doesn’t check her phone until 6 at night

Zellweger says she was ‘outside every day’ during pandemic

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Renée Zellweger has opened up about her relationship with her phone, with the actor revealing that she tries to limit her screen time during the day by avoiding looking at the device until 6pm.

Zellweger, 52, discussed her technology usage, and her boyfriend, HGTV star Ant Anstead, 42, who she met on the set of his Discovery+ show, Celebrity IOU: Joyride, during an interview with Harper’s Bazaar for its April 2022 issue.

While the outlet noted that the British-born TV personality posts regularly on Instagram - sometimes even featuring the Judy star - Zellweger acknowledged that she tends to stay away from social media, and her phone entirely.

“I don’t look at my phone sometimes until six o’clock at night,” Zellweger said. Rather than endlessly scrolling on her phone like most people during lockdown, Zellweger said she spent her time starting projects, planting, and learning her mother’s native language, Norwegian.

“I was outside every day, building things and planting things,” she said. “Nature does what it does and, you know, the squirrels and I were at war. Like: ‘Why you gotta dig that big hole there?’”

“I’m out there every day with my shovel and my bucket,” she added. “Then I’m inside tinkering. ‘Cause you get quiet and you get creative. Busyness is the enemy of creativity.”

The Bridget Jones star has previously revealed how she stays grounded while working in the entertainment industry. During a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, she detailed her unique pre-show ritual before attending an award show, such as the 2020 Oscars where she won Best Actress for her role in Judy, which she said includes walking to the award ceremony.

“I want to be grounded,” she said. “So I have a couple rituals and things that I like to do before I go - I like to walk.

“I don’t like to get in the car, you know, the long limo ride,” she added. “‘Cause I don’t like getting out and it’s all crazy and people screaming and stuff. So I sneak in.”

Zellweger and Anstead met in June 2021 and began dating shortly after, with the actor describing their relationship as serendipitous.