How Brad Pitt met Nicole Poturalski and kept relationship secret for 9 months

Brad Pitt unquestionably left many hearts broken after word got out about his girlfriend Nicole Poturalski.

And while details remain hazy about the love birds, new reports reveal that how the couple had met and how they had managed to conceal their relationship from even their closest friends for a period of nine months.

Entertainment Tonight cited a source saying that the duo has been together for nearly nine months now after meeting through a friend.

"Brad and Nicole were introduced through friends, and when they first started seeing each other, they told no one about it,” said the source.

"Even some of their inner circle of friends are only finding out now. Brad has been very private about dating and now more than ever he doesn't want to rock the boat with Angelina [Jolie, his ex-wife with whom he shares six children]. He has been working so hard on making his co-parenting run smoothly,” the insider added.

ET’s source further claimed that Nicole’s friends describe her as "super easy going. She is very down to earth and far from star-struck, which has been really nice for Brad.”

According to the Daily Mail, the Fight Club actor had first met her when he visited her husband Roland Mary’s restaurant in 2009 and was reportedly “mesmerized” by her.

The outlet further claimed that Nicole had one day slipped him her number, and therein began their love story.

An industry insider also opened up to People, saying the couple were a perfect match: "She has spunk. She’s smart. If she's dating Brad, good for her. Good for him."

Earlier this week, Pitt, 56, sent shockwaves after he was photographed with the German model, 27, as they arrived in France together for a vacation at the actor’s chateau.