Zach Braff gets very close with mystery woman amid Frances Whitney romance after Florence Pugh split

Zach Braff was seen getting very close with a mystery woman in West Hollywood on Wednesday – weeks after his romantic date with musician Frances Whitney.

The Scrubs star, 49, who split from Florence Pugh, 28 in 2022 after a three year romance, looked smitten with the brunette woman as they embraced in his car.

The woman was seen leaning on the actor as he planted a kiss on her head.

The pair were also seen having an intimate chat in the car. 

Last month Braff was seen wrapping his arms around Whitney at celeb hotspot Sushi Park in West Hollywood.

Braff was seen on a cozy dinner date with alt-pop singer-songwriter Frances last month 

As they left, Braff wrapped his arms around his new love interest and planted a sweet kiss on her neck.

The PDA made his date smile as she walked a few steps ahead of him after dining at the popular sushi spot, tucked away on the second floor of a nondescript strip mall. 

For their night out, she rocked a chic, black long sleeve and a pair of ripped light-wash jeans. 

Since his breakup with Pugh after three years of dating, the performer has kept his love life out of the spotlight.

In December 2023, he spoke highly about his ex while appearing on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show. 

During the interview, he said he and Pugh still ‘love each other’ despite now only being ‘friends.’ 

He also confessed that they are still is in regular contact, and she had even chatted with him earlier that morning. 

‘I was on the Today Show this morning, and she said she wanted to see pictures of what my outfit was to give approvals, so we love each other a lot,’ Braff continued.

He also made it clear there weren’t any hard feelings between the two when he gushed about the Oscar nominee’s prodigious talents.

The Scrubs star, 49, who split from Florence Pugh, 28 in 2022 after a three year romance, looked smitten with the brunette woman as they embraced in his car

The woman was seen leaning on Braff in the car

Braff and Pugh (pictured above last year together) dated for three years between 2019 to 2022

 ‘Listen, I think it’s pretty clear across the world that I’m not biased when I say that she is one of the finest actresses working today,’ he enthused.

‘I think anyone who gives watching A Good Person a chance will see that she’s just extraordinary, and I just feel so lucky that I got to have her be my leading lady.’

Before their relationship had run its course, Florence had signed on to play the lead in A Good Person, which Zach directed but did not star in.

Zach and Florence were first introduced while on the set of a short film he was making, but it wasn’t until April of 2019 that they were linked when they were spotted holding hands. 

However, the couple stayed silent and didn’t confirm the relationship until December of that year.

A Good Person was filmed in 2021, when the couple were still together, and they were apparently together at least until April of 2022 when she wished him a happy 47th birthday

During their relationship, the couple — and particularly Florence — experienced a torrent of abuse on social media due to their 21-year age gap, though the Little Drummer Girl actress defended her right to choose to be with Zach.

‘I have the right to hang out and be with and go out with anyone I want to,’ she asserted during a 2020 interview with Elle UK. ‘I’ve always found this part of what people do really bizarre. 

Pugh continued: ‘I know that part of being in the spotlight is that people might invade your privacy and have opinions on it, but it’s bizarre that normal folk are allowed to display such hate and opinions on a part of my life that I’m not putting out there.’ 

n September, Pugh, who is now dating Peaky Blinders star Finn Cole, explained that she had ‘had to be public in the past’ about their relationship due to the relentless bullying over their age difference. 

‘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. And that’s when I spoke out,’ she told Vogue.  

Zach and Florence were first introduced while on the set of a short film he was making, but it wasn’t until April of 2019 that they were linked when they were spotted holding hands; seen in 2023

‘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.

‘So that was necessary. I needed to talk about it. I think any relationship in this limelight is going to be stressed.’

Florence confirmed in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar in August 2022 that the pair had gone their separate ways.