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Bradley Cooper has finally addressed his rumored romance with Lady Gaga following the release of A Star is Born, when the costars steamed up the stage at their 2019 performance of “Shallow” at the Oscars.

“Just from a personal standpoint, it reduces the anxiety level,” Bradley, 46, told The Hollywood Reporter. “[Our characters in A Star is Born] kind of fall in love in that scene in the film. It’s that explosive moment that happens to happen to them on a stage in front of thousands of people.”

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“It would have been so weird if we were both on stools facing the audience,” the Silver Linings Playbook star added.

During the performance, Bradley stood beside the piano Lady Gaga, 35, played while staring at her before he joined her on the bench and touched his head to her’s. The intimacy of the moment made fans wonder if the pair’s on-screen chemistry wasn’t acting and inspired countless fanfiction stories.

“We made a love story. For me, as a performer and as an actress, of course we wanted people to believe that we were in love,” Gaga said on Jimmy Kimmel Live in February 2019 while shutting down the rumors.

“We wanted people to feel that love at the Oscars … we worked hard on it, we worked for days. We mapped the whole thing out — it was orchestrated as a performance. In truth, when we talked about it, we went, ‘Well, I guess we did a good job!’”

However, those rumors may have affected Bradley and his relationship with his then-girlfriend Irina Shayk.

“The movie had a major impact on Bradley and Irina’s relationship,” a source told Us Weekly following their breakup in June 2019 after four years together. “Even though there was nothing romantic between Bradley and Gaga, the noise was difficult for Irina to deal with.”

Another source told the outlet that Gaga “felt bad” about the rumors and she wasn’t “going to get together” with him following the breakup.

Lady Gaga also ended her relationship with her fiancé, Christian Carino, shortly before the Oscars. The “Bad Romance” singer announced the split just five days before the performance.

Rumors of their split began when she performed “Shallow” with Bradley during her Enigma residency in Las Vegas in late January — without her engagement ring — and when she attended the 2019 Grammy Awards solo.

It seems that the former costars still hold each other in high regard, however.

“She’s just so terribly charismatic and beautiful. When I met her, I thought, ‘If I can just harness that … then it’s just for me to mess up,’” Bradley told THR. “But then, when we started working together, I realized, ‘Oh, oh, the sky’s the limit in terms of what she’s able to do and her commitment level.’”