Brian Austin Green opened up about how keeping his past romance with Martin alum Tichina Arnold a secret made him feel insecure.
“She was very clear on day one of like, ‘Nobody can know about this,’” Green, 52, claimed during a Wednesday, January 14, episode of Deon Cole’s “Funny Knowing You” podcast. “Can’t tell people, can’t talk about this.”
Green explained he and Arnold, 56, connected when they were in their 20s. In addition to starring in Beverly Hills, 90210, Green was interested in hip-hop music which he and Arnold bonded over. Arnold, who was starring on Martin at the time, would come over to Green’s place to collaborate, as she was a singer while Green was producing music.
According to Green, the pair ended up “fooling around” and formed a romantic bond. While Green had genuine feelings for Arnold, he started to feel “insecure” about himself as he kept their romance quiet.
“I have someone who I’m attracted to who’s telling me like, ‘You can’t tell anybody,’” he reflected. “I think for me, it really triggered something like, ‘Oh, OK. I’m not good enough for any of this. You don’t even want your friends to know that you’re hanging out with me.’”
However, once Arnold came around and wanted to tell people about their relationship, the actor felt mixed emotions.
“At some point it flipped a little bit and all of a sudden she was like, cool with it. But I think somewhere in my mind, like, I had that subconscious switch of like, ‘Oh, I’m not this isn’t a real relationship. This is just a thing that we’re doing,’” he recalled. “Now maybe her view of it has changed a little bit, but it didn’t even start in a healthy way.”
While Green and Arnold ultimately did not work out, he shared he still has a lot of “love” for her and they remain friends all these years later.
“That’s my girl. I will always have her back. She has always had my back,” he said, adding he doesn’t want anyone to think he was speaking “poorly” about her.
Before Green sat down with Cole, Arnold was a guest on the “Funny Knowing You” podcast last month. During her sitdown she revealed that she and Green dated in the past and what led to their breakup.
“I told him. I said, ‘The reason why we’ve come to the end of our road is because I see you dating all these Black women. Now you’re dating me, and you’re not going to end up with a Black woman. You’re going to share your riches and your legacy with someone white. And so I’m getting off this train.’ I told you I’m very good with endings,” she said, adding that Green is “a really nice guy.”
Arnold shared that she “knew it wasn’t going anywhere” but had “a great experience” with Green. Their connection also affirmed she is primarily attracted to Black men.
“I’m just attracted to Black men, like, that’s my natural,” she admitted. “It comes down to everything, just the pheromones, the smell, and everything.”
Brian Austin Green revealed that working with a significant other isn’t always fun — like when Tiffani Thiessen joined Beverly Hills, 90210. Green, 51, recalled the start of his relationship with Thiessen, 51, during the Monday, April 28, episode of his “Oldish” podcast. “I had a crush on her before 90210 because we used to […]
Green, for his part, admitted on Wednesday that he dated Black women during that time of his life because he was involved in the hip-hop music scene.
“I was doing hip-hop clubs. I was going to all the places where hip-hop was existing. So, when you’re dating someone, you usually date the people that you’re around,” he explained. “I was dating majority black women at the time because it was like we had common interests. We had things that we were doing together.”
Following his relationship with Martin, Green went on to date Vanessa Marcil before he married Megan Fox in 2004. After divorcing Fox in 2020, Green moved on with current partner Sharna Burgess.
Arnold, for her part, was previously married to Lamon Brewster from 1991 to 1995 and DaRico Hines from 2012 to 2016.
