Dan Reynolds is getting candid about the “strange” story of how he started dating Minka Kelly.
Reynolds, 36, told People in an interview published on Tuesday, July 2, that the couple’s romance began with an introduction by a mutual friend.
The Imagine Dragons frontman was fresh from his 2022 divorce from Aja Volkman when he spoke to Kelly, 44, over the phone for quite some time before they met face to face. At the time, Kelly was working on her Tell Me Everything memoir.
Reynolds offered to send her the in-progress music for his Loom album, which dropped last month, and the Friday Night Lights actress agreed to let him read her manuscript.
“She’s like, ‘Well, if you’re going to share your art, I can share something with you, but it’s very vulnerable for me,’” Reynolds recalled. ‘“Do you want to do this or not?’”
Reynolds noted that Kelly “was very scared” for him to read the book because the two hadn’t met, “just as much as I was scared for her to hear a song that I’d written.”
“But we shared it and then it ended up being a really beautiful thing and brought us a lot closer,” he explained. “I think it helped us both kind of understand each other on a deeper level quite quickly.”
Kelly then allowed Reynolds to read more of Tell Me Everything, even asking for feedback.
“It was a really strange and awesome way to meet someone because I was hearing all her life stories from youth to now, and she had a really hard, colorful, beautiful life,” Reynolds said. “Getting to read it all before you even meet somebody … I’ve never had that kind of introduction to someone.”
Reynolds and Kelly were first linked in November 2022 after the duo was spotted at a Los Angeles restaurant.
“These are obviously early days for Minka and Dan but it’s going great and they’re both incredibly happy,” a source exclusively told Us the following month. “They’re taking their time and easing into it as opposed to running before they can walk, so to speak. But so far, so good, and they’re having fun, getting along great.”
In June 2023, the lovebirds were seen packing on the PDA at the Olehenriksen Face/Body Spa in photos obtained by the Daily Mail.
They exchanged a kiss outside the facility, with Kelly playfully touching her partner’s chin as they shared smiles.
Us Weekly confirmed that Reynolds and Volkman, 44, officially filed for divorce in April of that year.
The “Radioactive” singer and Volkman — who tied the knot in March 2011 — welcomed daughter Arrow in 2012 and twin daughters Gia and Coco in 2017.
