Lea Michele Opens Up About Dating Matthew Paetz, Says Late Cory Monteith Would ‘Love’ New Boyfriend

Lea Michele recently spoke about what it’s been like moving forward in a relationship with model Matthew Paetz following the death of her longtime boyfriend and Glee costar Cory Monteith.

Lea Michele On New Love

Michele has been dating Paetz since 2014 and has shared bits and pieces of their relationship on Instagram. Though Michele greatly appreciates her passionate fanbase, she admits that the stream of comments that flood her page when she posts a picture with Paetz can be emotionally exhausting.

“[The fans] are incredible and they were really part of my whole story and my whole journey with me, so I do come from a place of understanding, but it’s also really hard,” Michele said on the Fempire Podcast hosted by fellow former Glee star Becca Tobin, Keltie Knight and Jac Vanek.  “Every time I post a picture [of Paetz], then it’s just a landslide of comments that talk about my past and bring that up rather than projecting positivity.”

“And even though I don’t think anyone is really projecting hate — it is positive, it’s nothing so terrible — but at the end of the day we have to remember that what we put out there, it manifests and it creates energy and you should want to be the person who chooses to take that second to do something positive,” Michele added.

While Michele admits that the comments are difficult for both her and Paetz to read, it’s not a threat to the relationship they’ve been building for two years. “He’s such a great man that he would never let anything like that ever crack our lovely little core that we’ve created,” she said. “This industry is really tough, and the only way to get through is to create a solid unit, and that’s really what we have been since Day One. We’ve stood by each other through anything that was thrown our way.”

Fortunately for Michele, Paetz is “very respectful” about her past, which is something the singer and actress loves about him. “I really know that Cory would love him too,” Michele said. “And that’s all that we really hold within our hearts, and so does everyone else in my life.”