Rumors of their romance were first sparked in February after the pair were spotted arm-in-arm wearing coordinated outfits. Bellucci, in a translated interview with Elle France this week, happily ended the speculation.

“What I can say … I’m glad I met the man, first of all,” Bellucci told the magazine. “It’s one of those encounters that rarely happens in life. … I know the man, I love him, and now I’m going to meet the director, another adventure begins.”

“I love Tim,” Bellucci said. “And I have great respect for Tim Burton.”

Bellucci, who presented Burton with a Lumière lifetime achievement award in October, has long been drawn to the director’s work.

“I love this dream world where the monsters are kind, like we can turn our darker aspects into something bright, forgiving,” she told Elle France about a genre of horror also championed by director Guillermo del Toro. “Tim Burton’s films talk about that a lot.”