Zach Braff has praised girlfriend Florence Pugh, after she hit back at critics of their 24-year age gap.

The pair have been in a relationship since April 2019, but earlier this year, when the Midsommar star shared a photo of Zach on Instagram, she received a wave of comments criticising their difference in age.

At the time, she shared a short clip on her page insisting: “I will not allow that behaviour on my page, I’m not about that. It makes me upset, it makes me sad that during this time when we really all need to be together, we need to be supporting one another.

“I am 24 years old. I do not need you to tell me who I should and should not love, and I would never in my life ever tell anyone who they can and cannot love.” 

In a new interview with Mr Porter, Zach was asked if he’d ever been tempted to hit back in the same way, but said he felt Florence had handled the situation sufficiently on her own.

“She literally sat down, hit record on her phone and said that,” he explained. “I thought: ‘how could I possibly follow anything as intelligent and articulate as that?’. So, I chose not to.”

Over the summer, Florence spoke of the criticism her relationship with the Scrubs actor had faced once again, in an interview on Sue Perkins’ podcast.

“I’ve always found it funny, how I can be good enough for people to watch my work and support my work and pay for tickets and I’m old enough to be an adult and pay taxes but I’m not old enough to know who I should and should not have sex with,” the Oscar-nominated star said.

“Once again, it’s making a young woman feel like shit for no reason,” she continued.

“I think I did feel shit for a while… and then I thought ‘how ridiculous is that?’. I’m 24 and I can’t choose who I love.”

Read Zach Braff’s interview in full on Mr Porter.