In early June, fans were thrilled when Keke Palmer and Sean Evans were spotted on a date in Brooklyn. Sean had previously confessed that Keke was his celebrity crush. During a Hot Ones appearance last year, Keke suggested they kiss to find out if they had any chemistry. Speculation about their relationship grew after they got very touchy-feely on Keke’s podcast Baby, This Is Keke Palmer. During a Spotify panel at Cannes Lions, Keke said that they were just hanging out and taking it “one wing at a time.”

Keke is currently promoting her new Audible series, Southern Belle Insults, which centers around her sketch character, Lady Miss Jacqueline. Earlier this week, she stopped by Today with Jenna & Sheinelle to talk about the series. While discussing relationships, Sheinelle asked Keke about her date with Sean. Keke said that their chemistry is real, but she was surprised by the intense public reaction. From Page Six:

Keke Palmer gushed over her “genuine” chemistry with “Hot Ones” host Sean Evans as their romance heats up.

“Our chemistry is genuine… I couldn’t force that if I tried,” Palmer said during her appearance on “Today” with Jenna & Sheinelle Monday when asked about Evans.

“We always felt that chemistry,” she added.

“It’s life. Essentially, we met at work. We had chemistry. Work husband, work wife. You just have that chemistry with people. Then, we hang out,” Palmer said of their dinner date last month.

When asked how she feels about the internet shipping them as a couple, Palmer quipped, “I was gagged that everybody was ready to marry me off.”

“Guys, let it cook! They married your girl off in two seconds!”

However, the former Nickelodeon star noted that she’s not letting “parasocial” fans dictate what she decides to do with Evans.

“I don’t let it define the way that I think. If anything, I’m always trying to contextualize things. A lot of times I feel like people get that about me. You can’t just take everything at face value. You have to be critically thinking about everything you see.”

Her warm comments about Evans come weeks after Page Six exclusively confirmed that the pair are “hanging out.”

[From Page Six]

Keke and Sean are both pretty lowkey. Neither of them are paparazzi magnets, so I bet they were surprised that their date blew up like that. People were just excited to see two of their favorites hanging out, especially after seeing this clip of her mom giving her blessing. Keke described fan reaction as people “[writing] the story before you can live it.” That’s a good way of putting it. She also mentioned that someone asked her about Sean while she was going through TSA, which is wild. I know airports don’t always bring out the best in people, but that’s pretty bold.

Keke is so funny and charming. I love that she doesn’t let public opinion affect her. She handled the KeSe (SeKe?) topic masterfully with a playful tone but a very real message to give them space. She was essentially saying, “You want to see me happy? Then shut up and don’t ruin this!” Abide by Keke’s wishes and play it cool, everyone. Let them cook in private.

Here’s the clip of Keke talking about Sean. I cued it to start at that part (5:16), but the entire segment is worth the watch. They talk about Oprah’s recent guest appearance on Keke’s podcast, in which O brings up a difficult breakup she had before becoming famous that ended up shaping the woman she became.

Photos credit: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon