Lukas Gage Addresses Chris Appleton Romance Rumors Before They Hit Red Carpet Together

In a new interview with The New York Times, the "You" star reacted to speculation that he's dating celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton. The two sparked romance rumors last month after they posted photos of themselves vacationing together in Mexico.

When the NYT interviewer pointed out that fans interpreted the Instagram pics "as a relationship announcement," Gage, 27, replied, "If they want to think that, they can."

"I'm a pretty open book about most things in my life, but I have a problem with the culture of everyone needing to know everybody's business and nothing can be sacred," he continued, adding, "It's a weird line that I'm still trying to figure out."

Although the actor didn't confirm nor deny he's dating Appleton during his interview, the night before his NYT profile was published, he and the 39-year-old appeared on the red carpet together, possibly confirming their romance. The pair attended the Vanity Fair Campaign Hollywood and TikTok Celebrate Vanities: A Night For Young Hollywood event at the French restaurant Mes Amis.

As shown in the red carpet shot, above, Gage rocked an all-white look, wearing a white turtleneck t-shirt, white trousers, and an embellished white bomber jacket. Appleton, meanwhile, was seen in a simple black jacket and pants with a white button-down silk shirt.

Meanwhile, Appleton -- whose A-list celebrity clients include Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez and Dua Lipa -- shared a screenshot and link to Gage's New York Times interview to his Instagram Stories on Thursday. Alongside the screengrab of the article, he wrote, "Hot & talented🔥," and tagged Gage.

This comes a little over two weeks after the two shared a series of photos from their vacation in Punta Mita, Mexico on Instagram.

Gage's post featured a shot of himself and Appleton posing on top of an ATV as well as two selfies of themselves going for a ride.

"la mejor @stregispuntamita @chrisappleton1 #stregispuntamita," he captioned his post.

Meanwhile, Appleton posted two of the ATV pics Gage shared in addition to a photo of themselves posing shirtless while standing in the ocean.

"Joyride," he wrote in the post's caption.