Brian Austin Green claims Martin star Tichina Arnold forced him to keep romance secret

Green and Arnold met in the 1990s and bonded over shared love of hip-hop music before they became romantically involved

Brian Austin Green has claimed that Everybody Hates Chris star Tichina Arnold forced him to keep their relationship under wraps when they briefly dated in the 1990s.

During Wednesday’s episode of the Funny Knowing You podcast, the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum explained that he first met the former Martin actor while working together and quickly bonded over their love of hip-hop music.

However, after they began “fooling around” and started a relationship, Green said Arnold was “very clear on day one [that] nobody can know about this.”

“I was in my early 20s. I was living in a culture that wasn’t accepting of me,” he said. “But there was no way to get out of it because that was just where my brain and my heart were.”

“I have someone who I’m attracted to who’s telling me, like, ‘You can’t tell anybody,’” the actor continued. “I think, for me, it really triggered something like, ‘Oh, OK. I’m not good enough for any of this. You don’t even want your friends to know that you’re hanging out with me.’”

Brian Austin Green recalled feeling ‘not good enough’ after Tichina Arnold asked him not to tell anyone they were dating (Getty Images)

While Arnold did eventually change her mind about wanting the relationship to be public, Green said he made a “subconscious switch” in his mind by that point, where he did not consider them to be in “a real relationship.”

Despite the coupling not lasting, Green remains friends with Arnold to this day.

“That’s my girl. I will always have her back. She has always had my back,” he said on the podcast.

Green’s comments came one month after Arnold appeared on the Funny Knowing You podcast, revealing that she was the one to end the relationship.

“I said, ‘The reason why we’ve come to the end of our road is because I see you dating all these Black women. Now you’re dating me, and you’re not going to end up with a Black woman. You’re going to share your riches and your legacy with someone white. And so I’m getting off this train,’” she said at the time.

Green went on to welcome son Kassius Lijah, 21, with his ex-girlfriend Vanessa Marcil, before having sons, Noah Shannon, 13, Bodhi Ransom, 11, and Journey River, nine, with his ex-wife Megan Fox. He also shares a two-year-old son, Zane, with his current fiancée Sharna Burgess.

Arnold was married to Lamon Brewster from 1991 to 1995 and DaRico Hines from 2012 to 2016. She shares a 21-year-old daughter, Alijah Kai, with the record producer Carvin Haggins.