Celebrity Celebrity Relationships Lady Gaga Says Fiancé Michael Polansky Helped 'Change' Her Life: 'The Missing Piece Was Having Real Love' The actress and musician shared that the pair started dating after meeting at a friend's party and got closer while staying together during the COVID-19 pandemic By Kimberlee Speakman Kimberlee Speakman Kimberlee Speakman is a digital writer at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2022. Her work has previously appeared in Forbes and she has also worked in broadcast television as a reporter for Hawaii-based news station KHON2 News. People Editorial Guidelines Published on September 5, 2024 08:25AM EDT Lady Gaga and Michael Polansky in Venice, Italy on Sept. 4, 2024. Photo: Jacopo Raule/FilmMagic Lady Gaga is in a good place — and it’s all thanks to her fiancé Michael Polansky. The Joker: Folie à Deux star, 38, shared in her October cover story for Vogue that her mental health has come a long way from where it was during the release of her last album Chromatica in 2020 due to Polansky’s influence. “I had never met anyone like Michael,” the actress and singer told the outlet. “He’s so smart and so kind. And his life and my life are very different. He’s a very private guy and he’s not with me for any other reason than that we are right for each other.” “But I think what I want my fans to know is that I’m just, like, so happy,” she added. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Lady Gaga's October 'Vogue' cover. Ethan James Green/Vogue Who Is Lady Gaga's Fiancé? All About Michael Polansky She went on to note that the creation of her Chromatica album was “an absolutely horrible time” for her “mental health” and she had been in “a really dark place.” However, Polansky helped “change” all that. “I struggled for, like, many years before that. But everything started to change. Because I had a real friend who saw the ways in which I was unhappy and why. And he wasn’t afraid to truly hold my hand and get to know me on a very deep level,” Gaga said. She noted elsewhere in the interview that their relationship has helped her find balance, noting, “The missing piece in my life was having real love.” Lady Gaga and Michael Polansky attend the 'Joker: Folie à Deux' red carpet during the 81st Venice International Film Festival on Sept. 4, 2024. Pascal Le Segretain/Getty The “Rain on Me” musician shared that the pair started dating after meeting at a friend’s party “and just fell in love.” When the COVID-19 pandemic then hit, they got even closer as they stayed together at her Malibu home for a year. “I’d been so focused on my career since I was a teenager,” she told Vogue. “And the gift of that time was that I got to completely focus on my relationship. I met this totally supportive, loving human being who wanted to get to know me — outside of Lady Gaga.” The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now! Lady Gaga Wins Joker: Folie à Deux Red Carpet at Venice Film Festival with Epic Headpiece — and Her Fiancé! Polansky added, “We had this amazing chapter of a weird kind of normalcy, that’s essential for any relationship to develop in a real way — taking walks, making coffee, hanging out with the dogs, reading books together…” The Oscar nominee previously dated musician Lüc Carl and fashion designer Matthew "Dada" Williams and was engaged to actor Taylor Kinney in 2015 and talent agent Christian Carino in 2018 before meeting Polansky. Though, Gaga said she is hopeful her latest relationship will stand the test of time. “I kind of thought I was going to have to do this all by myself — forever. And that was really scary. Because it’s a big life. And I don’t think anyone really knows what it feels like unless you’re in it,” she told Vogue. “And I don’t have to do this alone anymore.” Joker: Folie à Deux is in theaters Oct. 4. Close