Dallas veteran Patrick Duffy played Bobby Ewing on the hit nighttime soap saga set in Texas from 1978 until 1991.

The swarthy actor was one of the biggest hunks on the small screen as he worked opposite Larry Hagman, Linda Gray and Victoria Principal.

He reprised the role of Bobby in the TNT revival series from 2012 to 2014.

Duffy also starred as Frank Lambert in the ABC sitcom Step by Step with blonde bombshell Suzanne Somers in the 1990s.

Now the 76-year-old Hollywood staple has been seen again as he appeared at several events in Cincinnati to support his brand Duffy’s Dough.

On his arm was his girlfriend Linda Purl of Happy Days fame. Duffy and Purl have been dating since July 2020 after they met on a group text and got close on Facetime then Zoom during Covid.

Dallas veteran Patrick Duffy played Bobby Ewing on the show for about a decade

He was one of the biggest hunks on the small screen as he worked opposite Larry Hagman, Linda Gray and Victoria Principal. Seen in 1978

He has said sparks began to fly during a group text chat in 2020.

Patrick shared last year: ‘It’s a Covid romance. We didn’t sit in the same room for almost four months but we spoke to each other everyday.

‘We kept texting and texting became Facetime and for two and a half months plus we zoomed every night for two or three hours. We didn’t have that thing after the third dinner, do I kiss? Do I take her to my house?

Linda, who played Ashley Pfister in season 10 of Happy Days in the early 1980s, added: ‘As we were about to do the end meeting, Patrick says “see you tomorrow love you.”

Patrick said: ‘The next day we zoomed it was like…”hi”. I got into my car and drove 23 hours to her door step and we’ve never been apart.’

Linda continued: ‘I don’t think it would have happened otherwise because in our normal lives pre-pandemic we wouldn’t have had three hours to Zoom but we did.’

Branding Linda ‘the most beautiful thing in the world’ Patrick said: ‘I wasn’t looking for (love) but it found me.’

Describing their relationship in an interview back in November 2020, Patrick said he had given up on the idea of dating again following the passing of his wife, ballet dancer Carlyn Rosser, who succumbed to cancer in 2017.

Patrick on Dallas

Duffy with Hagman, Gray, Principal, Charlene Tilton, Jim Davis and Barbara Bel Geddes

The pair were married for over four decades and had two sons: Padraic, 48, and Conor, 42.

‘I wasn’t looking for it. I didn’t feel I needed it … and then fate just went swoosh! and changed the perspective,’ he said of their love last year.

‘We started texting and then FaceTiming and then Zooming … We did a two-to-three-hour Zoom every single night … You get to know somebody really well when you do that.’

The actor loved chatting to Linda during the lockdown, and once restrictions were eased, he wasted no time in rushing to see her.

He shared: ‘At the end of those two and half months, we were feeling a little different than just casual friendship, so I packed up my car, I drove 20 hours, and I was on her doorstep.

On his hit show Step by Step who costar Suzanne Somers in 1997

Patrick’s wife, ballet dancer Carlyn Rosser, succumbed to cancer in 2017 (pictured 1987)

‘I asked permission if I could kiss her, and we’ve been together ever since.’

Patrick admitted that his romance with Linda came as a complete surprise. The actor explained that after his wife’s death, he never imagined he’d fall in love again.

He confessed: ‘I never thought for a minute this would happen again. I never thought I’d feel this way again. I’m in an incredibly happy relationship.’

Duffy’s wife Rosser died in 2017.

This week he was seen with his girlfriend Linda Purl, far right, of Happy Days fame while in Cincinnati at an event for his brand Duffy’s Dough

Linda is mother to son Lucius Cary, 26, who she shares with ex husband Alexander Cary.

She has been married four times in total but has no other children.

In 2006 Patrick played Stephen Logan on The Bold and the Beautiful. He left the show after five years, but came back in 2022 for two episodes. In his role he played the love interest to his girlfriend Purl.

He has also appeared in films like You Again (2010) and Lady of the Manor (2021).