Actor Leon Robinson was quite the heartthrob in his day, and many people still consider him to be now.
He’s best known for playing the late Temptations member, David Ruffin, in the 1998 movie “The Temptations.” In “Waiting to Exhale,” Robinson also portrayed Russell, the hot married man having an affair with Lela Rochon’s character Robin Stokes.
Outside of his infamous roles, not much is known about his personal life.
Robinson has kept his dating journey mostly secret. However, he has been public about his past relationship with “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star Cynthia Bailey.
The two dated briefly in the ’90s, welcomed their daughter, Noelle Robinson, 26, before splitting. But it looks like his secret dating life is no longer a secret.
Leon enjoyed a night out in New York City, but the camera caught him in a moment that made it look like he didn’t want to be seen.
A clip circulating on Wednesday, Oct. 14, shows the actor walking hand in hand with a mystery woman.
The clip showed the two strolling side by side as Robinson greeted paparazzi standing at the edge of the sidewalk. He quickly released the woman’s hand as she held on to the back of his jacket.
Still standing next to him, the woman simply smiled and said, “Hello, hi,” as they approached the entrance of an unidentified building.
Another man filming said, “Good ol’ Leon,” as Robinson briefly spoke to the guards at the door. “The Five Heartbeats” star looked around and said, “Where are they?”
Robinson turned to the opposite side and walked away, leaving the woman standing there with security.
At the end of the clip, she briefly looked around as well and paid no mind to Robinson walking away. Instead, she asked the security, “You didn’t see two of our guests, did you?” before appearing to enter the building.
Fans noticed the interaction and discussed it in the comments.
One person shared their thoughts: “You see how he dropped her hand real quick and kept moving like he wasn’t with her….we saw you cledis.”
Another person stunned typed, “Did he drop her hand?! Damn.”
Someone else who saw Robinson’s behavior said, “Why did he do that? Is he scared of the backlash from black women?”
A third person in the comments who seemed to have some insight into Robinson’s dating life wrote, “That’s is long time love, Patricia.”
As it turns out, the woman is his longtime partner named Patricia Blanchet.
Blanchet is a Haitian artist who grew up in Queens, New York. Blanchet was once married to “60 Minutes” journalist Ed Bradley for only two years before Bradley passed away at age 65 in 2006.
According to the Philly Voice, Blanchet was 24 years Bradley’s junior, though her current age is not known now.
It’s unclear when Blanchet and Robinson started dating or how they met.
However, they’ve been photographed together publicly since at least 2013, when they attended the Ricardo Seco fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Spring.
Though he doesn’t post intimate photos of them, Robinson showed love for Blanchet in a 2020 post of her wearing his hat.
In the caption he said, “I’m not the jealous type but when your lady rocks #yourhat as good or better than you. You might wanna start hiding your hats. As you can see, I definitely need to hide mine.”
Robinson also shared photos of her several times on his Instagram to wish her a happy birthday and on occasions when they go to events together.
Blachet’s Instagram page is currently private.
