Antoni Porowski Says His Relationship 'Escalated Quickly' in the Pandemic: We're 'Really Good'

Antoni Porowski/Instagram Antoni Porowski & Kevin Harrington

Antoni Porowski is opening up about how the pandemic strengthened his relationship.

When COVID-19 hit the U.S. in March 2020, the celebrity food and drink expert was filming Queer Eye in Austin and his boyfriend Kevin Harrington was visiting him from New York City.

"Relationships were forged, relationships changed, and they were broken [in the pandemic]," says Porowski, 38, who teamed up with Avocados from Mexico to create "Guactails" to celebrate Cinco de Mayo early.

The Let's Do Dinner cookbook author and Harrington, a brand strategy director, were first linked in late-2019, just months before lockdown began. Harrington's trip to Austin was only meant to last four days, but was ultimately extended.

Michael Simon/StarTraks Antoni Porowski

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"It came to a shutdown in New York — there was no toilet paper — and we decided to stay in Austin and fostered a dog," Porowski tells PEOPLE. "We went from being in a relationship and each having our own apartments and not having a dog, to living in the same place with a dog."

Indeed, Porowski and Harrington fostered, then later adopted, a rescue pup named Neon, who is now an adorable mainstay on the couple's Instagram pages.

Adds Porowski: "It escalated quickly. But I don't have any complaints, which is kind of nice. When something is stable and really good — and you communicate a lot, and you check in with each other and with your own therapist about it — I feel like that's kind of the key."

Antoni Porowski/Instagram Antoni Porowski, Kevin Harrington & their dog Neon

And like for many, the pandemic has taught Porowski to appreciate the simple things in life.

"I learned to get back in touch with a part of me that used to listen to music as much as I did, and my connection with nature," he says. "I know that sounds like a hippy-dippy thing to say, but it's being with my dog and my boyfriend, tossing a ball, going Upstate [New York] whenever I can; that kind of stuff. Life has gotten so big and complicated and a lot of really high ups and a lot of low lows that, that's one thing that kind of grounds me and just keeps me in check in the best next way."