Mary Beth Barone claims she was in 'PR relationship' with Lucas Bravo

Mary Beth Barone has claimed her recent "relationship" with Lucas Bravo was designed to drum up publicity for her comedy special.

The comedian sparked romance rumours with the Emily in Paris actor earlier this year when they were spotted courtside at a basketball game and later hanging out together at the Cannes Film Festival.

However, during a recent appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Barone claimed that they were set up by Netflix executives to drum up publicity for her stand-up special Galaxy Brain.

"I was recently involved in a PR relationship... where two public figures pretend to date just for publicity, strictly for that," the Overcompensating star began.

"Netflix called me. They said, 'We love the special. We want as many people to see it as possible. Let us know how we can help.' I said, 'How about a marketing budget?' They said, 'Not that, but we could set you up in a PR relationship. Choose a guy from any of our Netflix properties.'"

Barone was allegedly told that Bravo, aka the "chef from Emily in Paris", was available, and she replied, "He's really handsome. Let's do it."

"They handled everything. Our first date was courtside at the Knicks. We went to the Cannes Film Festival," she recalled, before joking, "We had to have sex a few times for legal reasons. You could get sued for something like that."

Continuing the joke, she added, "We're not together anymore, though. We just did the three-month contract. We didn't want to extend due to irreconcilable differences. Because he's French and I'm normal."

Due to her deadpan comedy style, it was not clear if Barone was telling a sincere story or performing a bit.

Mary Beth Barone: Galaxy Brain is now streaming on Netflix. Bravo will return as Gabriel alongside Lily Collins in the sixth and final season of Emily in Paris, which is currently in production.