Last month, we reported that former “Dallas” star Patrick Duffy had announced that he is dating Linda Purl, who appeared on the television show “Happy Days” in the 1980s. Now, Duffy is speaking out to talk about how much he loves his new girlfriend.

Duffy, 71, told Page Six that he does not feel like a teenager in love, but rather a “knowledgeable teen.”

“We’re not covering any ground that has not been trodden in both our lives for years and years,” he explained of his relationship with Purl. “For me, it’s not a do-over, it’s a do-again because the first one was perfect and this one is also perfect. We get a do-again, but we’re not teenagers so we kind of enter it knowing what’s expected and what to give and to respect each other’s history and individualism. It’s worked out, I can’t tell you how happy I am.”

Duffy went on to say that his Buddhist faith helped him deal with the death of his wife of forty years Carlyn Rosser, who died in 2017 after a battle with cancer. He also credited his faith with helping him get through the brutal 1986 murders of his parents during an armed robbery of a tavern they owned in Boulder, Montana.

“Fundamental to all Buddhist philosophy is the eternity of life,” Duffy said, adding that it was his late wife who first introduced him to buddhism. Since then, the actor has chanted twice daily for 49 years.

“It’s impossible to separate the philosophy of Buddhism from my life,” he said. “But just so people know, just because I chant ‘Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō’ doesn’t mean I don’t like polishing off a bottle of wine or red meat.”

Duffy then talked about how excited he is to celebrate Christmas this year.

“I have always been a Christmas fanatic, I was from year one,” he explained. “When my wife and I were first married, living in New York in the ’70s, we were so poor we would wrap our Christmas presents in the Sunday funnies because at least it was colored paper. We never gave up on the holiday.”