American soapie star Texas Battle and South African publicist Genavieve Alkana have been making waves with their budding romance.

Texas is best known for his role as businessman Marcus Forrester in The Bold and the Beautiful, and Gena was a contestant on the fifth season of Survivor South Africa in 2014.

The hunky 33-year-old actor also plays the role of Texas Daly in SAF3 (pronounced 'Safe'), an action drama series set in California but shot in SA locations such as Cape Town and Camps Bay Beach. And it's during his time in her motherland that Gena met Texas.

According to Times Live blog GabiVille, the couple initially met at the Bay Hotel in Camp's Bay in 2013, where he was filming scenes for SAF3 and she was working on a different set.

Opening up about her famous beau, Gena told You magazine that she "had no idea who he was when we first met but he insisted on taking me to lunch".

Speaking to the Sunday Times, she said: "To me, Texas is just Texas, one of the most down to earth and unassuming people you'll ever meet. He has a good heart... he really is good people. You can't help but like Texas."

And Texas has proven that she wasn't just making these claims because she's smitten, as he recently returned to SA for work on the Texas Battle Foundation that he is in the midst of establishing.

According to You magazine, Texas decided to start the foundation when he saw youngsters from Langa dancing in the streets of Camps Bay to raise money for school shoes. Inspired, he decided to start a foundation to help underprivileged children in the country.

The magazine further reports that the actor is looking for a house in South Africa, but Gena admitted that his work commitments both here and in America can makes things complicated.

"We're taking it one day at a time," she said.

"You never know with his schedule, so we're not putting too much pressure on ourselves. What's meant to be will be - in the meantime we're just having fun."