Patrick Duffy, Linda Purl recall the start of their surprising love story: We were both nervous as teenagers'

Patrick Duffy, who starred on "Dallas" and "The Bold and the Beautiful," met girlfriend, "Happy Days" actress Linda Purl, through their mutual friend, "John-Boy" from "The Waltons."

Duffy and Purl were part of a texting group created by Richard Thomas, also known as "John-Boy" from "The Waltons," but as soon as COVID-19 lockdowns forced people to connect in different ways, Duffy and Purl discovered they had something special.

Both of the actors had been married before, and after hours of texts, phone calls and video chats, they knew they were now ready for their next "great adventure" together as a couple. But neither one was prepared for what was perhaps their biggest job to date as they measured a new kind of success and embarked on creating a business based on the beloved sourdough starter he's carried around for all of these years — Duffy's Dough.

"Our whole life now is pre-Linda, post-Linda; pre-Patrick, post-Patrick. That's how we figure out where things are in our history," Duffy said during an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.