More than a year after they first hit it off at a 2016 Golden Globes afterparty, Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom are taking a break from their relationship, and insiders reveal in the new issue of Us Weekly what came between the picture-perfect couple. Watch the video above to find out more.
The former flames arrived separately to Vanity Fair’s Oscars afterparty on February 26, a Perry pal tells Us. Although they posed for a smiling photo together, their reps announced that they were taking time apart two days later. “Before rumors or falsifications get out of hand we can confirm that Orlando and Katy are taking respectful, loving space at this time,” their reps told Us Weekly in statement on February 28.
The pair began drifting last fall when the 40-year-old actor spent weeks in China filming his upcoming Shanghai-set thriller, S.M.A.R.T. Chase: Fire & Earth, a source close to Perry tells Us. The once-inseparable couple started to realize that “they make better best friends than they do partners,” the Perry friend says.
By February, the couple were in different places. UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Bloom traveled to Niger and Nigeria to visit children displaced by Boko Haram’s violence. Meanwhile, Perry, 32, jetted to London Fashion Week, where she promoted her new single, “Chained to the Rhythm,” and sat front row at several fashion shows.
“They’re not the best at long distance,” a source close to the actor tells Us. Besides their busy travel schedules, Bloom, who is dad of 6-year-old Flynn with ex-wife Miranda Kerr, “wasn’t ready for something more serious,” the source adds. “It was clear to them this split needed to happen.”
It wasn’t a bitter breakup, though, and both stars have proven on social media that there’s still a lot of love between them. The pop superstar, who finalized her divorce from Russell Brand in 2012 after two years of marriage, tweeted on Thursday, March 2, “U can still b friends & love ur former partners!” The Pirates of the Caribbean hunk then shared an Instagram video with Perry’s beloved pup, Nugget, running around by his feet. “Bra sis play date a mighty nugget combo,” he captioned the Monday, March 6, clip.
Now that she’s single, the “Roar” songstress has been focusing on herself — even getting a major makeover to be more of a “chic fashionista,” a Perry pal explains to Us. Hairstylist Chris McMillan chopped her shoulder-length locks into an edgy platinum pixie on March 2. She posted a video of her new ‘do, writing, “I WASN’T READY TILL NOW.” She also swapped her usual ice-cream and popcorn-themed costumes for a sophisticated metallic August Getty Atelier jumpsuit, diamond chandelier Jacob & Co. earrings and sleek Jimmy Choo pumps at the iHeartRadio Music Awards on March 5. A source close to the musician explains: “She doesn’t want to be the quirky girl in the weird dresses anymore.”
