‘Really tough’: Katy Perry reveals reason for Orlando Bloom split

Katy Perry made some candid admissions on the September 4 episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast. Photo / Call Her Daddy
Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom’s headline-grabbing relationship began back in 2016 – but it hasn’t always been fireworks for the famous pair, who briefly split seven years ago.
The Grammy winner, 39, opened up about the couple’s highly publicised break-up during the latest episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast, which was released on Wednesday.
Perry and Bloom, 47, first began their relationship after meeting at a Golden Globes party in 2016, but called it quits less than a year later in February 2017. They remained separated for about a year before eventually reconciling in 2018; the two are now engaged and share a 4-year-old daughter, Daisy.
Speaking out about the reasons behind the split, Perry revealed to host Alex Cooper she had yet to do “real work” on herself at the time, while Bloom had “set intentions” after a period of celibacy.
“We weren’t really in it from day one,” Perry admitted. “He was because he had just done a huge time of celibacy and he had set intentions. I was fresh out of a relationship, and I was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore, I need to swim in a different pond’, but I had to do a lot of real work.”
She said Bloom had embarked on a week-long programme called the Hoffman Process, which its website describes as a “personal growth retreat” that helps participants “identify negative behaviours, moods, and ways of thinking that developed unconsciously and were conditioned in childhood”.
When he returned from the retreat, Perry said it became evident the two had incompatibilities, and they parted ways.
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“He went there, and he wasn’t playing that cat-mouse game anymore,” she explained. “And I was like, ‘This is boring. I’m moving on’. I was so used to this push-pull… I was playing games.”
The two remained apart for a “really tough year” before Perry decided she too wanted to experience the process – which proved to be a pivotal moment in their journey.
“I finally went to Hoffman towards the end of that year that we were separated, and I got the tools,” she said, adding that the couple finally “spoke the same language”.
“I would be dead without it [the Hoffman Process],” she continued. “I would not be on this planet without that process and meditation. Because the noise got so large. When Witness [her 2017 album] came out and things started to shift, and I thought I really loved myself, I thought I really had that centre, but actually that core was created from outside validation. It just helped me rewire what I think about myself, and it helped me connect my head to my heart.”
Having completed the retreat, Perry and Bloom decided to give a relationship another try, officially rekindling their romance in early 2018. The two have been together ever since, announcing their engagement on Valentine’s Day in 2019 and welcoming daughter Daisy Dove in August 2020.
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Perry couldn’t help but effuse about her partner to Cooper, revealing she had shown him “the worst of me” during a particularly difficult time in 2018. Despite the challenges – “I was like, ‘Here’s the next test, I’m gonna show you the craziest b**** you’ve ever seen’,” she said – Bloom remained steadfast in his support of Perry throughout her struggles. “If you’re not shook by this, then we’re going the distance,” she added.
She admitted the two continue to work on their relationship by going to regular couple’s therapy, which she credited for their successful partnership post-split.
“We want to evolve – I think that’s why we’re in our relationship, to become better humans so we can raise this beautiful human being,” she said.
“It’s been different layers. The more we do the work, the more we find the next level. And sometimes we get stuck, and we’re like, ‘Okay, let’s go in to do the work, and this is going to be annoying, and I don’t want to do it. We don’t have the time. I’m tired, but we’re gonna do it’. And we find the next level. That’s why we’re continuing in the relationship.”
Bloom was previously married to Australian model Miranda Kerr from 2010 to 2013. The two share son Flynn, who was born in January 2011. Last month, Bloom made headlines for sharing a rare photo of the 13-year-old, who has been largely kept out of the spotlight.
Meanwhile, Perry had a 14-month marriage to British comedian Russell Brand from 2010 to 2011, with the pair’s divorce finalised in 2012.
She went on to have an on-and-off relationship with singer-songwriter John Mayer over a two-year period, and briefly dated DJ and music producer Diplo before meeting Bloom in 2016.
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In July, it was announced Perry would perform at the AFL grand final on September 28 to a crowd of over 100,000 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
In August, the California Gurls singer found herself in hot water after authorities launched an inquest into her new music video, which was allegedly filmed without permission at a beach in Ibiza, Spain.
The Balearic Islands’ Department of Agriculture, Fishery and Natural Environment said the production company responsible for recording the video in Ibiza, famed for its beaches and raucous nightlife, had not requested authorisation.
“That is why preliminary investigation actions have been initiated,” it said in a statement.
The department said while no crime against the environment was suspected, an administrative violation was possible.
Also in July, Perry faced criticism for her single Woman’s World, with fans and online commentators alike criticising the song and its accompanying music video for portraying “pseudo-feminism” and pandering to the male gaze.
The 39-year-old is now gearing up for the release of her seventh studio album 143, which is set to be released on September 20. During the podcast, she told Cooper the album was titled after her “angel number”, which she began “seeing everywhere” during a particularly difficult time.