By Alex reporter
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Published: 18:00 EAT, 8 February 2024 | Updated: 18:15 EAT, 8 February 2024
James Norton, the star of Happy Valley and Grantchester, has reportedly split from his fiancée Imogen Poots, after six years of dating.
The couple, who met in 2017 while starring in the play Belleville at the Donmar Warehouse, had been living together in Peckham, London, since 2020.
According to sources close to the couple, the split occurred before Christmas, following a period of on-again, off-again separation.
One source told BNN Breaking News1: “It’s a sad end to a beautiful love story. They were so happy together and had planned to get married this year. But they grew apart and realized they wanted different things in life.”
Another source said: “They still care for each other and are great friends, but they decided to call it quits. It was a mutual and amicable decision. They want to focus on their careers and personal growth.”
Norton, 37, and Poots, 32, had confirmed their engagement in February 2022, after four years of dating. An insider had told Eden Confidential2 at the time: “They’re over the moon about their engagement and have only told close friends and family.”
The couple had made their red carpet debut at the 71st Cannes Film Festival in May 20183, and had appeared together at several public events, including the 2023 BAFTA party4.
Norton, who is famous for playing crime-solving vicar Sidney Chambers in the ITV series Grantchester, had previously said his 2020 film, Nowhere Special, in which he played the dying father of a three-year-old boy, kicked off his ‘broody barometer’ and he was keen to become a dad.
Poots, who is known for her roles in 28 Weeks Later, Green Room, and Black Christmas, had spoken to ES Magazine in 2020 about her decision to move in with Norton after years of being in a long-distance relationship.
She had said: “It’s all I’ve ever known. I’ve never known something to fall apart because of distance. Sharing a bathroom, however, is quite another matter.”
She had also expressed her dislike of social media, saying: “I’m not a fan because I’m seeing what it’s doing to the generation below me, and that’s really sad with mental health. I think it’s a really slippery slope. It’s intriguing to me but I also wonder, can you ever be authentic? Or is that not the point? Perhaps the point is to sell something.”
Neither Norton nor Poots have commented on their split publicly. Their representatives have not responded to requests for comment.
We wish them both the best for their future endeavors.
