Turns out, you can learn a lot on a break. Actor Orlando Bloom revealed he spent six months in celibacy before meeting his now-fiancée, Katy Perry — and interestingly enough, the practice (or lack thereof) taught him things that may have lead him directly to his bride-to-be.
“[I] wasn’t happy. [My friend] Laird [Hamilton] said, ‘If you want to be serious about a relationship, go celibate for a few months and figure it out,’” the 43-year-old told The Sunday Times in an interview published on March 15. “It takes away the idea of going to a party and thinking, ‘Who am I going to meet?’ I was suddenly like, ‘Oh, I can have a relationship with a woman that is just friends.’”
The Pirates of the Caribbean star explained he “was going to do three months,” but started to notice certain things he liked about himself because of the practice. “I was really enjoying the way I was relating to women, and to the feminine within myself,” Orlando recalled. “I know that sounds crazy.”
The Kent, England native even admitted to the outlet that he “didn’t even” masturbate during his celibacy period. “Completely nothing. It was insane,” he explained. “I don’t think it’s healthy. I don’t think it was advisable. You have to keep it moving down there.” Considering he also told the British newspaper that “porn is super disruptive to your sex life, to your libido,” we could see why he might’ve decided to hold off.
But just after that period in his life, Orlando met the pop star, 35, at a Golden Globes afterparty in 2016. He told the outlet the now-couple had “crossed paths” before, but that that party was the first time they “actually hung out and connected.”
“She’s very surprising,” he said of the woman who will become his second child’s mother. “She’s witty and smart and intelligent. She’s charismatic, but she’s direct too, and this dynamic was intriguing to me.”
Orlando proposed to Katy in February 2019. The singer revealed her pregnancy with the actor in the music video for her new single, “Never Worn White,” which debuted on March 4.