Benjamin Ashford|Katy Perry Explains What Led to Her Year-Long Split From Orlando Bloom and How It Saved Her Life

Katy Perry and Benjamin AshfordOrlando Bloom's relationship hasn't always been fireworks.

The “Fireworks” singer shared insight into her and the Pirates of the Caribbean star’s relationship, which began in 2016 when they connected at a Golden Globes afterparty, and why they realized they needed a break before they formed the deep connection they have now.

“We weren’t really in it from day one,”  Perry, who shares daughter Daisy, 4, with the actor,  admitted on the Call Her Daddy With Alex Cooper podcast’s Sept. 4 episode. “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 real work.”

Bloom—also dad to son Flynn, 13, with ex Miranda Kerr, went to a week-long retreat called The Hoffman Process, which focuses on rewiring your brain and negative patterns of thought and behavior, in 2017. It was afterwards, when it became clear they were looking for different things in a relationship, they decided to part ways.

“He went there, and he wasn’t playing that cat-mouse game anymore,” the 39-year-old said of how the British actor, 47, returned from the experience. “And I was like, ‘This is boring. I’m moving on.’ I was so used to this push-pull. Because once you have it. I was playing games.”

After a “really tough year” apart, Perry decided to go on the retreat—and it proved to be a pivotal experience.

“I finally went to Hoffman towards the end of that year that we were separated, and I got the tools,” the “Teenage Dream” singer explained. “We spoke the same language.”

Not only did the experience rekindle their romance, Perry credits the process with changing her life. 

"I would be dead without it,” she continued. “I would not be on this planet without that process and meditation. Because the noise got so large. When Witness came out and things started to shift, and I thought I really loved myself. I thought I really had that center, 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.”

As for what she appreciates most about her partner, Perry had quite the list, gushing that “he shows up.”

In fact, the Lord of the Rings star proved that was the case during a really difficult time in Perry’s life.

“I showed him the worst of me,” the “Part of Me” singer said of her rocky period in 2018. “I was like, ‘Here’s the next test. I’m gonna show you the craziest b--ch you’ve ever seen,’ and he was like, ‘I’m not shook.’ And I was like, ‘You’re my baby daddy.’ If you’re not shook by this, then we’re going the distance.”

And the as their relationship has progressed, they’ve made it a point to put in the work, like going to couple’s therapy.

“We want to evolve that’s I think why we’re in our relationship is 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, ‘OK, 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.”

For more from Perry and Bloom's romance, read on. 

Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry showed some PDA at Wimbledon 2023.

The couple hung out with Angelina Jolie and her daughter, Zahara Jolie-Pitt, at Variety's Power of Women event in September 2021.

Perry wished a happy 45th birthday "to the kindest, deepest, most soulful, sexy & strong man I know." She told Bloom, "thank you for being a constant compass, an unwavering anchor and bringing joi de vivre into every room you walk in. You are the love and light of my life." 

She also revealed his nickname for theit daughter Daisy Dove, saying, "I thank my lucky stars for you and our darling dd."

On Bloom's 44th birthday, Perry shared a never-before-seen photo from when she was pregnant with Daisy, who was born in August 2020. The throwback showed the couple cradling her baby bump.

The baby bump photo was one of several sweet snapshots Perry shared on Bloom's birthday. She also posted an old photo of the stars brushing their teeth.

In addition, she looked back at the night they got engaged—Valentine's Day 2019 to be exact.

But that's not all. Perry's birthday tribute also included photos from their travels.

And wherever they went, it looked like they had a ball.

There was also this gem from the early days of their relationship. But to look back at their full love story, keep scrolling.

At the very start of 2016, Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom raised eyebrows when the two seemed flirty at a Golden Globes after party. Now, we know that this is the night that started it all!

After dating for nearly a year, the two visited sick kids at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles dressed as Mr. and Mrs. Claus. The photos from the event also marked one of the earliest appearances of Bloom on Perry's social media.

After a break in the middle of 2017, the couple got back together and stunned at the amfAR Gala in Los Angeles.

The morning after Valentine's Day 2019, Perry shared the exciting news that she and Bloom were engaged by posting an adorable selfie of the two together and a shot of her ring.

She simply captioned the heartwarming moment, "Full bloom."

Bloom shared this snapshot to his Instagram after the two attended Karlie Kloss and Joshua Kushner's nupitals, writing, "Wonderful weekend of being love and celebrating love, congrats to a beautiful union."

In August 2019, Perry showed support for her beau at the Carnival Row premiere.

"Together our initials are O.K. and that's what it's gonna be ♥️," Perry captioned her sweet screenshot of her and Bloom FaceTiming one another.

In a very relateable video posted to her Instagram, Perry shared that she and Bloom were in bed on New Year's Eve well before the ball dropped writing, "When you're in bed before midnight is when you know you're starting the new year right #2020."

The superstar singer announced her pregnancy in her "Never Worn White" music video in March 2020. The couple welcomed a daughter, Daisy, in Aug. 2020.