These days, it feels like stars often opt to date civilians — or, at least, merely celeb-adjacent options, like writers and directors — but, back in the early aughts, it was all about the A-list pairings. And one of the hottest of the bunch? Orlando Bloom and Kate Bosworth, two fresh-faced talents who seemed like a great match during a truly golden era for celebrity couples.
How it Began
These two met when they were on the way up — Bosworth, then just 19, and Bloom, then 25, first crossed paths when they shot a Gap commercial together in 2002. At the time, Bosworth was starting to get attention for her breakthrough role in surf movie Blue Crush, and Bloom had just made the first Lord of the Rings movie. Of course, they hit it off — why wouldn’t they?!
How Long it Lasted
A long time for two kids! Despite a few bumps in the road, they kept their relationship going until 2006. And during that time, both got super-famous, with Bosworth becoming a regular fixture on “get the look!” fashion pages (as well as appearing in movies like Win A Date With Tad Hamilton and The Rules of Attraction) while Bloom became a huge name in Hollywood, largely thanks to Pirates of the Caribbean, as well as the Lord of the Rings franchise.
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“I knew Orlando before he was famous at all,” Bosworth said during a Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen interview in 2019. “So we started dating way, way back in the day. And then it hit when we were together.”
How it Ended
The couple first split in 2005, with their publicist confirming to People, “They did decide to take some time apart due to their upcoming work schedule, and they remain very close. It was a mutual decision.” But within a few weeks, they were back on, and were soon being photographed together walking their dogs on a beach in the Bahamas and cozying up around Hollywood. And, when Bosworth was promoting Superman Returns in 2006, Bloom was by her side on the red carpet.
In July that year, they attended Japan’s Fuji Rocks festival together, but by August, rumors started circulating that they were over for good.
What They Said About Each Other
While both remained pretty private throughout their time together, occasionally they couldn’t help themselves. “I’m in love with love,” Bloom told reporters in 2004. “It’s heavenly when you’re falling for someone and you can’t stop thinking about her.”
Bosworth also spoke to People in 2004 about keeping their relationship as normal as possible. “We don’t really do the big event thing,” she said. “We have made this choice to keep the relationship private. We do our own things, and it’s been great that way. We keep everything really priceless. We take it all in stride. We haven’t invited the pressure in yet. Maybe it will come, and maybe it won’t. We are just living our lives normally, which has been great. We’ll see.”
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What They Say Now
Since the split, Bosworth has spoken in a few interviews about how significant the relationship was in her life. “Orlando and I met when we were kids,” she told Vogue in 2008. “Blue Crush hadn’t come out. Lord of the Rings hadn’t come out. He was the first big heartbreak. First love — you feel like it’s the be-all and end-all. To put as little pressure on the relationship you’re in is very important. I regret that it was too intense for both of us.”
In 2011, she even told Sunday Times Style that the breakup had made her sick. “You know when you put all your chips into something, then it disappears?” she reflected. “It sent me into such pain, I think I had actual vertigo. I was like, ‘Is this my new reality? Will anything be normal again?’ Then one day you wake up, and you think, OK, I’ll never be the same, but I’ll survive, and I’ll grow from it.”
In her 2019 Andy Cohen interview, she also opened up about what it was like dating one of the world’s biggest heartthrobs. “He would have, like, girls, like, lifting their shirts up,” she recalled. “It was just wild. I mean, if you’re just two normal people hanging out, and then all of a sudden it just blows up into something really surreal, then you kind of look at the person you’re with as a rock in many ways. And I think we felt that way about each other through a crazy time.”
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She added: “We’re still really, really good friends. Nothing bad at all.” And it seemed to be true — in 2015, they ran into each other at a fashion party at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, and happily posed for photos together.
Key Relationship Takeaways
It sounds like life just got too crazy for two young stars, with them both ultimately moving on from the heartache of their big split. Bloom shares son Flynn with ex-wife Miranda Kerr, who he was married to from 2010 to 2013, and daughter Daisy with ex-fiancée Katy Perry, who he split from in 2025.
Bosworth, meanwhile, also dated a few big names, including Alexander Skarsgard, before an eight-year marriage to director Michael Polish. At the time, Bosworth said that dating Bloom had put her off actors for life (“I married a director,” she told Andy Cohen. “Sorry! It’s just, it’s too much of the same thing”) but seemed to change her mind when she met Justin Long: the couple have been married since 2023, and share a daughter, born by surrogate in July 2025.
