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Katy Perry had a whirlwind relationship and marriage to British actor and comedian Russell Brand. They fell in love and got engaged less than four months after they started dating. They married 10 months later in October of 2010 in what seemed to be a fairytale romance at first.
They were divorced by December of 2011 due to irreconcilable differences. Here’s what you should know about their love for each other, what went wrong and their life after the split.
1. She Had Suicidal Thoughts After The Breakup
In November, she opened up to The Project host Rove McManus, in the clip above, about her mental state after her separation from Brand. “It was sad and there were thoughts, but there were never actions,” she said.
As far as her 2013 record, Prism, goes, she has said that there is one song about Brand, called, “By the Grace of God.” “Which is the first song that I wrote coming to make this record, when I was in a different place, I was in a darker place,” she said in the above interview.
When the album was released, she told Billboard, “That song is evident of how tough it really was at a certain point. I asked myself, ‘Do I want to endure? Should I continue living?'”
Here are the telling lyrics:
By the grace of God (there was no other way)
I picked myself back up (I knew I had to stay)
I put one foot in front of the other and I
Looked in the mirror and decided to stay
Wasn’t gonna let love take me out
That way
2. She Still Misses Him
The documentary made about her life, Katy Perry: Part of Me, chronicles the unraveling of her marriage after her busy tour schedule took its toll. In one scene, we see her lying in her dressing room sobbing, on the verge of almost canceling her impending concert.
In the clip above, taken from the movie, she said, “I thought to myself, ‘When I find that person that’s going to be my life partner, I won’t ever have to choose…they won’t be threatened or have weird motives.’ Then I started to realize, that’s not true. That fairytale I had is not true for me right now.”
The film gave viewers a first-hand look into her marriage, which Perry was ready to give in July of 2012, when it was released in theaters. In an interview with ABC, she said, “I thought it would have been strange if I had completely avoided it. But I wanted to be very delicate and respectful about it. And hopefully people see me having that problem and he’re like, ‘Even she can’t dodge life’s curveballs.'”
3. He Ended Things Via Text
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As far as the method in which Brand ended things, according to Perry, it was involved a text message.
In an interview with Glamour, she said, “He’s a very smart man, and I was in love with him when I married him. Let’s just say I haven’t heard from him since he texted me saying he was divorcing me December 31, 2011.”
She did admit, however, that her touring schedule put a strain on their relationship. “I do admit that I was on the road a lot. Although I invited him time and time again, and I tried to come home as much as I possibly could,” she continued.
4. Russell Still Feels Compassion For Her
After 14 months of marriage, Brand went on CNN just after his divorce was finalized. He told Piers Morgan, in the clip above, “Of course I still feel great feelings of compassion and warmth for Katy.”
Days after his divorce, he also went on The Howard Stern Show and the host brought up the fact that they hadn’t known each other long before tying the knot. Brand responded, “I loved her so much, it just seemed like the sensible thing to do [when we got married] … I just loved her so much.”
He continued, “I was really, really in love with her, but it was difficult to see each other … We were together when it was right to be together, and when it wasn’t we worked it out … It was a lovely relationship … it mostly didn’t work for practical reasons … We did work it out, she’s happy, I’m happy.”
5. Their First Kiss Was on ‘Get Him to the Greek’
In the 2010 comedy Get Him to the Greek, Brand played rocker Aldous Snow, and during the filming, he shared his first kiss with the songstress, who was set to make a cameo. The scene got cut out of the movie, and Perry later told MTV, “It got cut! I was like, ‘I’m sleeping with you, and you’re not gonna put me in the movie? That’s so messed up!’ ”
However, she understood the director’s decision to eliminate the lip lock. “If you saw me and Russell making out, although it’d be cute to, ’cause that was the first moment we met, ‘There’s Russell Brand in the movie,’ not Aldous Snow, and they want it to be Aldous Snow, [so it’s] completely understandable,” she continued.
The kiss, however, left Perry with giddy feelings, which turned out to be the start of her falling helplessly in love. At the time, she told Glamour, “My scene called for me to make out with him. And on the way down the stairs after the scene, I was hopping like a bunny. I hop like a bunny when I’m happy—I get a bit childlike. He gives me the Christmas Eve jitters.”
They rekindled things at the 2009 VMAs, where Brand hosted. Watch the clip above to see their early flirtation. At the end of the evening, he said, on air, “Katy Perry didn’t win an award and she’s staying at the same hotel as me, so she’s gonna need a shoulder to cry on. So in a way, I’m the real winner tonight.”