Heavy/Getty Exes Katy Perry and Russell Brand in 2010
Whether a “tornado” or a “cyclone,” it seems both Katy Perry and Russell Brand look back on their marriage as a bit of a disaster. Pop star and “American Idol” judge Perry has previously described her union with Brand, which ended in 2011, as being “just like a tornado.” In a new interview, Brand has opened up about that time in his life and likened the attention on them to being caught in a cyclone.
Both stars have their own families now and, with over a decade of distance behind their tumultuous romance, Brand now calls Perry an “amazing person.” Here’s what you need to know:
Russell Brand Says He Felt ‘Disconnected’ During Marriage to Katy Perry
GettyKaty Perry and Russell Brand on December 3, 2011 — weeks before he filed for divorce.
On the latest episode of National Geographic’s “Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge,” which premiered on August 6, 2023, Brand took a break from adventuring to open up about his life — including his journey through addiction and his whirlwind relationship with Perry.
The couple went public with their romance in 2009 after meeting on the set of his movie “Get Him to the Greek,” in which she made a cameo appearance, according to BuzzFeed. The two were engaged by New Year’s Eve and married in India in October 2010, per People. But by the end of 2011, Brand had filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.
Brand, 48, told Grylls that when he and Perry connected, he’d only begun “making a proper living” several years before following a decade of addiction. He said their relationship happened when he was “most in the public eye and working in America.”
“Some aspects of it were, like, amazing,” he recalled. “Like, she’s an amazing person and it was kind of incredible to live for a moment in that eye of the cyclone type aspect of fame.”
“Aside from my sort of feelings of affection for Katy,” he continued, “it’s a time that I remember as being a little bit chaotic and a bit for me, speaking for myself, a little disconnected.”
Perry, 38, has opened up previously about their relationship and has compared it to a tornado.
“I was having great success at 23 and 24 and 25, and then I met someone that was interesting and stimulating, and it was just like a tornado,” Perry told “60 Minutes Australia” in 2020. “It was just like, all of it, everything happening at once.”
Perry said she knew even then that she “inherently” was drawn to “friction and resistance and challenges” but thought she and Brand could “get to somewhere great” with hard work. But the two were officially divorced by mid-2012. In a statement at the time, Brand said, “Sadly, Katy and I are ending our marriage. I’ll always adore her and I know we’ll remain friends.”
In 2013, Perry made headlines for revealing to Vogue that their marriage ended with a text message from Brand.
“He’s a very smart man, and I was in love with him when I married him,” Perry told the outlet. “Let’s just say I haven’t heard from him since he texted me saying he was divorcing me December 31, 2011.”
Katy Perry & Russell Brand Are Focused on Their Own Families Now
GettyKaty Perry and Orlando Bloom in 2021
More than a decade after their split, Perry and Brand have their own families to focus on now. Perry began dating actor Orlando Bloom in January 2016. Though they broke up in March 2017, according to Page Six, they rekindled their romance nearly a year later.
The couple got engaged in 2019, per Elle, but had to postpone their wedding due to the COVID pandemic. They welcomed their daughter, Daisy Dove, in August 2020.
Meanwhile, in 2017, Brand married Laura Gallacher, a woman he had dated briefly prior to his relationship with Perry, according to People. The couple has two daughters, six-year-old Mabel and four-year-old, Peggy. In June, they announced their expecting their third child together.
That same month, Brand opened up on “The Diary of a CEO” podcast about how fatherhood has changed him.
“There’s a lot more important stuff in this world then what I want, think or reckon,” he said. “It taught me that love is real. It teaches you everything to become a father. All lessons are there.”