James Norton and Imogen Poots 'split' after six years together

The couple met in 2017 and have been engaged since at least 2022 - but are said to have split last year after growing apart
"One Woman Show" - Press Night - VIP Arrivals
James Norton and Imogen Poots
Dave Benett/Getty Images
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

James Norton has reportedly split from his fiancée Imogen Poots after six years.

The Happy Valley star, 38, and the 28 Weeks Later actor met in 2017 when they both appeared in an adaptation of War and Peace and then went on to star in a run of Belleville at the Donmar Warehouse. Norton confirmed they were engaged in February 2022. 

However, they have not been seen together for months, with Poots, 34, last seen supporting her fiancé at the opening night of A Little Life, the harrowing adaptation of the Hanya Yanagihara novel in which Norton starred, in March 2023.

Poots was also noticeably absent from all of the premieres of Bob Marley film One Love held in Jamaica, LA and London. Norton plays record producer Chris Blackwell in the movie, also starring Lashana Lynch and Kingsley Ben-Adir.

Kingston rolls out the red carpet to welcome “Bob Marley: One Love” with a hometown Jamaica Premiere
James Norton and the cast of One Love, the film about Bob Marley’s life, earlier this year
Getty Images for Paramount Pictu

They have also unfollowed one another on social media. 

Sources told The Mail the pair split at the end of last year after growing apart due to busy work schedules. 

Representatives for Norton and Poots have been contacted by the Standard.

When the couple met, they endured a long-distance relationship between London and New York. They had been living together in east London before their split. 

Poots and Norton in 2022 at the Veuve Clicquot Champagne Garden Wilderness
Veuve Clicquot

Poots previously opened up about navigating their relationship when they worked far apart. "It's all I've ever known, I've never known something to fall apart because of distance," she told the Standard. "Sharing a bathroom, however, is quite another matter!"

Poots has recently been filming in New Mexico making drama Outer Range with James Brolin and is now making Hedda, a new adaptation of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler in the UK.

Promoting the Happy Valley finale last year, Norton said about juggling a relationship and work: “It comes as a cost because you don't see each other a lot, but we are willing to pay that for the benefit of having someone in your life close to you who gets it, who is forgiving, who will give up their Sunday to do an annoying self-tape (audition).”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in