Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom announced what appears to be their engagement on Instagram today; for the big reveal, the pair uploaded a close-up selfie in which they were smiling broadly to the camera, with heart-shaped red balloons in the background, and Perry showing off her ring.
The couple has been together for a while now, but despite this, the news of their engagement took most people by surprise. The two of them first hooked up at the 2016 Golden Globes awards show, but it hasn't always been plain sailing for them. They separated a year after their initial meeting, and a representative confirmed in 2017 that: "Orlando and Katy are taking respectful, loving space at this time."
By 2018 they seemed to be on more than just friendly terms again, and were spotted out together. However, their plan to tie the knot come as a bit of a shock, not because of their brief break-up, but because Katy Perry expressed reservations about marriage just days before the big announcement.
In an interview with Paper magazine, Perry stated: "It's easy to be single and not to be called out on your stuff, living your awesome single life thinking you're the greatest, and the best, and doing anything you want. But then when you get in a partnership you guys are there to teach each other lessons ...
"I'm very pragmatic and logistical and I am less fantastical about things. I mean, I was married when I was 25. I'm 34. It was almost 10 years ago. I was like, 'One person for the rest of my life,' and I'm not so sure that that idea is for me. I'm just such a different person than I was."
In a separate message posted to Instagram on Valentine's Day, Orlando Bloom celebrated the upcoming nuptials, writing: "A shallow person will only have shallow relationships. Real love is not one person clinging to another, it can only be fostered between two strong people secure in their individuality."
He later posted another quote from the author of The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery: "Love is not two people gazing at each other, but two people looking ahead together in the same direction."
Previously, Perry was married to British comedian Russell Brand, whom she met in the summer of 2009 while filming a cameo appearance for the movie Get Him to the Greek. They began dating after meeting again that September at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, and became engaged in December of 2009 while vacationing in India.
They married there a year later, but the marriage lasted less than 14 months. Brand filed for divorce on December 30, 2011, citing irreconcilable differences. Perry later revealed that the comedian had asked for a legal separation over text message.
