It's with a heavy heart that I accept Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry's engagement, as Bloom was my first celebrity crush. In a very bisexual way, kindergarten Caroline didn't know if she wanted to kiss Legolas on the cheek or steal his silky, blonde weave. Soon after, Bloom's role as Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean sealed the deal for my taste in rebellious, dark-haired men with good hearts. As an older fan, I now have to support Bloom in his next role: Perry's husband. To be fair, Orlando Bloom's quotes about Katy Perry show that he's aced his audition with flying colors. The couple got engaged on Valentine's Day 2019, after an almost two-year-long relationship.
Looking at the timeline of Perrybloom (the ship name I prefer over Kabloom), it seems like the only thing in their way was timing. Bloom and Perry were ultra flirty and caught up in the jet-setting romance of it all from the start. Even after their temporary breakup in 2017 — they had been dating for about a year by then — Perry was adamant that the two were on good terms. And nothing Bloom has said was any different! While it may simply look like an on-again, off-again relationship from the outside, it's clear that the Bloom and Perry were ride-or-dies simply trying to make it work.
The first sign that their relationship was in bloom was the 2016 Golden Globes, where the two had a dance-off at the afterparty. (It always starts with a dance-off.) Later, they're spotted at different plays and Coachella together, and Perrybloom attend the Cannes film festival in May 2016 as an item. Shortly after, those infamous nude paddleboarding photos hit the Internet.
As early as August 2016, Perrybloom engagement rumors were swirling around the couple. And in November, at UNICEF's annual Snowflake all, Bloom spoke about Perry on the blue carpet. "She's amazing," Bloom tells Entertainment Tonight. "I'm super proud of the work she does." Objectively, it's a sweet best thing to hear your fellow A-lister partner say about you. But given Perry's tumultuous marriage to Russell Brand (where Brand specifically was uncomfortable with how successful she was), Bloom's comment must have been very touching.
Come March 2017, however, a rep for Bloom and Perry confirms that they're taking a break. Or in their words, "respectful, loving space" from their relationship. Tour cycles, album promotions, and a hectic acting schedule are cited as the reason for the amicable split.
Perry hops on Twitter shortly after to clear the air. Meanwhile, Bloom gives an interview that November to ELLE U.K., saying, "We're friends. It's good. We're all grown-up. She happens to be someone who is very visible, but I don't think anybody cares what I'm up to. Nor should they. It's between us. It's better to set an example for kids and show that [breakups] don't have to be about hate." While Perry didn't have kids during her marriage to Brand, Bloom has a son, Flynn, from his marriage to model Miranda Kerr.
By August 2017, Perrybloom are back at it — this time, at an Ed Sheeran concert. As far as getting back with your ex goes, all those making-out-by-the-fireplace, kissing-under-the-stars slow jams by Ed Sheeran will probably do the trick. Perrybloom ring in 2018 with Perry's other "ex," Diplo. And then they're chilling together in Maldives, which is something that exes totally do, right?
While nothing's confirmed yet, Perry drops a coy hint in April 2018 that she's "spoken for." A few days later, while promoting his play Killer Joe, Bloom tells The Times that Perry is "a remarkable human being." He goes on to say:
Completely surprising, because I am not her demographic. I am a little older than her, so I wasn’t someone overly familiar with her artistic endeavors when we met. I wouldn’t have imagined anything happening. And, you know, when you get hit sideways you get hit sideways. You don’t pick who you fall in love with. And then you come around and there’s all sorts of things that happen in between, right?
We see the two attending their first public event together at the Gala for the Global Ocean in September 2018.
Prior to the engagement selfie with Perry, Bloom shared an Instagram post that read:
A shallow person will have only shallow relationships. Real love is not one person clinging to another. It can only be fostered between two strong people secure in their individuality. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of The Little Prince, wrote in a work called Wind, Sand and Stars, "Love is not two people gazing a each other, but two people looking together in the same direction."
Bloom shared this post on Valentine's Day, quoting Japanese philosopher Daisaku Ikeda and French author Saint-Exupéry. While it's fitting that Bloom is celebrating love on Valentine's Day, knowing that he and Perry were engaged by the end of it is an extra warm and fuzzy thought.
When I did open up Insta the other day to news of Bloom and Perry's engagement, I was shook. Half of it was that I knew they were back together but had no idea that they were at that point in their relationship — they tend to keep it low-key. The other half of it is that a tiny, adolescent part of me was confronted with the fact I probably won't get together with Orlando Bloom, after all. Mild saltiness aside, I'm rooting on this couple that is clearly, deeply in love and are a prime example of love conquering all.
