Suki Waterhouse has revealed she was celibate for six months before dating boyfriend Robert Pattinson.

The Daisy Jones and the Six star, 31, recently opened up about her love life while appearing on the Driven Minds: A Type 7 podcast. Six months before she began her romance with the Batman actor, who she’s been linked to since 2018, Waterhouse shared that she “took a bout of celibacy” after ending a previous relationship.

“I’ve been ghosted and broken up with after dating someone for a year, that was pretty bad,” she told podcast host Gillian Sagansky during the 4 October episode. “But it turned out to be brilliant because I took a bout of celibacy.”

The “Good Looking” singer noted that her period of having no sex lasted for “six months” and she even avoided going on dates. During this time, Waterhouse explained how she was able to clear her mind before starting a long-term relationship with someone new. “You actually can hear yourself so much clearer,” she said. “It’s just something about taking away the chaos of receiving attention, having to deal with it and texting people and getting those lurches of excitement.”

“It turned out to be great,” she continued. “I got very clear and I got very used to being comfortable with myself. Then I ended up meeting my boyfriend now.”

Waterhouse and Pattinson, who live together in London, have been dating for nearly five years. Elsewhere in the podcast, the Love, Rosie star admitted that she recently hired a service to help her organise the “collection of mess” she’s accumulated over the years.

“I’m very lucky because he is so accepting of the mess and the chaos. He never says anything about it,” she added, referring to the Twilight alum. “He kind of thinks it’s, like, charming so I’m very lucky for that.”

“For me, the one thing that I really cherish in relationships is when somebody is just completely understanding,” Waterhouse said, as she explained that her ideal partner should be “comfortable” with her busy schedule. “I always think the home is the sanctuary and that’s why you leave everything outside,” she said. “When that home centre is secured, that’s the most wonderful thing and that’s the most important thing to me.”

Last December, Waterhouse and Pattinson made their long-awaited red carpet debut as a couple at the Dior fall 2023 menswear fashion show in Giza, Egypt. They later attended the 2023 Met Gala in May, where they were posed for pictures together on the red carpet.

The pair first sparked relationship rumours in 2018 when they were spotted on a date in London, with a source telling E! News at the time that the two “were very loved up” and affectionate. In 2020, GQ reported that Pattinson and “his girlfriend” were living in London together during lockdown at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, although Waterhouse remained unnamed.

In an interview with The Sunday Times published last February, Waterhouse admitted she was “shocked that I’m so happy with someone for nearly five years”. While discussing her US tour, the singer revealed that two months is the longest time she and Pattinson have spent apart since they started dating.

“I had two days off the other day, and it was like, no question I’m going back to see him. Then he’ll come out for a couple of days,” Waterhouse said. While she noted that most of her music was written in the wake of a “colossal heartbreak” in her twenties, Waterhouse said that she’s now “utterly healed” in her current relationship with Pattinson.

“I’m always incredibly excited when I see his name pop up [on my phone] or even a text, and I think he feels the same about me,” she added. “We’ve always got so much to say, and I find him hilarious.”

Waterhouse was previously linked to actor Bradley Cooper, who she dated from 2013 to 2015. Meanwhile, Pattinson was in a relationship with his Twilight co-star, Kristen Stewart, for four years. He went on to date musician FKA Twigs in September 2014 and the pair were engaged seven months later. The two called off their engagement in 2017.