Jodie Comer's five-year relationship with private partner she's fiercely protective of

April 2024 · 5 minute read

Jodie Comer has made it no secret that she values her privacy, especially when it comes to her romantic relationships.

The Killing Eve actress admitted her convincing portrayal of assassin and psychopath Villanelle may have harmed her love life, telling The Australian in 2019 that she had "zero" news to share.

She added: "I don't know if it's particularly because I've played a ­psychopath. I don't get approached at all. Which is fine - I'm never in one place long enough."

Shortly after her candid interview, Jodie met her partner James Burke, whom she has never named. Jodie made a rare comment about being "very much in love" in 2020. See the star's rare comments about her partner and the "shocking" controversy she found herself navigating through their early relationship…

Jodie and James

Before she revealed James' identity, she gushed to British Vogue: "I’m very much in [love]. I think love’s the best."

Jodie added that she wasn't looking for a relationship when they met while shooting the action comedy Free Guy in Boston. She has never divulged their relationship timeline, but the story goes that she met the tech professional and Penn State University graduate at a party in the States.

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"I’d been single for a while and just kind of going with the flow and doing my thing. That’s the thing, isn’t it? When you’re relaxed and letting the universe do what it’s doing, things kind of fall into place. Which is very much what happened," she said.

The actress had nothing but positive things to say about the start of her romance with the lacrosse player, which she described as "special."

"You know, I would never want to speak badly about people in my past, but yes, this relationship feels very different. This feels like nothing else. When you actually feel it, you're like, 'Ahhh, so this is what it feels like!' And it was special. 

"I was away, it was the height of summer, I was doing this incredible job that was so much fun, it was my first time working in the States. So it was a lot of firsts," she told Sunday Times Style Magazine

The Liverpudlian also opened up about how she made long-distance work with the American amid the coronavirus pandemic. "It has been tricky... there's a lot of FaceTiming. But it's working! It's good. It's really good. It's like with anything in life, if you want it enough you make it work."

Relationship controversy

Jodie's relationship hasn't been smooth sailing, with fans calling for her to be "cancelled" in 2019 after it emerged that James was a registered Republican voter. 

The controversy centred around the concern that the avid Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ+ rights supporter was dating someone whose beliefs may have aligned with impeached former US President Donald Trump.

Jodie admitted she chose to remain silent on the "shocking" situation, which affected not only herself and her partner but also her family.

She revealed in an interview with InStyle: "It was really shocking; it was the first time I had ever been dragged into something like that. And it wasn't just me; it was my family. I had seen the absurdity of what I was being accused of, and what my partner was being accused of.

"I decided for my own health that I was not going to try and convince these people otherwise. I just wasn't going to do it."

Jodie's privacy concerns

Considering the above, it is not surprising that Jodie prefers to keep the spotlight on her career while separating her private life. To keep her love life flying under the radar, she has kept her social media almost exclusively work-related and has made solo appearances at events such as the Tony Awards in 2023 and the Olivier Awards in 2024. Check out her reaction to winning a Tony Award in the video...

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"It's important for my family and having a boyfriend who isn't in the public eye; it can be very strange and surreal," she told Porter. "I'm very cautious of what I bring into my family's life, it's a safety thing."

Maternal feelings

While she rarely opens up about her private life, the Prima Facie star discussed maternal feelings while filming The End We Start From. The 31-year-old admitted she has never been in a hurry to start a family but has not ruled out the possibility in the future.

"I’d always had this narrative of not feeling motherly. Maybe that’s because I was in my mid-twenties, but I was so curious as to why I’d been telling myself that for years. Certain [maternal] aspects are there, but they haven’t had the chance to flourish yet," she said to ELLE.

LOOK: Jodie Comer's modest home life will surprise you

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