Inside Coldplay's Chris Martin and Hollywood actress Dakota Johnson's romance and relationship timeline as couple announce split
Chris Martin and fiancée Dakota Johnson called off their engagement and split for good in August 2024 after drifting apart, MailOnline revealed.
The Coldplay frontman, who got together with Dakota in 2017 and got engaged several years ago, was said to have ‘accepted the relationship is over - and it's best to move on’.
The pair had a brief rumoured split in 2019 which was alleged to be over him pushing for them to have children, but they quickly got back together.
They were also said to have split and reconciled in 2024 in another rocky patch. So where did it all go wrong for Chris and Dakota?
MailOnline takes a look back at their turbulent romance.
Chris Martin and fiancée Dakota Johnson called off their engagement and split for good in August 2024 after drifting apart, MailOnline revealed (pictured in June 2022)
How did Chris Martin and Dakota Johnson meet?
Chris and Dakota met through mutual friends, rather than any instance of them working together, and have 'never really left each other' since, the actress told Vanity Fair in June 2022.
This is entirely believable with people in showbiz never more than one or two degrees of separation from one another.
They were first spotted together in 2017, the year after the pop star's divorce from Gwyneth Paltrow.
However, it was not initially clear if the couple were dating, or just close.
When did Chris Martin and Dakota Johnson start dating?
The couple were first seen together in October 2017, when the went for sushi in Los Angeles. At the time, however, Dakota was rumored to be dating actor Jon Hamm.
Things soon became clearer, as Dakota was seen a Coldplay concert before a source told US Weekly that the couple were 'definitely dating' in December 2017.
The couple were seen out on more dates around Los Angeles in early 2018, including a meal out with friends at Soho House in Malibu.
They were also spotted arm in arm together walking on Malibu beach while spending ‘most of the weekend together’.
But it was nearly a year later that they made their first openly public appearance together at Stella McCartney's Autumn 2018 Collection show in LA.
Dakota's father, Don, appeared to confirm his daughter's relationship with Martin in an interview with Digital Spy when he joked: "Yeah, that's... uh troubling, isn't it? No, she's a big girl, she can handle herself!’
Her actress mother also opened up about Martin during a Global Gift Foundation USA Women's Empowerment Luncheon, when she said: ‘I adore him!’
Dakota appeared to confirm her relationship with Martin in an interview with Tatler in September 2018 when she said: ‘I'm not going to talk about it, but I am very happy.’
Chris and Dakota met through mutual friends, rather than any instance of them working together (pictured in 2021)
The following November, she is said to have met Paltrow, her new husband Brad Falchuk, and Martin’s children at a Thanksgiving dinner
A source told PEOPLE at the time: ‘They're a total modern family and had a great time celebrating together.’
The couple were spotted again with Paltrow and Falchuk on the beach in the Hamptons, New York, in August 2019.
Paltrow opened up about her ex-husband’s relationship with Dakota in a 2020 interview with Harper's Bazaar, describing how the actress had become part of her family.
She said: ‘I love her. I can see how it would seem weird because it's sort of unconventional. But I think, in this case, just having passed through it iteratively, I just adore her.’
Dakota collaborated with Martin, by directing a video for Coldplay’s track ‘Cry Cry Cry’ in February 2020.
She told Marie Claire that she didn't get any special treatment because of her relationship, saying: ‘I wrote the story and pitched it to the band like every other director did, and they chose mine - not because they're partial to me at all.’
There were rumours in December 2020 that the couple had become engaged after pictures showed the actress wearing a large emerald ring on her left hand.
They reportedly moved into a shared home together in Malibu in January 2021.
A source said at the time that she enjoyed living in the beach resort, despite her seeming ‘like more of a city girl’.
‘She seems to enjoy it as much as Chris does… They both love the outdoors and often take beach strolls. They also support local restaurants,' they said.
The couple enjoyed a holiday together in Majorca in July 2021, and three months later Martin dedicated his song ‘My Universe’ to Dakota, telling the crowd at a London concert: ‘This is about my universe, and she's here.’
A source confirmed the couple’s engagement in March 8, 2024, telling PEOPLE magazine: ‘They got engaged years ago but were in no rush to get married.’
The same source confirmed that Dakota’s emerald ring was in fact an engagement ring.
They reportedly moved into a shared home together in Malibu in January 2021 (Pictured in 2019)
When did Chris Martin and Dakota Johnson break up?
In June 2019, the pair had a wobble, rumored to be a result of the Coldplay man pushing for them to have children.
This was a leap Dakota, in her professional prime, was not willing to take.
However, before summer was up, they were back together.
There was more speculation that they had parted in May 2024 after Devon-born Chris gave a lift to a woman fan who later posted on X that the singer was ‘single’.
However, the couple appeared to be together in June when a source told PEOPLE magazine that they were still ‘going strong’, saying: ‘They’ve had ups and downs, but now they’re definitely back on.’
MailOnline now learned in August 2024 that they had split up for good after trying in vain to find a way of staying together.
A source said: ‘Chris and Dakota have tried desperately hard over the past few months to make their relationship work.
‘They’ll always have love for each other but they’ve both come to the conclusion the relationship cannot be sustained long-term.
‘They’re both busy people, Chris has been in Europe with Coldplay and they both have personal priorities, passions and work commitments which don’t naturally intertwine with each other.
‘They wanted it to work but it just hasn’t, and they’ve now accepted it is best to move on.’
Chris is seen with ex Gwyneth Paltrow and their children, Apple and Moses
Did Chris Martin and Dakota Johnson have any children?
In October 2018, TMZ reported that Martin and Johnson were throwing a gender reveal party at his home.
The suspicion was fueled by photos of blue and pink balloon arches, but shortly after, Johnson's rep denied the rumors to Us Weekly.
They clarified that the celebrations were for a birthday party and not a gender reveal, with Dakota saying on Ellen the following month that 'the only thing I'm pregnant with is a lot of really good ideas. But not any babies.'
Five years on and it seams like she was telling the truth - no children together.
Chris of course has his daughter Apple and son Moses from his marriage to ex Gwyneth.
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