is ready to discuss her 2015 breakup from .
After years in the public eye, Waterhouse, 32, is admittedly “pretty strong at this point” but alluded to her public split from Cooper, 49, being a hard time in her life while speaking to British Vogue for a cover story released on Tuesday, July 2.
“When something very public happens to you and the story behind it is dark and difficult, and you’re actually not doing well, and you can’t explain yourself to the world, that’s very isolating and disorientating,” Waterhouse recalled. “It probably has taken a decade to work myself out and actually be able to have this expansion in my life.”
Waterhouse and Cooper made headlines for their romance in 2013, but they both declined talking about the relationship publicly. News of their split broke in 2015, and Waterhouse recorded the breakup song “Brutally” the following year. However, the tune wasn’t released until 2022 as part of her Milk Teeth EP. (While Waterhouse hasn’t confirmed who the song is about, Cooper is the rumored subject.)
“You can’t let go of things until you expose them to sunlight and they shrivel up and die,” Waterhouse told British Vogue about using real-life experiences to write music. “A lot of it just doesn’t go away.”
Reflecting on her past romances, Waterhouse asked British Vogue writer if she felt “truly recovered” from heartbreak. The singer then answered her own question, saying, “I think it always stays in you.”
Waterhouse said the love she experienced in her 20s was “only ever a fetishization.” She added, “When you get into your 30s you’re almost instantly afforded a little bit more respect. It’s kind of delightful and shocking at the same time.”
Ultimately, the singer has no regrets.
“I wouldn’t take anything back. All these chaotic ways that my life went, it was always material,” she said, noting that the past “led me to a love that is really pure.”
Now, the Daisy Jones & The Six alum is in a happy — albeit still semi-private — relationship with . The two sparked romance rumors in July 2018 and have been going strong ever since. The couple welcomed their first baby, a girl, together earlier this year.
“I wake up in the morning feeling really great. I’ll probably go down again at some point, that’s just how it works,” Waterhouse added. “But you wear your scars and if you can take them and build them into something and share them, then that’s the ultimate.”
Elsewhere in the interview Waterhouse admitted her past self “wouldn’t have believed” that this is where she’d be now.
