The Truth About Alexa Chung And Alex Turner's Split

Romances in rock often take on epic proportions. In the '70s it was Sid and Nancy, the '90s had Kurt and Courtney, and in the aughts, the couplé du jour was Alex Turner, lead singer of Arctic Monkeys, and TV presenter Alexa Chung. The handsome, debonair Sheffield, U.K. native, who wrote the lyrical mind-bending hit songs, "Brianstorm," "Crying Lightning," "No Romance," and "Cornerstone," seemed to be a perfect fit with Chung, a model, presenter, and fashion mogul. Firstly, they could call each other Al! Secondly, they were, by all accounts, deeply in love during their four-year relationship. 

There was the love letter Turner wrote Chung that she accidentally left at a bar, which read, per InStyle, "My mouth hasn't shut up about you since you kissed it. The idea that you may kiss it again is stuck in my brain, which hasn't stopped thinking about you since, well, before any kiss." The rest of us can't even get a text back!

With Turner being a songwriter, it was only natural for their relationship to make its way into Arctic Monkeys' tunes, notably with the band's lovelorn ballad, "The Fire And The Thud" off of their "Humbug" album (per Digital Spy). Like most celebrity couples, they were often snapped by the paparazzi — in 2010, they were caught kissing and cuddling at Heathrow airport (via The Daily Mail). The outlet reported they first hooked up in 2007, but by 2011, the couple called it quits, breaking hearts across the music world. How could two so in love fall asunder?

In July 2011, Alex Turner and Alexa Chung split after four years together, and the Mirror spoke to a source close to the situation who revealed that distance was the culprit (as it usually is). "Things haven't been going well and they haven't seemed like a couple for the past few weeks. At Glastonbury festival, they barely said a word to each other," the source told the outlet, citing the pair's hectic schedules and long distance as the nail(s) in the coffin. The source mentioned that the split was a last-ditch effort to save their friendship, and even Chung's publicist confirmed to the Mirror that the break-up was "amicable."

That same year, Turner released an EP of six songs to accompany the "Submarine" movie soundtrack, and the melancholy lyrics seemed to speak directly about his personal heartache. "It's Hard To Get Around The Wind" contains the lyric, "It might not hurt now/but it's gonna hurt soon." "Piledriver Waltz" has the refraining chorus, "You look like you've been for breakfast at the Heartbreak hotel." It doesn't take a genius to crack that code. 

Chung, for her part, dedicated an entire chapter of her memoir to Turner (whom she did call Al!), telling The Guardian in 2013, "I'm not heartbroken anymore, but I definitely was when I wrote [the book]."

Speaking with The Guardian in 2013, Alexa Chung vulnerably discussed her breakup with rock star Alex Turner, revealing, "I don't want to imply he broke my heart. I was grieving for the loss of something." Yet, just as the media reported, the split between Chung and Turner was friendly. So much so that Chung told the outlet they were still BFFs. "Oh yeah, he's my best friend," she said.

In 2014, three years after they split, Chung and Turner sparked rumors that they had rekindled their romance after a series of public encounters. The Daily Mail's gossip columnist reported that they picked up where they left off when they were both guests at the wedding of Arctic Monkeys' bandmate Jamie Cook. Oh No They Didn't gossip blog then published paparazzi photos of the pair who were spotted together on the streets of New York City, smiling and appearing chummy. 

Alas, the alleged reunion didn't stick, as Turner went on to date Taylor Bagley in 2015 and then French singer Louise Verneuil, whom he is reportedly still with, per GQ. Chung, for her part, spent many years dating Alexander Skarsgård before moving on to Orson Fry, but in July she was spotted kissing Tom Sturridge at Wimbledon, according to E! News.