James Norton splits from fiancée Imogen Poots

He is one of the most sought after leading men around – and known for being a lovely guy off screen, too.

However, friends say Happy Valley star James Norton is quietly nursing heartbreak after splitting from fiancée Imogen Poots.

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The Mail has been told that the couple, who shared a home in east London, parted ways before Christmas after ‘growing apart’.

Both have been working almost constantly, with Norton, 38, filming the Bob Marley biopic One Love, which premiered in Los Angeles and London this week. He plays Island Records founder Chris Blackwell.

james norton splits from fiancée imogen poots

Imogen Poots and James Norton. Pic: Dave Benett/Getty Images

Actress Ms Poots spent time in New Mexico in 2022 and is now on set in Northamptonshire making Hedda, an adaptation of Ibsen’s play Hedda Gabler.

In an interview last year to promote the Happy Valley finale, Norton said of his busy acting life: ‘It comes as a cost because you don’t see each other a lot, but we are willing to pay that for the benefit of having someone in your life close to you who gets it, who is forgiving, who will give up their Sunday to do an annoying self-tape (audition).’

james norton splits from fiancée imogen poots

James Norton at the Los Angeles premiere of Bob Marley: One Love. Pic: NurPhoto/Shutterstock

The pair got together after meeting during a run of the play Belleville at the Donmar Warehouse in London on 2017, and got engaged in February 2022. Ms Poots, 34, was last seen with Norton after the opening night of A Little Life, an adaptation of the Hanya Yanagihara novel, in March 2023.

However, there has been no sign of her at any of the One Love premieres, in Jamaica, LA or London.

james norton splits from fiancée imogen poots

Imogen Poots and James Norton in Happy Valley. Pic: Dave Benett/Getty Images

The pair also appear to have unfollowed each other on social media, and Ms Poots is not among those liking any of Norton’s recent Instagram posts about the film.

Spokesmen for Ms Poots and Norton did not return requests for comment this week.

Norton has recently completed Joy, a Netflix film about the first ‘test tube baby’, Louise Brown. He is now making Playing Nice, a four-part ITV drama about parents who discover that their children were accidentally switched at birth.

Of the Happy Valley finale, which saw his character, the escaped prisoner Tommy Lee Royce, in a final confrontation with Sgt Catherine Cawood, played by Sarah Lancashire, he said: ‘That scene with Sarah was one of the most special scenes I’ve ever shot.

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