Dakota Johnson & Chris Martin broke up again: ‘It feels final this time’

In retrospect, Dakota Johnson and Chris Martin have always been a more dramatic and mercurial couple, it’s just that they’re both so good at being private that most people never realized how dramatic it all was. Dakota and Chris started seeing each other eight years ago. They got engaged circa 2020, but they never managed to get down the aisle. They also seemingly broke up multiple times over the course of eight years, and they recently split up again. People Mag’s exclusive said this split sounds like the big one, the final one.

Dakota Johnson and Chris Martin have broken up, ending their nearly eight-year, on-off relationship, multiple sources tell PEOPLE.

“It feels final this time,” one source said of the split. Reps for the stars did not respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.

The Materialists actress, 35, and the Coldplay singer, 48, who were first romantically linked in 2017, were photographed together two weeks ago when they stepped out in Malibu together on May 16. Before that, in January, the pair held hands in India, where Martin was touring with his band.

In March 2024, an insider told PEOPLE that Johnson and Martin had actually been engaged for “years” after first sparking engagement rumors in 2020, though they were “in no rush to get married” at the time.

[From People]

Even if it was off-and-on, eight years together is no joke. I didn’t even realize that this had been happening for so long. There are barely any photos of them together too. I know some of that is Dakota’s call, but Chris was the same way with Gwyneth and Annabelle Wallis. I’ve always thought that it must be so difficult to be in a relationship with a guy who is terrified of being seen with you in public. At some point, don’t you just want a partnership where you can hold hands and walk down the street together? At some point, don’t you want your partner to make the effort to come out and support you at your work events? That’s never been Chris though. I’m not saying that’s why they broke up – I have no idea – but it must have been difficult for Dakota. Anyway, I hope that for her next boyfriend, Dakota bags a hottie who wants to hold her hand.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.