Natalie Imbruglia: Daniel Johns was the love of my life
Natalie Imbruglia says her split from "love of her life" Daniel Johns is "a beautiful thing" in hindsight.
The 'Torn' hitmaker and the Silverchair frontman, 42, broke off their five-year marriage in 2008, and the usually private exes have spoken in great detail about their divorce together for the first time.
Natalie began by admitting it's "difficult" to talk about the breakup, but they explained that, ultimately, the pair wanted different things from life, with the 46-year-old star wanting to do "normal" things like becoming a mother, while Daniel wanted the opposite, and there was no way back for them.
Speaking on Spotify podcast 'Who Is Daniel Johns?', she said: "It was really, really hard; it's a difficult time to talk about and, to be honest, I just remember trying ... just trying to get things back on track.
"And sometimes there isn't a way through it and that's where we found ourselves, I'm afraid."
Natalie admitted: "He was the love of my life and I think in time you realise that's a really special thing and you look back on it fondly, and it doesn't come around that often that you can both feel that way about each other.
"It's not something that is necessarily repeatable in that way. It's a beautiful thing."
Daniel credits his ex-spouse - who has previously been linked to the likes of David Schwimmer, Prince Harry and David Walliams - with helping him grow from a teen to a man.
Daniel added: "She wanted to settle down and have babies and she wanted to do normal stuff and I just wanted to get weirder, so we just kind of disappeared from each other.
"She taught me how to be a man, you know? I met her when I was 19, at risk of sounding sentimental."
Their joint statement announcing the end of their marriage read at the time: "While we are very sad that our marriage has ended, we want to make it clear that our parting is amicable and we remain friends.
"This mutual decision has not been taken lightly or quickly.
"'However, our career demands and our lives in different parts of the world have brought us to the point where unfortunately this difficult decision was necessary for both of us."
The pair first met at an awards bash in 1999, before tying the knot four years later.
Natalie had penned the 2005 hit 'Counting Down' about missing Daniel due to their long-distance romance, which often led to speculation they had split due to spending long periods apart from the rocker.
After years of brooding over becoming a parent, Natalie welcomed a son named Max in 2019 - who was conceived using IVF and a sperm donor.
