Paloma Faith's rocky love life with '700 splits' and revenge on ex-husband

09 December 2023 , 07:30

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Paloma Faith described herself as a 'broken woman' after splitting from her ex-husband earlier this year (Image: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images f)

Singer Paloma Faith has suffered her fair share of heartbreak in recent years, including '700 break-ups in 12 months'.

The Only Love Can Hurt Like This singer, 42, separated from husband, French artist Leyman Lahcine last year after nearly a decade together. The couple, who share two children aged seven and two, are determined to remain a family and protect their privacy, though Paloma has shared a candid admission about their break-up.

Speaking about her new album during a recent BBC Radio 2 interview, she confessed that it's by far her "most personal" music to date. The mum-of-two said: "I feel emaciated and it's because I've had around 700 break ups in 12 months."

Paloma and Leyman were together for nine years and had two kids together (2018 David M. Benett)

Paloma admitted she paid for a billboard with her face on to be plastered on her ex's street (Getty)

The actress and activist added: "When there's kids involved you can't just go out there and talk in interviews like you would in the past. I used to go out there and be like 'yeah, this guy is a real awful man' you can't do that because there's children and you have to build a relationship and we have to work something out. Our family is still our family but it's changed shape and I still feel kind of protective of it."

Paloma married Leyman in 2017 after dating for four years and, just two years before, he told Glass magazine that he loved living in London because that was where he met "the love of my life." But last August, the couple felt unable to make their relationship work. The pair didn't officially announce their split but the hitmaker revealed for the first time that she was a "single mum", confirming they had parted ways earlier this year.

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And during that time she described the year as being "s**t" and went on to describe herself as a "broken woman." But this is not the first time that Paloma has publicly spoken about her break-up. Earlier this month while on ITV's Lorraine, she confessed to feeling "alone" at times.

She said: "[This is the] first time I'm promoting music about an experience I'm still in. I'm not really doing much acting just literally on set crying, 'have I done the right thing'." The songwriter added: "My album which is due out next year chronicles all the stages of grief from any loss, you know. It doesn't take much for me to tune into those feelings."

Then last month, Paloma took to social media to share the rather petty but iconic way she sought revenge on her ex. She shared a seven-point 'break-up survival guide' on her Instagram that laid out her hilarious top tips for moving on. Within the points, she admitted to paying for a billboard with her face on to be plastered on a wall on her former husband's street.

"Number five: If you can, put a billboard at the end of his road. I've actually done this, so I hope that he looked at me every day and was, like, s***," she wrote. Her advice included trying to 'stay busy and active’ and concluded: "Lastly number seven: don't start a rebound lover. I promise you it will backfire."

In 2018, Paloma admitted to stalking Leyman's ex-girlfriend on social media when she released her album, The Architect (Zeitgeist Edition). While chatting on This Morning, Paloma recalled how she would sit in a dark room and scroll through the ex's social media when she was breastfeeding.

She said: "I got fanatical. It's called Your Ex this song and it's all about the imaginary world that she's so amazing and why did you leave her. So it's quite feminist because it's very, like, 'Oh God she's beautiful and intelligent'. It went from obsession to actual love. I think I loved her."

Before Leyman, Paloma married New Zealand chef Rian Haynes in 2005, though they separated after eight months and got a formal divorce in 2009. She later spoke highly of their marriage and blamed the breakdown of the whirlwind relationship on their young age. "It was just a young, frivolous thing. We were in our early twenties and we did something quickly and realised it was a mistake. But we're still close," she said. “I am still friends with him. All my other relationships were the ones that screwed me up, not that one."

Nia Dalton