Russell Brand, 48, revealed in a new interview that he struggled with the limelight during his marriage to Katy Perry, 38, which also coincided with his skyrocketing career. In the August 6 episode of Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge, Russell addressed being married to the pop star and how he felt about their relationship being in the public eye.
“Some aspects of it were like amazing. She’s an amazing person, and it was kind of incredible to live for a moment in that eye of the cyclone-type aspect of fame,” he said. “Aside from my sort of feelings of affection for Katy, it’s a time that I remember being a little bit chaotic and a bit, for me, to speak for myself, a little disconnected.”
Russell and Katy met in 2009 on the set of his film Get Him to the Greek and got engaged the same year. They married in 2010 but split a year later. Their divorce was finalized in 2012.
Katy revealed in a 2013 Vogue cover story that Russell infamously sent her a text message stating he was going to file for divorce. Katy began dating Orlando Bloom in 2016. They have a 2-year-old daughter named Daisy Dove.
Back in 2020, Katy discussed her brief marriage to Russell in an interview with 60 Minutes Australia. “I was having great success at 23, 24, and 25 and then I met someone that was interesting and stimulating. It was just like a tornado, it was everything happening at once,” she said at the time.
The Forgetting Sarah Marshall star also addressed his past battle with drug addiction with Bear Grylls. “It was the dominant and defining part of my life,” the comedian said. Russell was in the throes of addiction from ages 16 to 27. He admitted that “particularly the last 5 years, I suppose, I was told if I didn’t stop in the next 6 months I would be dead or in prison in an institution of some kind. I think I was a disconnected person.”