Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Burton Split Reportedly Happened A Year Ago; Cheating Rumors Resurface

Helena Bonham Carter’s rep released a statement last week announcing that the actress split from her longtime love, director Tim Burton, but sources now are saying the couple actually ended their 13-year relationship over a year ago. The New York Post reports that despite the late December announcement, the two have been “living separate lives” for quite some time.

A source allegedly told the Page Six section of the site that the actress and the director -- who paired on such films as "Corpse Bride," "Dark Shadows" and "Planet of the Apes" -- have not only been separated, but “have both had other lovers.”

“The separation announcement was made saying that they’d split earlier this year, but they have been living apart for much long longer,” said the insider.

In 2010 the 48-year-old actress revealed that she and Burton, with whom she shares two children, son Billy, 11, and daughter Nell, 7, actually live apart in a conjoined London home.

“We see as much of each other as any couple, but our relationship is enhanced by knowing we have our personal space to retreat to,” Bonham Carter told Radio Times. “It’s not enforced intimacy. It’s chosen, which is quite flattering – if you can afford it.”

Rumors spread in 2013 that Burton was seeking intimacy in other places. The Daily Mail obtained photos from a London theater outing that showed the 56-year-old director kissing a “mystery blonde.” A witness told the Daily Mail, “they stopped in an alley to kiss before making their way back to her car together.”

Bonham Carter's representative told the Daily Express at the time that the cheating speculation was “absolute nonsense.”

“The pictures were taken whilst they were out and the large group includes family, friends and work colleagues,” Bonham Carter’s rep stated.

Since the split announcement, the cheating rumors have resurfaced. The Daily Mail is reporting that the mystery blonde from 2013 is actually Burton’s production assistant of three years, Berenice Percival. Sources told the site that Percival was “an important factor in the separation” and that Bonham Carter fought to maintain her relationship with Burton.

“She thought Tim was having a midlife crisis and gave him room to get it out of his system,” another insider said. “But it never happened, so she reluctantly decided to end things.”

Despite the split and the rumors, Bonham Carter and Burton were photographed together in London with their children on Christmas Day.