Saturday 19 November 2022 10:53 PM Is Harry Styles' kiss with Florence Pugh the REAL reason he and Olivia Wilde ... trends now
It was the kiss that has become the talk of the showbiz world – on both sides of the Atlantic. First we discovered a few weeks ago that Harry Styles once smooched with fellow British screen star Florence Pugh – fuelling speculation over his relationship with American actress and film director Olivia Wilde.
Now we learn that the former One Direction singer and Ms Wilde have broken up after two years together, and The Mail on Sunday can reveal that this kiss had long been a 'tricky issue' between the pair – even though they blame Styles's tour schedule as the reason for their split.
They reportedly agonised for weeks over the decision to break up. Just last Thursday, Wilde was in the audience with her two young children to watch Styles, 28, perform with his band in Los Angeles.
Publicly the couple are highlighting how Styles's tour would have made it almost impossible for them to spend any time together until it finishes in Italy in July next year.
Wilde is said to be unable to accompany him because she needs to stay in Los Angeles with her eight-year-old son Otis and daughter Daisy, six, from her nine-year relationship with US film star Jason Sudeikis.
She and Styles were also said to be struggling to agree which side of the Atlantic they would make their home. But there were suggestions that other factors were at play, including Styles's close friendship with his co-star Pugh that culminated in that kiss.
It took place after they met on the set of the film Don't Worry Darling in March 2020.
First we discovered a few weeks ago that Harry Styles once smooched with fellow British screen star Florence Pugh – fuelling speculation over his relationship with American actress and film director Olivia Wilde
Now we learn that the former One Direction singer (left) and Ms Wilde (right) have broken up after two years together
Wilde also starred in and directed the film but the kiss occurred before she and Styles got together.
However, it prompted rumours of a feud between her and Pugh that continued after the film's cameras stopped rolling. Sources close to Styles say that Wilde has been aware of the kiss, and his close friendship with Pugh, and that it has always been an issue in the relationship and a factor behind their decision to call it a day.
One told The Mail on Sunday: 'While the news of the kiss only just emerged, Olivia has known about it and it was addressed but none of that was easy. The three of them were working together and, of course, afterwards Florence then was there to watch Harry and Olivia get together.
'There were three of them working together day in day out, the director and the two leading characters.
'The two stars kiss, then one of them gets together with the boss. It's the stuff of nightmares.
'Those things can put a lot of pressure on relationships.'
Matters became easier once filming ended but it was noted how Oxford-born Pugh, 28, pulled out of a number of planned interviews, and skipped both the press conference and the photocall to promote the movie at the Venice Film Festival in September.
Sources close to Styles say that Wilde has been aware of the kiss, and his close friendship with Pugh (pictured), and that it has always been an issue in the relationship and a factor behind their decision to call it a day
It was noted how Oxford-born Pugh, 28, pulled out of a number of planned interviews, and skipped both the press conference and the photocall to promote the movie at the Venice Film Festival in September (pictured)
There was also a conspicuous absence of mentions for the film on her social-media accounts. Wilde publicly denied any rift with Pugh, however, saying she had 'nothing but respect' for her talent, and called her 'fantastic'.
But whatever the truth, there was no public show of affection on the red carpet in Venice. Pugh hugged her co-stars and posed for selfies with fans and for photographers – but offered no outward display of fondness towards Wilde and Styles.
In an awkward group shot as the cast arrived at the premiere at the Sala Grande, Pugh chose to stand away from the happy couple.
Afterwards she skipped the dinner, instead jetting off to Budapest where she was filming her latest movie, Dune.
News of Styles and Wilde's split came as a surprise to the couple's friends who, despite the ten-year age gap between the pair, expected they would remain together for the foreseeable future.
When the relationship began in 2020 during the shooting of Don't Worry Darling, Wilde was still living with Sudeikis. She later insisted that
