Courteney Cox has separated from her long-term partner, Snow Patrol guitarist Johnny McDaid, according to new reports.
The Friends star began dating the Northern Irish musician back in late 2013, having met at a party.
News of the separation was first reported by the Daily Mail, with People magazine later confirming the claims.
Cox, 62, and McDaid, 49, had not been seen together in public since last year, when they attended the US Open tennis tournament in September.
open image in galleryThe Independent has contacted representatives of Cox and McDaid for comment.
It was singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran who first brought McDaid into Cox’s orbit, owing to the two musicians being housemates. Speaking to E! News, Sheeran said at the time: “My housemate who I’ve lived with for a year, I introduced him to Courteney Cox. They started dating and [are] crazy about each other.”
In 2019, Cox reflected on her first kiss with McDaid, saying it was the best of her life. “I, actually, was the person who kissed first,” she said. “Ed Sheeran brought him over to my house one Sunday.”
The couple were briefly engaged, just nine months after they met, though called off the engagement in 2015.
They remained separated for six months at the time, with McDaid relocating to England.
“Three years in, we broke up, and it was really intense,” Cox told the Minnie Questions with Minnie Driver podcast in 2024. “We broke up in therapy. I didn’t know it was coming, whether I should have or not. He just broke up within the first minute. And I was like, what? We were engaged, and I was so shocked. I was in so much pain.
“He wasn’t trying to surprise me. He was in that much pain in the relationship,” she continued. “There was that much that needed to be dealt with that he had to protect himself around his heart.”
open image in galleryThey later reconciled, though retained their separate homes, alternating between continents.
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During the Covid pandemic, the couple were forced to live separating, something that Cox spoke about during a virtual appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. “I just miss his physical touch,” she said. “It’s been hard. This is the longest time.”
Cox was 12 years older than McDaid, and opened up about the age gap in a 2017 interview with NewBeauty. “He’s younger than me and with any other guy that would be the hardest thing in the world,” she said.