Hollywood’s most popular Royal has been secretly dating British actress Emily Bunting since 2016. The couple have been photographed multiple times enjoying romantic dinners and walks by the beach together. Pattinson and Bunting have been the subject of rumours for several years, inspiring a fandom base that swoons over the Hollywood heartthrob.
Rumours first arose in 2015 that Pattinson was seeing a mystery brunette, believed to be Bunting. The rumour mill ran hot, speculating whether he was seeing someone from his native England or a Hollywood star. The brunette was later revealed to be Kristen Stewart, with whom he’d worked on the movie, On the Road, in 2011. Stewart, however, was neither the first nor the only celebrity crush Pattinson has had.
Over the past two years, the relationship between Pattinson and Bunting has been the focus of numerous media reports. In March 2019, the actor was again linked with Stewart, amid reports that they’d begun dating. Rumours that the relationship between Pattinson and Stewart was more than just casual were denied by both parties. However, these denials did little to stem the tide of online speculation. In October 2019, Stewart was spotted wearing a “RP” necklace – short for “Robert Pattinson” – at the LFP festival in London.
Robert Pattinson’s Early Years
Pattinson was born in London on July 21, 1986. His father, Christian, is English and his mother, Kyoko, is Japanese. His parents divorced in 1989, with Kyoko gaining custody of Robert. He has an older brother, Oliver, from his father’s previous marriage. Pattinson was raised in Hampstead, a suburb of London.
Pattinson began acting professionally at the age of five, when he joined the cast of British television series, The Famous J. Lee. From there, he went on to star in the children’s television series, Little Royleworth (later changed to Little Britain), which aired from 1995 to 1999. Among his most memorable roles, Pattinson played the lead in the 1998 film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He also starred in the romantic comedy, Hide and Seek, in 2000.
A Career in Hiding
Rumours that Pattinson was gay first began to appear in 2015, when photographs of the actor dining with a man in what appeared to be a cosy restaurant came to light. In an interview with Hello! that year, Pattinson admitted, “I’m not homophobic, but there’s a lot of gossip. It gets very boring. People seem to think I’m this big celebrity fag, which I’m not. I don’t really know why. It really gets boring.”
However, he later claimed that the rumour had been started by a jealous rival: “There was a time when I was in a band and we were playing a showcase. One of my friends arranged for this photographer to come to our show and take our picture. So I guess someone must have got a bit jealous and told a few people I was gay. I mean, it’s pretty obvious. Everyone knows I’m not. I’ve never been more attracted to someone than I am to Emily right now. She’s the person I’m dating. So it seems kind of funny to me that people would think that I would be interested in another man. I’m not sure where this rumour came from.”
Biting the Press
Pattinson has not been shy about defending his privacy. In 2017, he penned an open letter to his fans, denouncing the media for their obsession with his personal life. In the letter, he wrote, “I want you to know that I don’t exist in the public domain. I’m a normal guy. I don’t do interviews. I don’t appear in gossip columns. I don’t get involved in messy lawsuits. I don’t go on red carpets or any kind of carpet, full-stop. All of this is meaningless to me. It’s an occupational hazard. If you really want to know what I do and where I am, you’ll have to follow me.”
Despite this bravado, it seems that the media have not given up hope of finding out more about him. In October 2019, a leading British tabloid newspaper, The Sun, revealed that it had finally managed to get its hands on a phone interview with Pattinson. The interview is said to have taken place last summer and is alleged to have lasted for three hours.
Who Is Emily Bunting Dating?
Emily Bunting rose to prominence in 2007, when she became one of the contestants on the first series of The Biggest Loser. She went on to become one of the show’s most popular contestants, finishing fourth out of 16 participants. For her efforts, Bunting won the Fitness Model of the Year award at the 2008 Women’s Health Awards. Since then, she’s appeared in a number of notable TV shows and films, including the 2009 film, Submarine, opposite Tom Hardy, and the romantic comedy, Dinner With JJ, opposite John Cleese. She also starred in the 2019 musical film, Bombshell, opposite Madeline Stowe and Nicole Kidman.
The 42-year-old actress reportedly began dating Pattinson in 2016. They had previously met when Bunting was a contestant on the fifth season of The Walking Dead. The two reportedly began seeing each other that year and remained together for several months. They split in April 2018, but then reunited in February 2019. They were last seen together in public in July 2019, when they celebrated Pattinson’s birthday with a pizza delivery.
Why Is Stewart Seeing Pattinson Again?
It was previously reported that Stewart and Pattinson were an item from 2014 to 2016. However, a spokesperson for Stewart denied this, telling Buzzfeed in 2018, “They were never ‘an item’. They were friends.”
The spokesperson then went on to add that Stewart had “never hidden the fact that she has male friends” and had even been “open about it in the press”. In 2016, Stewart was linked to Hollywood actor Jamie Dornan, but they never officially confirmed their relationship. However, in August 2019, it was reported that the couple were back together. The romance was later made official.
More Than A Friend
In 2014, Oliver Ackroyd, a writer for the British tabloid newspaper The Daily Mail, claimed that Stewart and Pattinson were more than just “good friends”, going so far as to call them “best mates”. Ackroyd wrote, “They have a special on-set relationship, very similar to a real-life couple. During filming, they often make eye contact and have even been spotted holding hands.”
The Mail later apologised for publishing the comments, but not before they had sparked a media frenzy. As Vanity Fair noted in 2016, “Pattinson has not been shy about denying rumours that he and Stewart were more than just friends, and the two have continued to be dogged by speculation about their relationship ever since.”
Different Worlds
While Stewart and Pattinson might share many interests, it seems that they also have very different lifestyles. In a 2015 interview with Hello!, Pattinson said, “I don’t really like going to movies or listening to music. I like staying at home and chilling with my dog. I don’t really get the attraction to fancy restaurants and glamorous lifestyles.”
Stewart told GQ in 2016 that she didn’t “really get” celebrity culture, saying, “I think it’s great that people love being famous. I just don’t understand it.”
In 2018, the pair were named in the top ten most stylish celebrity duos of all time, on account of their unique combination of old-school and new-school fashion. Vanity Fair’s list includes models and actresses like Cara Delevingne and Emily Blunt, as well as film celebrities like Stewart and Kidman.
The two are also known to have very specific tastes when it comes to their clothes. Both are known to have a special place in their hearts for designer Ralph Lauren and his Polo brand. While Stewart is often seen in elegant dresses and suits, Pattinson is more comfortable in boxers or board shorts and tees. He has also been known to wear her perfume, Stella McCartney, and her sunglasses, Ray-Ban.