Between spending time with each other’s families, celebrating the holidays and going on PDA-filled vacations together, Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom appeared to be head over heels for each other — but now multiple sources tell PEOPLE the stars weren’t focused on a longterm future together.
“It was never really supposed to be serious between them,” a Perry source tells PEOPLE exclusively. “When it first started, she was basically like ‘This will be fun for now.'” Likewise, a Bloom pal says the actor, 40, was “happy and content” spending time with the singer, 32, but “was not in the mindset to settle down.”
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Over the last few weeks, the relationship “just became more and more work to make it work,” says the Perry source. “Because this wasn’t something permanent, it just became time to take a break.”
According to Bloom’s friend, things have been “shaky” for a while, but there was no last straw that led to the split. “There was nothing dramatic or over the top,” says the friend. “Katy’s going through a lot of changes for her new music — both physically and emotionally — and this was a part of that.”
Throughout the course of their courtship, Bloom was “still keeping his options open” and “it wasn’t as serious as everyone was making it out to be,” adds the friend.
And as the stars noted Tuesday night in their joint statement (“Orlando and Katy are taking respectful, loving space at this time,” said their reps), there are no hard feelings. “This really wasn’t a bad breakup for her,” says the Perry source. “[Her split from John Mayer] was a lot harder for her. This just ran its course.”