Emma Watson explains why she refers to herself as 'self-partnered'

Emma Watson's rise to Hollywood stardom was, in a word, meteoric; after appearing in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone aged 10, she became an overnight star and in later years would go on to land roles in a number of critically acclaimed movies - from The Perks of Being a Wallflower to Little Women. While she has quit acting since her last onscreen role in 2018, Emma has continued to work on various creative projects, including directing a short film for a Prada campaign and starting a gin business with her brother, Alex. 

And while her silver screen success is often talked about, Emma is famously private about her personal life. However, when she spoke about her relationship status in 2019, it piqued fans interest (and not only those who have been shipping Emma Watson and Tom Felton   for years). 

During an interview with British Vogue four years ago, Emma spoke about her relationship status, and while she was rumoured to be dating American businessman Leo Robinton at the time she proudly referred to herself as 'self-partnered' in the cover story. She stated: "I never believed the whole 'I'm happy single' spiel. I was like, 'This is totally spiel.' It took me a long time, but I'm very happy [to be single]. I call it being self-partnered."

Her comments sparked interest in the term, and now she has explained exactly what she meant when she used the phrase. In a new interview for the publication, she touched on the term 'self-partnered' to clarify what it means to her. 

Emma said it wasn't 'necessarily about me celebrating being single', continuing: "Getting to the point when I was 30, I was realising: 'Oh. Maybe I’ve figured out some things about how to care for myself better – maybe quite well, actually.' And taking pride in that."

And while she's proudly independent, Emma added that connection and community are just as important, saying: "Coming out of Covid, I really understood the importance of building community, having community and investing, very intentionally, time and energy into that."

So now you know!