Michael Sheen and Sarah Silverman have split after four years together. Sarah, 47, took to her Twitter page on Monday to announce the sad news, attributing "long-distance" as the cause of the breakup. "The great @michaelsheen & I consciously uncoupled over Christmas," she tweeted. "I mean, not 'over Christmas' - like that wasn't the fight that ended it. No fight." She added: "We just live in different countries and it got hard. Felt we should just tell y'all so u stop askin, 'How's Michael/How's Sarah?'" [sic]
© Photo: Getty ImagesMichael Sheen and Sarah Silverman have ended their four-year relationship
The American comedienne lives in Los Angeles, while Welsh star Michael is based in the UK. The couple met during the filming of Showtime's Master of Sex in 2014. Over the summer, Sarah opened up about the pressures of their long-distance relationship. "He's my on-again, off-again lover," she told chat show host Jimmy Kimmel. "I call him my on-again, off-again lover because we're apart by oceans; one ocean. So he's there a lot, and then we just long for each other and we see each other and we love each other."
WATCH: Michael Sheen talks bittersweet moment of sending daughter Lily to college
Prior to their relationship, Michael was with Pearl Harbor actress Kate Beckinsale. Despite going their separate ways over 13 years ago, Michael and Kate have remained the best of friends. They ended their eight year relationship in 2003 and are proud parents to their 19-year-old daughter Lily. In 2016, Kate touched upon her close bond with Sarah, telling Stylist: "I don't know why everyone was so surprised. Sarah's such a fantastic woman, I love her and Michael and I have gotten on for years now. I've known him since I was 22, we're basically family."
Michael, 49, has previously admitted that his relationship with Sarah helped strengthen his friendship with Kate. During an interview with Chelsea Handler on her Netflix talk show Chelsea, he shared: "Our relationship now is probably better than it ever was. And it helps that she [Kate] actually likes Sarah more than she likes me." He added: "The only way it doesn't work out is that now I have not only Sarah, but also Kate and my daughter Lily, who all just make fun of me and embarrass me at any given point."
