Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter's romance was complicated; they never got married and lived in adjoined houses. "Tim does snore […] He has a deviated septum and doesn't want an operation,” Bonham Carter said in 2010, but snoring isn’t exactly enough to end a relationship.

Nine months after announcing their breakup, Bonham Carter shared a "thesis" on why she and Burton decided to part ways. "Our relationship was always somewhat special, and I think it'll always remain special," she told Red in September 2015.

Bonham Carter said that “the mark of a successful relationship shouldn't be whether you're there forever after. Sometimes you're not meant to be forever together. Sometimes you have to come to terms with the fact that that was it." Her reasoning was simple, though not exactly explicit.

Burton and Bonham Carter welcomed their son Bill Raymond Burton and daughter Nell Burton while living in conjoined homes in London. Post-breakup, Bonham referred to their 13-year courtship as a "massive gift" that produced "children and a lot more else."