Halle Berry Reveals She Was 'Solo and Celibate for 4 Years' Before Finding Love with Boyfriend Van Hunt: 'I Needed to Be Alone'

Halle Berry dedicated four years to self-reflection and personal growth before embarking on a romantic relationship with musician Van Hunt. The Oscar-winning actress, currently promoting her film Crime 101, shared insights into this transformative period during an interview with a U.K. publication.

“I was solo and celibate for four years,” Berry stated, emphasizing the importance of solitude in her life. “I had to really sit myself down and be alone and grow and reflect and realize my value. I had decided if the right person doesn’t come, I will be alone. And that’s okay. I’m enough by myself. I’ve got my children. I have my career. That’s more than enough. I have an embarrassment of riches.”

Following her divorce from Olivier Martinez in 2016, which marked her third marriage dissolution, Berry made a conscious choice to prioritize herself. She shares a son, Maceo, 12, with Martinez and has a daughter, Nahla, 17, from her previous relationship with Gabriel Aubry.

When asked if a relationship would merely be an enhancement to her already fulfilling life, the 59-year-old actress replied, “Yes. And the icing had better be exactly what I want or I’m not going to eat that cake. Because it’s too costly.”

Berry met Hunt in 2020, a connection she believes she wasn’t ready for until after her period of self-discovery. “I would not have been ready for him before. I had to go through fire and burn to get to the point of appreciating a person like him. I was a moth to a flame. I no longer am that person,” she reflected.

In a 2024 interview with another magazine, Berry elaborated on her dating hiatus, describing it as a “sabbatical to understand me.” She noted, “I created my career. I was intentional about that. I knew what I was going to do, and I did it. But I had never been that intentional with my relationships.”

Berry recognized that clarity in her self-understanding coincided with Hunt entering her life. “The minute I started to feel like I understood myself and what I had been doing wrong is when Hunt came into my life,” she explained, expressing confidence in their bond. “It took me a minute to get it right, but the nature of the way this happened, I have a real belief that this is it. This is my person.”

In June 2025, Hunt disclosed that he proposed to Berry, although the engagement is currently on hold. Despite their past experiences with marriage—Berry having been married three times and Hunt once—the couple does not feel pressured to marry for validation. “We don’t feel like we have to get married to validate our love in any way,” she stated during an appearance on a morning show.

However, Berry hinted at the possibility of marriage in the future, saying, “I think we will get married just because out of the people I’ve been married to, this is the person I should have married. And I feel like we should get married. But it’s not because we feel like we have to.”

Crime 101 is set to hit theaters on February 13.