She has been hailed as the finest actress of her generation, but lasting love is proving elusive for Kate Winslet.
After her split from second husband Sam Mendes, friends were delighted that she had taken up with model Louis Dowler.
But just four months later the romance is over and Kate has said she wants to be alone.
During the summer the pair looked the picture of happiness when they were photographed exercising on the street near her New York home, Ms Winslet on a bicycle and bare-chested Mr Dowler running alongside.
They had met at a party given by a mutual friend soon after Ms Winslet and film director Mr Mendes, 45, announced that they were ending their seven-year marriage ‘amicably and by mutual consent’.
Mr Dowler, 35, is the same age as the star of The Reader and Revolutionary Road, and their relationship seemed to be blossoming.
Ms Winslet even introduced him to her parents, Sally and Roger, just weeks into the relationship. Although there were high hopes the romance would last, they have now gone their separate ways and those close to the pair say it was
a classic case of love on the rebound.
‘Louis was just the tonic Kate needed after her painful split from Sam and they had a wonderful time,’ said a friend.
‘However, they have realised their relationship isn’t working and Kate needs space to be on her own. She is very grateful to Louis for helping her pick her life back up after her marriage ended and they had a lot of fun together, but she felt it had come to an end and wants to concentrate on her career and children.’
Ms Winslet has a six-year-old son Joe with Mr Mendes, the Oscar-winning director of American Beauty, from whom she parted in March.
The actress also has daughter Mia, 10, from her first marriage to Jim Threapleton, also a film director.
Mr Dowler, who was born in Cornwall, had hoped to move to Chicago to be with Ms Winslet while she made her latest film, Contagion, in which she plays a doctor, alongside Matt Damon.
The couple planned to rent a place together and fly back to New York at weekends to spend time with Mia and Joe, who have been looked after by Mr Mendes during the week.
Sealed with a kiss: Kate and Louis share a tender moment
But after the relationship hit a crisis point last month, Mr Dowler decided to return to London alone.
A friend said: ‘Louis was all for supporting Kate in Chicago and has bonded really well with her children. But Kate felt she needed to go alone in the end and have time to herself.
‘She feels she has rushed into things and wants to be alone to find out what it is that she wants.’
Winslet, who found Hollywood fame with her stunning performance alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the 1997 hit Titanic, has had a troubled history of romance.
Her first love was fellow actor Stephen Tredre, whom she dated for five years. She described him as ‘the most important person in my life, next to my family’, but he tragically died of bone cancer aged 34, soon after she completed Titanic.
Early loves: Kate with Stephen Tredre, left, and Rufus Sewell, right
A romance with Rufus Sewell quickly followed but ended after three months. ‘We’re very good friends but it was never a serious relationship,’ she later said.
Her marriage to Mr Threapleton followed in 1998. The down-to-earth pair fam
ously had a bangers-and-mash reception after the ceremony in Reading – but it lasted just three years.
Ms Winslet married Mr Mendes in May 2003.
Mr Dowler is understood to have turned to his best friend, Dolce & Gabbana model David Gandy, 30, for advice following the split.
The break-up, however, does not seem to have upset him unduly. He has recently been seen partying with a group of girls at London celebrity nightclub Whisky Mist.
He said last night: ‘Unfortunately, I don’t talk about my private life.’
A spokesman for Ms Winslet declined to comment.
Tragedy and doomed romances...Kate’s struggle to find lasting loveKate Winslet’s first love was actor Stephen Tredre who died of bone cancer in 1997.
A three month relationship with Rufus Sewell followed in the late Nineties.
Her first marriage was to film director Jim Threapleton but they parted after three years. She split from second husband Sam Mendes in March after seven years of marriage.
Husband number one and two: Kate with Jim Threapleton, left, and Sam Mendes
Source:Dailymail