Someone call the 90s, because rumours surrounding Kate Moss’s dating life are once again swirling in the tabloids this week. After a spate of short term relationships during the height of her fame, the Croydon-born supermodel has been relatively strong and stable in her relationship with photographer Count Nikolai von Bismarck since 2015.
Though the pair have had a few wobbles across their long-term love affair, everything has been pretty smooth sailing for the It Couple, making the talk of trouble in paradise extra shocking.
So why is doubt being cast over the status of their coupledom? Well, Moss and Bismarck made one of their increasingly rare public appearances last night, as they were pictured together at the Gucci Cruise show in Southwark’s Tate Modern.
But the couple did not look happy, with Moss giving Bismarck a very visible cold shoulder. The model leaned into her daughter Lila as they posed for photos on the front row, keeping a concerted amount of distance between herself and her photographer beau. Insiders at the after party told the Standard that Kate was having a very merry time, while Nikolai was nowhere to be seen. Paparazzi images show that he left with a mutual friend of the couple, actress Demi Moore.
This comes after Moss was recently pictured hand-in-hand with Bob Marley’s 27-year-old grandson Skip while on holiday in Turkey. The supermodel also watched Skip Marley perform live, and was said to be particularly enthusiastic backstage at the show.
Amid all the gossip, we can’t help but think of the ghosts of Moss boyfriends past. The Cosmoss founder has had quite the wild ride since she hit super stardom in the 1990s, aged 16, including three engagements, one marriage, one baby daddy and some very highly publicised breakups. Here’s a refresher course on Kate’s coupling history.
Johnny Depp, 1994-1997
Then: Kate Moss first met American actor Johnny Depp in 1994 at the uber trendy Café Tabac in New York City, a regular haunt of the 1990s glitterati. She was 20, at the peak of her up-and-coming early 1990s modelling fame, he was 31 and soaking up the warm reception to Edward Scissorhands, having also recently appeared in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Arizona Dream and Benny & Joon.
The pair hit it off instantly. “I knew from the first moment we talked that we were going to be together," Kate once said. The pair spent most of their relationship jetsetting between their busy professional lives in London and Los Angeles, with both parties handling the mania of their early careers. “I was on the go,” Kate said of this time, “life was happening.”
Then, after a whirlwind romance and rumoured engagement, the pair broke it off in 1997, just after Johnny made his directorial debut with Marlon Brando-starring drama, The Brave. It was a big breakup, something both parties have admitted since.
“I have never got that emotional over a woman before,” Depp told Hello magazine in 1998. “I have been so stupid because we had so much going for our relationship. I'm the one who has to take responsibility for what happened. I was difficult to get on with, I let my work get in the way and I didn't give her the attention I should have done.” Meanwhile, Kate said in a 2012 interview with Vanity Fair that she spent “years” crying over Johnny after their breakup. “There's nobody that's ever really been able to take care of me. Johnny did for a bit… I believed what he said,” she said. “Like if I said, 'What do I do?' he'd tell me. And that's what I missed when I left.”
Now: What a turn this love story takes. Kate and Johnny’s most recent publicised interaction was when she testified during his defamation trial against Amber Heard in the spring of 2022, where she claimed he did not push her down a flight of stairs when they were in a relationship in the ‘90s. Johnny is on a comeback attempt from his spate of bad press and recently appeared at Cannes Film Festival.
Anthony Langdon, 1998-1999
Then: A considerably shorter and less publicised Kate fling then came in the form of her tryst with actor and guitarist of the band Space Hog, Anthony Langdon, for a period in 1998. The pair were introduced by mutual friend Liv Tyler (who was once married to Langdon’s brother, Space Hog singer Royston Langdon) and he bought her an engagement ring within three months of them dating. Apparently Kate wasn’t ready to commit and so the pair went their separate ways.
Now: Langdon is a filmmaker now, living in Los Angeles. He still acts and most notably appeared in I’m Still Here, the mockumentary where Joaquin Phoenix tries to be a rapper (yes, as weird as it sounds), in 2010.
Jefferson Hack, 2001-2004
Then: Kate took a break from men in the spotlight when she fell for Dazed & Confused editor and co-founder Jefferson Hack, who she dated in the early 2000s after he interviewed her for the magazine. Allegedly, his first words to her were “You smell like pee.” Strange dating tactic but it clearly worked, given that Moss gave birth to her and Hack’s daughter, Lila, in 2002.
Unfortunately the couple just couldn’t make it work, parting ways in 2004, though they remain close to this day — Jefferson Hack attended Kate’s wedding to Jamie Hince in 2011 and he was apparently “thrilled and delighted” for his ex, as he told this paper at the time. The pair are also routinely seen out for dinner with Lila, who they co-parent, or even strolling the streets of London together, chatting and stopping for a friendly hug goodbye.
Now: Hack still operates as Editorial Director of Dazed, but also works as a curator and creative director. Since Dazed, he has also founded digital video brand Nowness and AnOther magazine.
Pete Doherty, 2005-2007
Then: Here come the Glasto heydays. Kate started dating Babyshambles singer Pete Doherty in 2005 after the pair met at her 31st birthday party.
They fell into a hedonistic love affair, one which spawned festival outfit inspo, couples costume ideas, and some truly iconic snaps (remember the picture of her hanging backwards out of a window, smoking a cigarette, as Doherty serenades her on the guitar?). At one point the pair were even engaged, with Pete telling the press: “I love her with all of my heart. I love her bones. I love her brains.” But the hedonism went a little too far for Kate, and Pete’s drug use ultimately led to the couple’s demise. “Kate Moss didn’t go to crack dens!” Doherty told The Irish Times in 2022. “She never had an interest in all that, and, if I’m honest, that’s why we broke up.”
What really tipped the scales, though, was the release of a picture of Moss doing cocaine to the tabloids, which the Mirror splashed on their frontpage with the headline “High as a Kate.” Team Kate blamed Pete for this behaviour, and the pair agreed to both go to rehab — first her, then him. He skipped out on his rehab session, cutting the treatment short, and the pair broke up shortly after.
Now: Doherty now lives in France with his wife Katia de Vidas, their Siberian husky, Zeus, and their newborn baby, who was born last month, making Doherty a father of three (his 18-year-old son, Astile, lives with his mother Lisa Moorish, and he doesn’t see his 11-year-old daughter, Aisling, who lives with her mother Lindi Hingston.) He’s been sober for over three years.
Jamie Hince, 2007-2015
Then: Kate ties the knot! Kate met her one and only ex-husband Jamie Hince, guitarist for The Kills, in 2007 after the pair were set up by their mutual friends and found they had “amazing electricity”. The pair had a brief bump in the road in 2008 when he hit her with a “partying ultimatum” — that she calm down her rowdy ways so the pair could build a life together, or else they split — and it clearly worked, because they were married by 2011.
The pair tied the knot in the Cotswolds in July, where Kate was flanked by 14 bridesmaids including her daughter Lila. She wore a John Galliano wedding down and beamed as the pair walked down the aisle, freshly anointed as man and wife, while Mario Testino photographed the occasion.
By 2015, the pair’s relationship had broken down, which the press cottoned onto when Hince attended Glastonbury that year alone — an occasion Moss usually doesn’t miss. The relationship was “past the point of no return” and divorce proceedings were finalised by 2016.
Now: Hince and The Kills are still going strong, having recently toured with Iggy Pop on his “Iggy Pop and the Losers” tour in May 2023. He has a good relationship with Kate and even released unseen polaroids from their relationship as part of The Kills’ Polaroid Show exhibition in 2022.
Count Nikolai von Bismarck, 2015-present
Then: Moss and Bismarck had known each other for years before they got together, on account of him being the son of Kate’s family friend, Debonnaire von Bismarck, aka Debbie. Then, in 2015, amid ongoing divorce proceedings with husband Jamie Hince, then 41-year-old Moss allegedly invited young Nikolai (who was 28 at the time) to stay with her in the London home she shared with her daughter Lila. Originally reported as a “lodger”, tabloids quickly cottoned on to the fact that Bismarck and Moss were dating.
The pair briefly broke up for a period in 2016 due to Bismarck’s “party lifestyle” (do you see a theme developing here?) but swiftly reunited and stayed strong for multiple years, forging a real life together. In January 2022, she told Vanity Fair of her home situation: “Being in love makes me feel beautiful. My daughter Lila inspires me to be the best person I can be. My favourite moments are when all the family are sitting down together having lunch on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the country.”
The duo are rarely pictured together, but they did make a special public appearance as a couple for the launch of Kate’s beauty brand, Cosmoss, in September 2022. After this, things went a little quiet.
Then a few cracks started to show. Last year, Bismarck raised eyebrows after he was spotted on numerous occasions without Kate by his side, including when he was pictured returning to his Paris hotel with French model Camille Rowe. Rowe is still be going strong with her long-time beau, art dealer Theo Niarchos (the pair posted a picture of them kissing on Instagram), but the paparazzi pictures did throw Bismarck’s relationship status into question.
As well as the Paris incident, Bismarck was also spotted at Glastonbury sans Kate, which is never a good sign. The photographer also rocked up to the Vogue x Self Portrait party alone, adding further suspicion into the mix.
However, the pair put the split rumours to bed when they were pictured arm-in-arm on multiple occasions, including during Kate’s landmark 50th birthday celebrations this January.
Now: What a muddle we find ourselves in. Bismarck and Moss both attended the Gucci show in London, and were sat next to each other, leading many to believe that their relationship was as solid as it had been in early 2024. And yet, pictures show Moss keeping some clear distance between herself and Bismarck on the front row, instead cosying up to her daughter Lila and chatting to actress Demi Moore and singer Debbie Harry. Meanwhile, Nikolai spoke to his mother, Debbie.
This comes after Moss was pictured hand-in-hand with Skip Marley, Bob Marley’s 27-year-old grandson, while on holiday in Turkey. Moss was also seen to be enjoying his live performance with vigour, with insiders telling the Daily Mail: “Kate ran on stage as she loved it so much. She was escorted off the stage by security. I don’t know whether there’s a ‘thing’ [between the pair] but she’s a fan for sure. It was all very sweet and non-confrontational.”
As per Standard insiders who were present at the Gucci after party last night, we also know Moss was busy having a ball, while Bismarck left early, traipsing out rather glumly alongside mutual friend Demi Moore. Perhaps the couple just had a little tiff, but it looks like we’re going to have to wait for more information before anything can be confirmed. Namely, whether either of them turn up to Glastonbury 2024 alone. Those pictures will speak a thousand words.
