Inside James Morrison's Relationship With His Partner, Gill Catchpole

The following article contains references to suicide.

British singer James Morrison captured the hearts of fans in 2006 with his breakthrough single, "You Give Me Something." Over the years, he went on to collaborate with big names like Nelly Furtado and Jessie J. While success seemingly came easy for this guitar-strumming crooner, there was always one thing keeping him grounded — his longtime partner, Gill Catchpole. The pair had been together since Morrison was a teenager, sharing the ups and downs of normal family life as well as navigating his rise to fame in the mid-2000s. Sadly, tragedy struck in January 2024 when Catchpole was found dead in their Cotswolds home. She leaves behind her husband and their two young daughters. 

It makes a sorrowful ending to their love story that started nearly two decades ago. While Catchpole has largely stayed out of the limelight, preferring a normal life (she ran a simple cafe business in their locality), Morrison has remained active in the music scene over the years, releasing a greatest hits album in 2022. Their relationship certainly didn't have a conventional start, but Morrison once claimed they had a "fairytale" start.

In later years, serious health scares, infertility struggles, and other troubles occurred. Here's a closer look at what we know about the singer's life with his late partner. 

James Morrison was smitten with Gill Catchpole from the moment they met. As the singer told Kate Thornton on the "White Wine Question Time" podcast, "I didn't want to tell her that I fell in love with her the first moment I set eyes on her because I didn't know, I'd never felt in love before. ... It was like a massive moment for me to even tell her that I liked her."

Considering how green Morrison was with relationships at the time, it's hardly surprising that his feelings felt so overwhelming. However, the attraction was reciprocated. Once Catchpole became single, they were able to see what was between them. The singer admitted that while their connection was immediate, he had to wait a while to find out if she felt the same way. "I wasn't going out with her for the first year or so she lived there," he explained on the podcast. "She was with her boyfriend, so I was getting to know her."

It turned out to be more than simple mutual interest, though, as they went on to get engaged and build a life together over the next two decades that seemingly secured their position as one of the most solid relationships in show business. That's no easy feat considering just how complex celebrity marriages can be (just ask Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie).

Love stories can play out differently for everyone, and there's no set path to take. While some prefer taking a traditional route and having a big white wedding in front of hundreds of friends and family, it's not for everyone. Sometimes, being committed to one another is enough. Not all couples desire to go through the legalities and rigmarole of a formal union. It looks as though James Morrison and Gill Catchpole fell into the latter category. While the pair wore wedding rings, remained together for almost two decades, and considered themselves fully dedicated to one another, they never officially tied the knot — though it wasn't exactly off the cards.  

The couple was actually engaged for 17 years at the time of Catchpole's death in 2024, but in a 2019 interview with the Mirror, the singer expressed hopes that they would eventually make it down the aisle. "Even though we've been engaged for 13 years, Gill and I will get married one day," he said. "We may have had some wobbles, but everything we've been through, we're closer than ever." Sadly, though, that one day would never come.

Becoming a parent happens easily for some people, but for one in six people, it can be a much more complex journey that takes years. While James Morrison and Gill Catchpole had their eldest daughter, Elsie Morrison, in 2008, but the pair struggled to have a second child. In fact, they suffered two devastating miscarriages before they had their second daughter, Ava. During an interview with the Mirror after Ava's birth in 2019, the singer recalled how difficult those losses were. "The aftermath of losing a baby was really difficult," he said. "After one of them was lost we had to wait a week to have an operation to get it out. It was horrendous."

These turbulent times resulted in the couple deciding they weren't going to try for any more kids, but Catchpole happened to become pregnant the very next day. Though Morrison was elated, he said it was a difficult pregnancy, and he often felt they may lose her. They frequently had to visit the hospital while expecting Ada to check on Catchpole's health. The musician admitted that while he tried to be strong, he often cried alone. 

In the end, Ada was born three months premature, and despite doctors preparing the couple for all sorts of possible complications, Ada grew to be a healthy, happy child. Interestingly, her older sister was also born prematurely. "Elsie was 4lbs 3oz and when I saw her I thought she was the smallest baby I'd ever seen," Morrison said of his firstborn, who was born a month early. Morrison himself was also born prematurely.

As James Morrison revealed to the Mirror, one of Gill Catchpole's kidneys functioned at just 35% while she was pregnant with the couple's second daughter. The singer didn't go into further details about this element of Catchpole's health during this period of time, but later in late 2023, Catchpole revealed that she'd had a kidney transplant a year earlier. Taking to the Facebook business page of her cafe, the Cotswold Sandwich Box, Catchpole elaborated on the operation and her health struggles. "Well, what can I say? What a difference a year makes," she wrote in the November 2023 post. "This time last year I was having my kidney transplant and a year on after many ups and downs and heartache I am here owning my own business." 

She went on to say that while she had never expected to be in the positive position she was by the end of 2023, she was grateful to friends and family for helping to "[pick] up the many pieces of [her] and [her] life." It couldn't have been easy for the business owner and mother of two to get through her health struggles. By her account, it seemed she was looking forward to better times. 

Some fans may have picked up on Catchpole's use of the term "heartache," believing Morrison and Catchpole were no longer together at the time of her death in January 2024. 

When news broke of Gill Catchpole's shocking death in January 2024, it seemed like a bolt from the blue. Although Catchpole had had some health struggles over the years, she appeared to be looking forward to a bright new future with her business. However, Gloucestershire police issued a statement to the Mirror via a spokesperson, explaining, "Police were called to Whitminster in Gloucester at around 9:10 am on Friday (5 January) following concerns for the welfare of a resident. Officers attended and the body of a woman in her 40s was found within an address."

Additional information later followed. Her death was ruled a suicide by the coroner, the Mirror reported on January 9. The outlet revealed that Morrison went to their shared home after a friend expressed concern that they couldn't gain entry. Sadly, he found his partner deceased inside. 

A source told the Mirror that the singer was understandably devastated but "holding it together" for his two young daughters as they face a new reality without their mother by their side. Reports reveal that he has canceled upcoming work commitments.

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