The 24-year-old actor and musician, who now releases music under the name Bash Croft, opened up about the break-up in an interview with The Standard.
He revealed that he was performing in the stage production 4000 Miles in Chichester in 2023 when the three-year relationship ended with one phone call.
Croft did not reveal the name of his former partner.
However, British tabloid The Sun later quoted an unnamed source as claiming that the relationship was with her former Heartstopper co-star Joe Locke.
Neither Croft nor Locke have publicly confirmed that claim.
Croft was more open about the relationship and not who the other person was.
She has described it as her first serious relationship and first major heartbreak and has said that this experience became the catalyst for her upcoming debut EP, The Great Forever.
He said: “When I was in my first relationship I used to joke that either I’d stay with that person forever, or I’d go and write an album about them.”
Obviously the second option won.
Croft also revealed that the title of the EP came from something his ex said to him during their relationship.
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He explained: “My ex said, ‘It’s going to be great being together forever.’
“But I realized that The Great Forever is actually the person who will always be my first love.”
According to The Sun, an unnamed person said to be familiar with the pair claimed that Croft and Locke had been in a relationship for about three years.
The source alleged that both Heartstopper actors deliberately kept the relationship private and Locke eventually ended it over the phone.
The same source claimed that The Great Forever was a phrase Locke used during the relationship.
Other outlets have subsequently reiterated those claims, sometimes presenting the relationship more definitively.
But the original evidence remains an anonymous source.
Croft has not publicly said, ‘My ex-husband was Joe Locke’, and Locke has not publicly confirmed the relationship or commented on the alleged break-up.
For fans who have spent years speculating about this pairing, the reporting may seem like confirmation.
It is more accurately described as an unconfirmed report that aligns with some details independently shared by Croft about an unnamed former partner.
This confirmed how much the break-up affected Croft’s music.
He says he has spent the last three years translating the emotional consequences into songs and gradually finding a sound distinct from the artists who initially inspired him.
His influences include Chappelle Rhone, Olivia Rodrigo, Harry Styles and Robyn, but Croft says the EP has evolved as he has become more confident in his sound.
While continuing to build his music career alongside acting, he is also currently appearing in the second series of The Celebrity Traitors.