‘She’s had a string of not great relationships’: What friends of Lily James are saying about her new man after ‘crying’ over a hard-partying stuntman, failed ‘engagements’ and THAT scandal with Dominic West

Lily James was clearly in a haze of happiness, vaping and laughing as she wandered the sweltering streets of Los Angeles at midnight.

The 37-year-old actress was with her new boyfriend, Sydney-born musician Alex Cameron, and he put his arm around her and planted a kiss on her cheek.

The new couple was joined by a friend who was visiting Stella Bar and El Cid. For the occasion, the former Downton Abbey star dressed like this: jeans and was wearing a black leather jacket and carrying a £4,000 Chanel mini bag.

As the trio wandered between venues on Thursday, Lily even tripped over the curb; He was so enamored with what his new love was saying that he didn’t seem to know where he was going.

I can tell you that the actress’s friends are ‘overjoyed’ to have found a partner who makes her so happy, as she is now finally trying to settle down after a string of failed relationships.

As a source close to the star told me: ‘It’s great to see. More than anything, everyone wants Lily to be happy.

‘She’s had a series of not-so-great relationships and now she just wants to settle down and start a family.’

Mamma Mia! star had recently split from her stuntman boyfriend Bobby Hanton, whose party lifestyle sparked concerns among Lily’s friends.

The 37-year-old actress started dating Alex Cameron

Lily recently split from her stuntman boyfriend Bobby Hanton (right, with Chris Hemsworth)

‘He really liked Bobby,’ a friend told me. ‘There were many reasons [for their split]One of them is that there’s too much going out and Lily wants to slow down and start a quieter life and family.’

Partying really seemed to be a big part of the couple’s relationship; They were photographed leaving London’s Alexandra Palace after watching techno DJ Solomun’s five-hour set, among other sights.

Hanton, who has worked as a stuntman for the likes of Daniel Craig, Ryan Reynolds and close friend Chris Hemsworth, often talks about his fitness routines and how he maintains his muscular physique.

However, in 2020, the actor admitted that he decided to stay sober for 12 months after drinking alcohol while taking painkillers for his recent back surgery.

He told fitness magazine Centr that before he cut out he was drinking regularly: ‘On average I’d have a pint or two at dinner with my wife on a Thursday or Friday, maybe go out for dinner on Saturday night and have a few more drinks, and then have a couple of beers with the roast on Sunday,’ he said.

‘So on average we have seven to eight drinks a week.’

He claimed he had cut back to just one or two drinks a week and said: ‘I’ve changed a lot of things for the better and I’m seeing the benefits.’

Less than two years after this interview, he divorced his wife Rachel Hunter and began a ten-month relationship with Love Island star Maura Higgins, which ended in 2024.

He met Lily a year later and it was at the Red Lion pub in Fareham, Hampshire, that they were first photographed together as a couple. Lily was seen laughing while drinking a beer with her new boyfriend’s arm around her.

A post on the pub’s Facebook page read: ‘Tonight we had a visit from Downton Abbey’s Lily James along with Thor stuntman Bobby Hanton. ‘They enjoyed a drink and a game of pool, plus gained a new miniature fan club with the staff children.’

Despite Lily’s friends’ fears about Hanton’s party habits, they were pleased to see Lily, who had always been unlucky in love, happy in a relationship.

Her longest relationship was with actor Matt Smith, Doctor Who’s youngest star, who appeared to have her heartbroken when their five-year romance ended in 2019.

Four years into dating, in 2018 Lily appeared at the Baftas wearing a massive diamond ring on her left hand, but the engagement rumors it sparked were never confirmed.

A year later, she opened up about problems in her relationship with Smith, now 43, and blamed their busy schedules, saying: ‘I haven’t really stopped and I don’t think it’s a suitable way to work. For me, ultimately this is not the lifestyle I want.

‘This applies not only to my relationship with Matt, but also to my relationship with my friends and family. There are so many things you miss. That’s why I know I can’t continue working at this intensity. I am finishing a job; Matt’s starting one.’

Lily’s longest relationship lasted five years and was with Matt Smith, Doctor Who’s youngest ever actor. Photographed with it in 2018

Alex Cameron performing at Primavera in Barcelona in 2016

After not being seen together for four months, the couple popped up for a tense pub crawl at The Spaniards Inn in Hampstead, north London, in 2019, but they had already split up by then.

The insider revealed that ‘the relationship has been strained for a while and there have been arguments about their schedules, which has meant spending long periods away from each other and being close to other stars.’

In October 2020, just a few months after the split, she caused a scandal when she was seen kissing her neck by her The Pursuit of Love co-star Dominic West, to whom she is married, on a romantic trip to Rome.

The former co-stars made headlines around the world when they were photographed passionately embracing, hugging each other and sharing a ride on a scooter during the trip.

The couple spent two nights in a suite at the five-star Hotel de la Ville, which has panoramic views of the entire city, just a two-minute walk from the Spanish Steps.

The pair first met when they starred together in Othello at Sheffield’s Crucible in 2011. Lily played Desdemona when she was 22, and Dominic played Iago at 41.

Following the resulting frames, Dominic publicly displayed his relationship with his wife, Catherine FitzGerald, and the couple made a statement about their marriage stating that they were “still together”.

But as part of the peace deal reached between Dominic and Catherine, the Crown star was banned from speaking to his younger, glamorous co-star.

In July of the same year, Lily was seen on multiple dates with Captain America actor Chris Evans.

They were first seen taking a taxi from a private club in Mayfair and days later sleeping together in the park, but their relationship was never confirmed.

However, she did confirm her relationship with Queens of the Stone Age bassist Michael Shuman (now 40).

The pair were first seen kissing outside a hotel in Suffolk on Valentine’s Day in 2021. The actor starred in the British romantic comedy What’s Love Got to Do With It? He was seen filming the movie.

She was seen wearing a gold ring on her engagement finger at Glastonbury, but less than a year later in 2021, a source announced that the couple had “grown apart in recent months and have now decided to end their relationship.”

‘When it comes to your love life, if you talk about it, you enter a world of pain,’ Lily said. ‘If you haven’t said anything, there’s no sound to disturb you when you’re crying into a box of tissues after everything goes wrong.’

You speak like a woman who has been burned many times before. Let’s hope there’s no crying into a tissue for Lily this time.