Gemma Ward Talks Freely About Relationship With Heath Ledger

The Sunday Herald Sun tracked down model-turned-actress Gemma Ward ahead of her theatrical debut in Australia in the play "The Ugly One." Among other topics, the 23-year-old discussed her relationship with actor Heath Ledger, which started in November 2007. Ledger died on January 22, 2008.

Ward told the newspaper:

"I have taken a break from the media spotlight for the past few years and it was something spurred by Heath's death," she said. "(Heath and I) first met in New York and we were both struggling with things that I won't get into, and we bonded over that.

"I kind of met him at first and said, 'Listen my mum's living with me right now and I'm kind of going through a hard time and I'm not interested in having a serious relationship with somebody right now' and he was like, 'You know, um, let's just be there for each other through these hard times we're both going through'. And we developed a relationship and we started seeing each other."

She said she spent Christmas with Ledger in Perth and that their families met each other, adding, "We were able to not be in any kind of a spotlight and not have to be meeting with people or be hounded by press or anything. We lived in a magical kind of world where we weren't intruded upon."

Ward also mentioned that once her play closes, she plans to continue acting and head back to the runways.