LONDON - The Australian singer Kylie Minogue and her boyfriend of four years have announced their separation.
Minogue recently resumed performing after treatment for breast cancer diagnosed in 2005. In November, the 38-year-old singer told Elle magazine that her boyfriend, Olivier Martinez, had been an "incredible" support during her illness.
She and Martinez, a 41-year-old French actor who was in "Before Night Falls" and the recently released "Blood and Chocolate," confirmed the split in a statement late Friday.
"They have made it clear that the decision to go their separate ways was mutual and amicable," the statement said, adding that the pair remain close friends.
"Olli was there all the time, helping with the practical stuff and being protective," Minogue said in the November interview. "I don't like to say too much in public about Olivier as he's a very private person, but I will say that he was incredible."
Recently, the tabloid press has speculated that Martinez was seeing someone else.
In the statement, the couple said that "the media's false accusations of disloyalty have saddened them both."
Minogue recently completed her Showgirl Homecoming tour, although she was forced to cancel two concerts last month because of a respiratory tract infection.
