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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Laura Hampson

Jameela Jamil says partner James Blake likes the fact she’s ‘not repressed’

Getty

Jameela Jamil has claimed that her partner, musician James Blake, likes the fact that she is “not repressed”.

Jamil, 36, made the comment while appearing on the latest episode of the Duchess of Sussex’s podcast, Archetypes.

After speaking to Meghan Markle about the topics she feels most comfortable being outspoken about, Meghan asked Jamil how her partner, Blake, 34, feels about Jamil’s activism.

“He just likes that I am completely myself and I think that he really enjoys the fact that I’m not repressed in any way and therefore I don’t really have anywhere that I need to let off that steam, I don’t hold in any toxicity, I get everything off my chest, to you know, mixed results,” Jamil laughed.

“He’s incredibly supportive of me, and you know he’s been a big encourager of me to learn how to fight back and speak my mind and understand my worth, and he’s just a great ally.”

Jamil added that Blake, with whom she’s been together with for seven years, is a “great source of strength and comfort”.

“[He’s] someone who can take my phone away because he’s 6’7” and I can’t reach it when he’s holding it up,” she joked.

“He just understands me. He’s an incredible human and an incredible friend, and I don’t think I could have withstood all of this without him.”

Jamil then added that she knows Meghan has a “similar dynamic” with her husband, the Duke of Sussex.

James Blake and Jameela Jamil at the 2020 Grammys (Getty)

“Actually when the four of us met that one time it was a really sweet dynamic of two very similar relationships, and it was very nice for me to see that you have that in your home because you need it,” Jamil said.

“Because it’s an unfathomable amount of s*** that you take Meghan, I can’t believe it.”

Jamil continued, saying that she “fought back for years” on Meghan’s behalf and that she was  “so outraged by the twisting of this very normal, very kind, very civilised woman”.

Meghan responded, thanking Jamil for fighting back.

Elsewhere in the interview, Jamil credited Meghan with reaching out to women who were “having a hard time”.

“I also just wanted to thank you, in a way that I didn’t get to at the time, but during some of my hardest moments where I was being the most maligned by the media, and sometimes also by the public, you have been such a sober voice of unwavering support to me,” Jamil said to Meghan.

“People don’t know that you frequently reach out to women who are having a very, very hard time. Privately you reach out to us, you don’t do it publicly, you don’t come to get any glory but you privately reach out to us, at our most lonely and desperate moments and we need more of that in the world. I appreciate you and thank you for that because there were some hairy moments and I needed that guidance.”

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