Sleep divorce? Cameron Diaz is a fan. Separate bedrooms can be a good thing – better sleep helps you manage depression, anxiety and other conditions

‘Love should not get in the way of a good night of sleep,’ says Hollywood actress Cameron Diaz, and there are many out there who agree with her

Getting a good night’s rest without your partner can improve sleep and mental health. It can be especially beneficial for parents coping with young children

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Couples and experts describe the benefits of sleeping separately even for those in a happy marriage – sometimes sleeping in the same bed can affect a relationship negatively if two partners have different sleep habits, or one snores. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 7:15am, 22 Mar 2024Updated: 7:58am, 26 Mar 2024

Many people were shocked when Hollywood actress Cameron Diaz spoke up in support of couples sleeping in separate bedrooms because “love should not get in the way of a good night of sleep”.

However, the polarising suggestion resonated with scores who thought it a real solution to a real problem – the disturbed sleep that plagues couples with incompatible sleeping habits.

“We should normalise separate bedrooms,” Diaz, 51, who is married to Benji Madden of the band Good Charlotte, said in an interview on podcast “Lipstick on the Rim”.

“I would literally … I have my house, you have yours. We have the family house in the middle. I will go and sleep in my room. You go sleep in your room. I’m fine,” Diaz said. “And we have the bedroom in the middle that we can convene in for our relations.”

Benji Madden and Cameron Diaz at a basketball game in California in 2015. Photo: Getty Images

“Sleep divorce”, which is also known as “sleep separation”, is finding increasing acceptance among modern couples for a multitude of reasons.

It could be that one person’s snoring disturbs the other, or that two parents want to take turns handling their baby at night. One person may need uninterrupted rest at night because of a demanding day job.