Rebecca Hall
After a year and a half of repeated denials, Sam Mendes has finally admitted he is in a relationship with Rebecca Hall, who was rumored to have broken up his marriage to Kate Winslet. Reuters

A rep for Kate Winslet's ex, Sam Mendes, has confessed that Mendes and Rebecca Hall are in fact a romantic item -- though the actress had previously denied tha she had become romantically involved with her Starter for 10 executive producer (who later cast her in theatre productions he directed.)

A spokesman for Mendes confirmed the romance to The Daily Mail this weekend, saying It's true they are in a relationship.

A friend of the director corroborated the statement. They are dating and have been for some time. I can't put an exact date on it, but certainly nothing happened until after Sam's marriage was over,

The Vicky Cristina Barcelona star was implicated as the cause of Mendes and Winslet's martial demise, but had denied a romantic involvement for over a year. (Hall's reps have yet to provide a statement on the latest report.)

Winslet and Mendes split in March 2010, after Mendes directed his wife in Revolutionary Road.

Mendes had cast Hall in two of his theatre productions, and Winslet was reportedly not happy about their deepening friendship.

When Kate found out that Sam had grown close to Rebecca she was upset, a friend of Winslet's told the Daily Mail in 2010. Rebecca is totally Sam's type - a thespian mix of brains and beauty.

Hall is a product of British theater royalty: Her father is theatre director Sir Peter Hall and her mother is opera singer Maria Ewin. Hall studied English literature at Cambridge before dropping out to pursue acting.

Hall had previously denied being the other woman in Mendes and Winslet's divorce. It's the weirdest thing and it's all a load of b----hit, the Telegraph quotes her as saying in 2010. The reality's just really boring, she added, insiting that Sam was just a good mate.

In the immediate aftermath of his split with Winslet, Mendes also denied reports of an affair with Hall. His rep told E! online that the rumors were Utter nonsense... Untrue and ridiculous.

Hall and her The Town co-star Jon Hamm in joked about the rumors of her affair with Mendes in July 2010 interview.

The reality is that I broke them up, Hamm told the Daily Mail.

Jon Hamm was sleeping with Sam Mendes, Hall added.

We're looking forward to finding out why Rebecca and Sam finally decided to come clean! Stay tuned for updates...