The `Snow White and the Huntsman` star - who split from boyfriend Stuart Townsend in January 2010 after almost nine years of dating - claims until now she has been in relationships for almost 20 years but has never casually dated.

She explained: "I don`t think I`ve actually been on a date with somebody I didn`t know. I`ve been on dates with my boyfriend of course but I`ve never really dated.

"I`ve been in serious relationships from the time I was 19 and I`m single for the first time in my life since then. I had to make a real conscious effort to rediscover myself and it`s hard. I`m a creature who has really found her comfort in relationships."

While she was sad that she and Stuart could no longer make it work, Charlize admitted she is now "at peace" with the separation.

She added in an interview with the Daily Mirror newspaper: "It was sinking but I gave it a fight to try and make it work. That was my priority. I`ve never re-connected with an ex and I feel that once I`m done I`m really done.

"I`m really at peace and feeling good about it. All of us go through darkness but that doesn`t make you dark.

"There`s something really powerful in being OK with being alone, especially for women."

Although she has been part of a couple almost continuously for the past 20 years, the stunning 36-year-old actress revealed she actually struggled to find a boyfriend in her teens.

She said: "I played the song `Tears on my Pillow` over and over and I felt like it was the end of the world because I didn`t have a boyfriend. It was just so heartbreaking."
sections: Celebrities