Ellie Goulding gushed about Dougie Poynter weeks before split

British pop star Ellie Goulding gushed about her boyfriend Dougie Poynter and their plans to start a family just weeks before they split.

The Lights singer has been dating the McFly rocker since last year (14), but it recently emerged they are "taking a break" from each other, sparking rumours their romance has run its course.

Neither Ellie nor Dougie have commented on the speculation, and a newly-published interview, conducted in November (15), suggests the stars were making longterm plans together.

In a chat with Britain's You Magazine, Ellie credits the musician with influencing her music and she goes on to talk about their desire to settle down together.

"My music reflects my emotions and I haven't ever been happier than since I met Dougie," she explains. "We want to (get married) and we do want to have children but I think realistically it won't happen for a while. Next year I'm on tour and I don't want it to be something we fit in. We both feel we need to get ourselves more settled with our work before we can even think about starting a family."

Ellie goes on to insist Dougie definitely wants to follow the same path as her, adding, "I'm fully aware of how mad that (marriage and children) sounds but we both know it's what we want. I actually wanted to test myself on looking after things so I got my two Bengal cats, Lennon and Wallace. They are my baby substitutes and I love them. I find them incredibly calming; I just sit and play with them. I've become obsessed."

The split reports emerged earlier this month (Dec15) and suggested the two stars decided to put their relationship on the back burner so they can both concentrate on their music careers.

Ellie has previously said of Dougie: "He is definitely the one forever. He's been through a lot, and he has a quiet depth that I love, and you know what, when I was a teenager, I fancied him, but I thought he was out of my league. Way too good-looking for me."