After denying earlier reports that their relationship was over, Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal have confirmed their breakup. We first heard about Reese and Jake’s maybe split in People Magazine in late November. It sounded like a done deal since People is usually accurate, but their reps said they were still together. Then People ran a follow-up claiming that their relationship was on the rocks because Jake wanted to get married and “can be a little overbearing at times” while Reese was content with the way things were.

Then there were rumors that Jake and Reese were still together, and that Jake was about to formally propose over the holidays. Jake even referred to Reese as his “girlfriend” in a recent interview, and talked about how he’d “learned so much from the kids in [his] life,” further sparking engagement rumors. Alas, it looks like they’re never going to take that step. Sources are reporting to multiple outlets that Reese and Jake really did break up two weeks ago and that People’s original story was correct:

Sources confirm that the two decided to end their relationship about two weeks ago. People magazine actually reported the split back then, but reps for both stars insisted they were still very much in love.
Reps are not commenting this time around.

So what went down?…

“They needed time to figure it out and they were on different coasts,” a source says. “When they were finally together, they talked it out and decided they’re not going to be together anymore.”

One source insists it’s completely amicable. “There are no other people involved,” the source said. “The relationship just ended. It just fizzled. But they also wanted to be careful and private about it because of Reese’s kids.”

Our source also shot down recent reports claiming that Gyllenhaal was planning on popping the question. (FYI: Gyllenhaal seemed perfectly happy when we saw him just three days ago at Spike TV’s Video Game Awards in downtown L.A.)

Gyllenhaal, who will turn 29 on Saturday, and Witherspoon, 33, never talked publicly about their romance. Unless you count gushing over Jakey’s kitchen skills.

“Jake is a great cook,” the Oscar winner told InStyle magazine in October. “He does a lot. We spend the weekends outside L.A, in Ojai, where I have a farmhouse. We have chickens and we grow cucumbers and tomatoes. I love it.”

[From E! Online]

Popeater is also reporting that they’ve split and their source explains it in a matter of fact way. “The relationship was at the point where they either got engaged or broke up. There is no doubt that they love each other very much, but Reese wasn’t ready to say ‘I do.’ And if she wasn’t ready after two years of dating, Jake wondered if she ever would be.”

When did Jake call Reese his “girlfriend,” then? Was it right before they broke up or afterwards because he was holding out hope that it was a temporary split? I would assume it was before as it takes a while for interviews to go to press. I like Reese and although she’s definitely a type A personality (that’s the name of her production company after all) and a go-getter she strikes me as a decent person. There’s something about Reese that makes me root for her. She got married young and her husband cheated on her, so you can’t blame her for not wanting to marry the next guy she got in a serious relationship with.

Reese and Jake are shown at Coachella on 4/18/09. Reese is shown out alone in London on 12/3/09 and 11/30/09. Credit: WENN.com