Bella Thorne, boyfriend Gregg Sulkin break up

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Bella Thorne and boyfriend Gregg Sulkin have called it quits.

The 18-year-old actress and 24-year-old actor announced their split in a joint statement Monday after more than a year of dating.

"After much thought and soul-searching, we have made the difficult decision to end our relationship," the former Disney Channel stars told People magazine.

"We will always love each other and have a deep respect for one another, as we have each grown to be better people because of our time together. Our schedules made seeing each other difficult, and we decided that for now this would be best," the pair explained.

Thorne later tweeted that "things just didn't end up working the way we had hoped." She and Sulkin are longtime friends who started dating in summer 2015 and bought a house together this spring.

"Getting to know Gregg has been great. I've known him for six years. Our families are close," Thorne told Teen Vogue in June 2015. "It's been great so far. We're just hanging out, having fun, and getting to know each other."

"It's hard because in this business, every boy my age wants to go out all the time party! I'm much more of a homebody and so is Gregg," she revealed. "He just wants to stay in and watch Netflix."

Thorne starred on the Disney Channel series Shake It Up and is slated for the new Freeform drama Famous in Love. Sulkin, meanwhile, is known for Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place and MTV's Faking It.