April 12 (UPI) -- Orlando Bloom was "feeling free" when he was famously spotted paddleboarding nude in 2016.
The 40-year-old English actor said in the May issue of Elle U.K. that he was shocked after paparazzi photographed him naked in Sardinia with then-girlfriend Katy Perry.
"It was extremely surprising," he said of fan hysteria over the incident. "I wouldn't have put myself in that position if I'd thought it would happen."
Bloom sent social media into a frenzy in August after he was spotted in the nude during a paddleboard ride with Perry. The actor said he was comfortable enough to go naked because there had been no paparazzi in sight.
"I've been photographed a million times in a million ways. I have a good radar," he explained. "We'd been completely alone for five days. Nothing around us. There was no way anyone could get anything. So I had a moment of feeling free."
Bloom's ex-wife, Miranda Kerr, joked about the incident on The Kyle and Jackie O Show a few weeks after the photos surfaced. She said the actor sheepishly warned her the pictures were about to go public.
"He texted me and was like, 'Um, I'm really embarrassed, some photos are coming out, just thought I should let you know,'" the model recounted. "And I was like, 'Hmm... right. What were you thinking? Seriously?'"
Bloom and Kerr, who share 6-year-old son Flynn, split in 2013 after three years of marriage. The actor and Perry, a singer known for "Chained to the Rhythm," called it quits in February after a year of dating.
"We're friends," Bloom told Elle U.K. without mentioning Perry by name. "It's good. We're all grown-up ... It's between us. It's better to set an example for kids and show that [breakups] don't have to be about hate."
