Jessica Biel on Timberlake split, wedding plans

Jessica Biel split from her fiance Justin Timberlake last year because they needed some time apart before deciding to spend the rest of their lives together.

The relationship came to an end in March last year but the stars continued to spend time together and the romance was back on by June.

They became engaged over Christmas and Biel has now revealed why they briefly split, insisting the time apart strengthened their relationship.

She tells Britain's Hello! magazine, "I needed to be alone for a while. I think that when you take the time to stand by yourself as an independent person, and you find out that you actually are capable of moving forward alone and being fine on your own, then it is a very empowering feeling to have.

"It gives you a lot of strength, a lot of confidence, too, because it means you know that... any decision you make is an educated one, not just an emotional one. So you make your own choice about whether to step back into a relationship or whether to go in a different direction."

The couple will marry in a "small and intimate" wedding as the actress has decided against hosting a "great big to-do".

Biel has revealed they won't be having a big, lavish wedding - and they will probably keep the nuptials secret.

She tells Hello!, "I do know that it's not going to be a great big to-do. This will be a very private moment for us, so we're going to keep it small and intimate."

The A-Team star also admits she would like to emulate British actress Emily Blunt, who married The Office star John Krasinski at a small ceremony in Italy in 2010.

She adds, "The people I'd most like us to be like are Emily Blunt and John Krasinski - it seemed like one day they were engaged and the next day they were married and nobody had known anything about it. And I did at the time think, 'Aha! That's the way to do it.'"

WENN.com