Sex Education and The X Files star Gillian Anderson has spoken about the benefits of not living with her partner, The Crown creator Peter Morgan, saying cohabiting would “be the end” of their relationship.

Anderson made the comments in an interview with the Sunday Times, where she admitted to being part of the growing trend of living apart together (LAT). “My partner and I don’t live together. If we did, that would be the end of us. It works so well as it is – it feels so special when we do come together,” she said.

The actor added that she believes there is a “new creativity nowadays” to what a relationship should look like. She said one of the benefits is that she can now see “a pair of trousers left lying on the floor at my partner’s house and step over them and not feel it is my job to do something about it”.

Psychotherapist and broadcaster Lucy Beresford told the Guardian that LAT “allows for something called individuation”, and said that the trend was “the opposite of codependency and collapsing on your partner”.

Last week research was released claiming that couples are increasingly likely to live in separate homes, and predicted that LAT was set to become an established trend.

Beresford also discussed the potential downside of the trend, and added that living in separate homes can mean “nothing gets resolved, nothing gets processed. Millions of people make it work. But there are important skills that no one should run away from – around compromise, respect and accommodation”.

Anderson, who will play Margaret Thatcher in the fourth season of The Crown, spoke about the benefits of LAT. “There is nothing locking us in, nothing that brings up that fear of, ‘Oh gosh, I can’t leave because what will happen to the house, how will we separate?’” she said. “I start to miss the person I want to be with, which is a lovely feeling.”