Earlier than Taylor Swift was swept up in a globe-trotting romance with Travis Kelce, she was in a long-term relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn.
The pair reportedly met on the 2016 Met Gala, and went on to keep up a non-public romance for six years. Amid their relationship, they confronted many rumors and have become musical collaborators, earlier than, as ET solely reported, they formally referred to as it quits within the spring of 2023.
Whereas a supply instructed ET that the breakup was “not dramatic” and “the connection had simply run its course,” the information was a shock to the couple’s followers.
Now, with the discharge of the singer’s new album, The Tortured Poets Division, ET is having a look again at Swift and Alwyn’s full relationship timeline.
Could 2016
Although nobody knew it on the time, it is possible that Swift and Alwyn met on the 2016 Met Gala. The singer was in a relationship with Tom Hiddleston when she stepped out for the occasion, however it might have additionally marked the primary time she met Alwyn.
Followers speculated on that reality when Swift launched her 2017 tune, “Costume.” The observe contains the traces “Flashback whenever you met me / Your buzzcut and my hair bleached.” The lyrics completely describe the previous couple’s appears to be like on the Met Gala.
October 2016
Swift and Hiddleston referred to as it quits in September, and the singer moved on with Alwyn the subsequent month. That reality was solely revealed years later, in August 2019, when Swift launched her Lover diaries. In a single entry from January 2017, Swift displays on her then-publicly unknown relationship with Alwyn, whom she had been courting for 3 months.
“I am primarily based mostly in London hiding out making an attempt to guard us from the nasty world that simply needs to wreck issues,” Swift wrote with regard to her British beau. “We’ve been collectively and nobody has discovered for 3 months now. I would like it to remain that approach as a result of I do not need something about this to alter or turn out to be sophisticated or intruded upon. However it’s serveless to fret about sometime not being joyful when I’m joyful now.”
Could 2017
One yr after their rumored first assembly, Swift and Alwyn have been publicly linked within the press for the primary time, with The Solar reporting their relationship.
June 2017
The month after Swift and Alwyn have been first linked, they have been photographed collectively for the primary time. The duo was caught boarding a non-public airplane collectively. Later, photographers captured the pair having fun with a cup of espresso in Nashville.
November 2017
Followers acquired their first actual perception into Swift and Alwyn’s relationship on Nov. 10 when the singer launched her sixth studio album, Repute.
One lyric on the album referenced Alwyn’s “ocean blue eyes,” whereas traces together with “My status’s by no means been worse / So it’s essential to like me for me,” “All eyes on us / You make everybody disappear,” and “I need to put on his preliminary on a series round my neck / Not as a result of he owns me, however as a result of he actually is aware of me” appeared to trace at their relationship.
December 2017
The duo spent the final month of 2017 displaying some PDA. They held fingers in New York Metropolis, earlier than dancing the evening away at a live performance.
March 2018
The identical month that the couple was noticed holding fingers throughout a hike, Swift acquired followers speaking with two Alwyn-themed Easter eggs in her music video for “Delicate.” Within the video, Swift wears a J-initial necklace and Alwyn’s first identify is seen in an indication within the background.
July 2018
Swift opted to forego her typical Fourth of July get together in favor of vacationing together with her beau in Turks and Caicos. The pair swam within the ocean and walked hand-in-hand on the seashore throughout their getaway.
August 2018
Alwyn acquired followers speaking when he made his Instagram account public. After the transfer, followers found a publish from the actor that carefully mirrored an image Swift had beforehand shared.
Later in 2018, Alwyn opened up in regards to the shock fascination into that publish, telling British GQ, “I did not even consider that till I used to be in New York and another person talked about it. It wasn’t purposeful in any respect!”
The couple continued the month with a London date evening, earlier than Swift shared what impressed Repute throughout a fan occasion.
“[I] suppose there was a little bit of a bait-and-switch that occurred together with his album after we put out ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ and we’re like, ‘Guys, this album is gonna be one factor.’ And when the album got here out, it is legitimately an album about discovering love all through all of the noise,” she stated. “And so it begins with the noise and the way that makes all you are feeling, and the way it makes you are feeling when persons are saying issues about you that you just really feel aren’t true and residing your life kind of in defiance of that, in defiance of your status.”
September 2018
In an interview with British Vogue, Alwyn provided a few of his first feedback about his relationship with Swift.
“I am conscious individuals need to learn about that aspect of issues,” he stated. “I feel we now have been efficiently very personal and that has now sunk in for individuals… however I actually choose to speak about work.”
Alwyn’s interview got here the identical month that Swift publicly supported the actor by attending the premiere of his film, The Favorite. She continued the love two months later by posting in regards to the movie on Instagram.
October 2018
As Swift acquired political for the primary time in her profession, Alwyn expressed his assist for his girlfriend. “I feel it is nice. I feel it is necessary,” he instructed reporters.
Years later, Swift credited Alwyn with giving her the braveness to get political.
“I discovered myself speaking about authorities and the presidency and coverage with my boyfriend [Alwyn], who supported me in talking out,” she instructed Self-importance Honest in February 2021. “I began speaking to my household and buddies about politics and studying as a lot as I may about the place I stand. I am proud to have moved previous concern and self-doubt, and to endorse and assist management that strikes us past this divisive, heartbreaking second in time.”
January 2019
The month after the couple made headlines for stepping out with Alwyn’s household, they have been as soon as once more within the highlight when the Golden Globes rolled round.
When ET spoke with Alwyn forward of the ceremony, he weighed in on the potential for an onscreen collaboration with Swift. “It isn’t deliberate for the time being, however who is aware of?” he stated.
Later that evening, the couple was noticed displaying PDA at an after-party.
Shortly thereafter, Alwyn instructed Mr. Porter why he did not think about himself to be “unusually personal” about his relationship with Swift.
“I do not suppose greater than anybody else,” he stated. “I do not suppose anybody you meet on the streets would simply spill their guts out to you, due to this fact why ought to I? After which that’s outlined as being ‘unusually personal.’ High quality. However I do not suppose it’s. I feel it is regular.”
February 2019
The awards season sightings continued into February, when Swift attended a BAFTAs after-party with Alwyn. The couple stepped out once more after the Oscars, attending Self-importance Honest‘s annual bash collectively.
August 2019
After the couple launched into a PDA hike and continued to refuse to get private within the press, Swift and Alwyn made headlines for his or her double date with Robert Pattinson and Suki Waterhouse.
It was shortly thereafter that followers started speculating that Swift and Alwyn may very well be engaged. The rumors have been all tied to lyrics from Swift’s seventh studio album, Lover.
Strains from the album hinted that the couple was residing collectively, referenced Alwyn’s dimples, and gushed over the couple’s relationship. Although Swift was more than pleased to musically check with her beau, she continued to say no to discuss him within the press.
“I’ve discovered that if I [talk about my relationship], individuals suppose it’s up for dialogue, and our relationship isn’t up for dialogue,” she instructed The Guardian. “In the event you and I have been having a glass of wine proper now, we’d be speaking about it — but it surely’s simply that it goes out into the world. That is the place the boundary is, and that is the place my life has turn out to be manageable. I actually need to preserve it feeling manageable.”
December 2019
After the couple was noticed hand-in-hand on two events, Alwyn revealed what it is wish to have songs written about him.
“It is flattering,” he instructed The Sunday Instances of his girlfriend’s musical odes, earlier than revealing that “99.9 %” of what’s within the press about his relationship “is fake.”
“I simply do not take note of what I do not need to take note of,” he stated. “I flip every little thing else down on a dial. I haven’t got any curiosity in tabloids. I do know what I need to do, and that is this, and that is what I’m doing.”
January 2020
The couple had their most public date evening but when they attended the Golden Globes collectively. The identical month, Swift’s documentary, Miss Americana, was launched.
Within the movie, Swift gave uncommon perception into her romance. She shared that, firstly of their relationship, she was “falling in love with somebody who had a extremely splendidly regular, balanced, grounded life,” and stated that “we determined collectively that we needed our relationship to be personal.”
“It was happiness with out anybody else’s enter,” she added. “We have been joyful.”
July 2020
Amid quarantine as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, Swift launched her eighth studio album, Folklore. Shortly thereafter, followers turned satisfied that Alwyn penned two of the album’s tracks. That concept was proved right months later when Swift herself confirmed it in her live performance movie, Folklore: The Lengthy Pond Studio Periods.
“There’s been lots of dialogue about William Bowery and his id. He isn’t an actual particular person,” Swift stated within the movie. “… William Bowery is Joe, as we all know. And Joe, Joe performs piano superbly, and he is all the time simply enjoying and making issues up and sort of creating issues.”
The couple first teamed up for “Betty,” a tune for which, Swift revealed, Alwyn wrote the refrain.
“I simply heard Joe singing the complete, totally fashioned refrain of ‘Betty’ from one other room. And I simply was like, ‘Hi there,'” Swift recalled. “It was a step that we’d by no means have taken as a result of why would we now have ever written a tune collectively? This was the primary time we had a dialog the place I got here in and I used to be like, ‘Hey, this may very well be actually bizarre and we may hate this, so may we simply, as a result of we’re in quarantine and there is nothing else occurring, may we simply attempt to see what it is like if we write this tune collectively?'”
The partnership labored out effectively, with Alwyn inspiring the concept to inform the story of ‘Betty’ from a male perspective.
“He was singing the refrain of it and I assumed it sounded actually good from a person’s voice, from a masculine perspective,” Swift stated. “I actually favored that it appeared to be an apology… We determined to make it from a teenage boy’s perspective, apologizing after he loses the love of his life as a result of he is been silly.”
Subsequent, Alwyn contributed to Swift’s collaboration with Bon Iver on the tune “Exile.”
“‘Exile’ was loopy as a result of Joe had written that total piano half and he was singing the Bon Iver half… He was simply singing it. And so, I used to be entranced and I requested if we may preserve writing that one,” she stated. “It was fairly apparent that it ought to be a duet, ‘trigger he is acquired such a low voice and it sounded actually good sung down there in that register.”
Alwyn, who later received a GRAMMY for his contributions to the album, opened up about his pen identify throughout a 2021 look on The Kelly Clarkson Present.
“We selected to do it so the individuals, at first, would take heed to the music first earlier than dissecting the truth that we did it collectively,” he defined. “We did it underneath the identify William Bowery, very fancy. It seems like a sort of Agatha Christie character that ought to be sporting a monocle with an enormous mustache.”
“It was a mix of William, my great-grandfather — who I truly by no means met — [who] was a composer,” he added. “He wrote lots of classical music and he wrote lots of movie scores. After which Bowery is the realm in New York that I spent lots of time in after I first went over there. So, stick ’em collectively.”
November 2020
Swift gave a uncommon touch upon her relationship whereas talking to Paul McCartney for Rolling Stone. Within the cowl story, Swift opened up about her Folklore observe, “Peace.”
“‘Peace’ is definitely extra rooted in my private life. I do know you’ve performed a extremely wonderful job of this in your private life: carving out a human life inside a public life, and the way scary that may be whenever you do fall in love and also you meet somebody, particularly in case you’ve met somebody who has a really grounded, regular way of life,” she stated. “I, oftentimes, in my anxieties, can management how I’m as an individual and the way regular I act and rationalize issues, however I can’t management if there are 20 photographers outdoors within the bushes and what they do and in the event that they comply with our automobile and in the event that they interrupt our lives. I am unable to management if there’s going to be a faux bizarre headline about us within the information tomorrow.”
The British music icon then requested Swift if her associate can “sympathize with that and perceive.”
“Oh, completely,” she replied, earlier than including, “I feel that in realizing him and being within the relationship I’m in now, I’ve undoubtedly made selections which have made my life really feel extra like an actual life and fewer like only a storyline to be commented on in tabloids.”
December 2020
Amid information of Swift’s mother’s well being battle, a supply instructed ET that Alwyn had been a “nice assist system” for the singer by way of all of it.
“[Taylor] has been having a troublesome time together with her mother’s well being, however her mother is getting remedy and she or he and her household have been making an attempt to remain optimistic,” the supply stated. “She has been specializing in her music and spending lots of time with Joe. Taylor needed to take a while to herself and her household this yr, so in that regard, the quarantine and break has been constructive for her.”
“Joe has supplied such an excellent assist system for Taylor. He’s the one fixed in her life that she will be able to actually depend on,” the supply added. “Joe has helped Taylor together with her music, inspiring it. She is so grateful for him and in love with him. He’s her cheerleader and rock. They’ve spoken about their future collectively and so they love celebrating the vacations collectively and are wanting ahead to that.”
The identical month, Swift launched Evermore, her shock ninth album, on which Alwyn as soon as once more contributed. Shortly thereafter, Swift instructed Apple Music about how she and Alwyn bonded over unhappy songs.
“Joe and I actually love unhappy songs. We have all the time bonded over music,” Swift stated. “We write the saddest [songs]. We simply actually love unhappy songs. What can I say?… It was a shock that we began writing collectively. However in a approach, it wasn’t as a result of we now have all the time bonded over music and had the identical musical tastes. He is all the time the one that’s exhibiting me songs by artists after which they turn out to be my favourite songs.”
January 2021
The identical month that Swift and Alwyn have been noticed hand-in-hand, a supply gave ET an replace on their relationship.
“Taylor has gotten increasingly more snug being public with Joe and letting followers in on their romance in a approach that she feels continues to be defending it,” the supply stated. “She loves Joe a lot and, after all, will not be making an attempt to cover their relationship, however she prefers to maintain particular particulars personal.”
“Taylor and Joe are in it for the lengthy haul and completely see a future with one another,” the supply added. “They do not want outdoors reward or consideration and are so fulfilled simply being with one another and rising collectively as a pair.”
March 2021
When Swift received the Album of the Yr GRAMMY for Folklore, she gave Alwyn a shout-out throughout her acceptance speech, noting that he is “the primary person who I play each single tune that I write.”
“I had the very best time writing songs with you in quarantine,” she added.
After the candy second, a supply instructed ET that the couple is “very joyful collectively,” including, “Taylor is so appreciative to have Joe in her life.”
Could 2021
When Swift received the International Icon Award on the BRIT Awards, she gave Alwyn one other shout-out.
“Thanks, Aaron Dessner, Jack Antonoff, Joe,” she stated with a smile, after additionally thanking her family and friends, the NHS and her British followers. “If there’s one factor I’ve discovered, it’s a must to go searching you day by day and be aware of the individuals who have all the time believed in you.”
Shortly thereafter, a supply instructed ET that Swift and Alwyn have “mentioned future plans and Taylor can see herself marrying Joe sooner or later.”
“They grew nearer than ever through the quarantine and she or he actually trusts him,” the supply stated. “They have been persevering with to be fairly low-key about their relationship to the skin world to proceed to guard it.”
February 2022
Whereas selling his present, Conversations With Pals, Alwyn categorized his relationship as a “joyful” and “monogamous” one.
“They have been having fun with their time as a pair. They’ve spoken about their future collectively and really feel very safe about their relationship,” a supply later instructed ET. “They’re supportive of one another’s careers and of one another normally. Each of them have been busy with work and so they utterly perceive find out how to stability hectic schedules and nonetheless find time for one another. It is a part of why their relationship actually works.”
April 2022
The month after the couple had a public date evening, Alwyn opened up about his songwriting future.
“It isn’t a plan of mine, no,” Alwyn instructed Elle of continuous to jot down songs.
In a dialog with WSJ. Journal later that month, Alwyn addressed long-running engagement rumors that had surrounded him and Swift.
“If I had a pound for each time I feel I have been instructed I have been engaged, then I would have lots of pound cash,” he quipped. “I imply, the reality is, if the reply was sure, I would not say, and if the reply was no, I would not say.”
He additionally mirrored on the general public’s fascination in his relationship, stating, “We reside in a tradition that individuals count on a lot to be given. In order that in case you’re not posting on a regular basis about what you’re doing, the way you’re spending a day or the way you made a breakfast, does that make you a recluse? I would additionally wish to really feel barely much less guarded generally in interviews or in no matter sort of interactions, but it surely’s only a knee- jerk response to the tradition we reside in.”
October 2022
With a brand new album got here new details about Swift and Alwyn’s relationship. The singer revealed that Alwyn impressed “Lavender Haze,” a observe off of her tenth studio album, Midnights.
“I occurred on the phrase ‘lavender haze’ after I was watching Mad Males, and I regarded it up as a result of I assumed it sounded cool, and it seems that it is a frequent phrase used within the ’50s the place they might simply describe being in love,” she stated. “In the event you have been within the lavender haze that meant you have been in that all-encompassing love glow. I assumed that was actually lovely.”
“I suppose, theoretically, whenever you’re within the lavender haze you may do something to remain there and never let individuals carry you down off of that cloud. I feel lots of people must cope with this now, not simply ‘public figures,’ as a result of we reside within the period of social media, and if the world finds out that you just’re in love with any person they will weigh in on it,” Swift added. “Like my relationship for six years, we have needed to dodge bizarre rumors, tabloid stuff and we simply ignore it. This tune is kind of in regards to the act of ignoring that stuff to guard the true stuff.”
Alwyn, who as soon as once more co-wrote on Midnights, was additionally the inspiration for a number of songs on the album.
“Taylor loves the truth that Joe unconditionally helps her” and that “they’re there for one another by way of every little thing and really feel so happy with one another,” a supply instructed ET. “They admire their time collectively, but additionally like that they’ll each do their very own issues, each of their skilled careers or private lives.”
April 2023
Months after lovey-dovey nods to Alwyn in Swift’s “Lavender Haze” music video, ET solely reported that the couple had referred to as it quits weeks prior.
ET additionally discovered that the break up was amicable and “it was not dramatic.” ET was instructed “the connection had simply run its course. It is why [Alwyn] hasn’t been noticed” at Swift’s Eras Tour.
Shortly thereafter, a supply instructed ET, “Taylor and Joe are in completely completely different locations of their lives proper now.”
“It was extra of Taylor’s resolution to interrupt up, however each of them realized that they weren’t utterly proper for each other,” the supply stated. “That they had been collectively for such a very long time and have been spending a lot time collectively, however their personalities have been simply too completely different. Joe is extra introverted, shy and quiet.”
“She’s very targeted on touring and her profession proper now,” the supply added. “Taylor has nothing however respect for Joe and actually beloved and loved on a regular basis and reminiscences she shared with him. That they had a deep connection and she or he actually appreciated that. She hopes they are often pleasant sooner or later.”
Could 2023
Within the wake of their break up, Swift was briefly linked to Matt Healy, however the pair referred to as it quits by June. Alwyn additionally acquired on together with his life, making his first public look because the breakup at a dinner amid the Cannes Movie Pageant.
The identical month, followers acquired extra perception into Swift’s break up with Alwyn when she launched “You are Dropping Me.”
Within the observe, Swift led followers to consider she grew aside from the British actor by singing, “Do I throw out every little thing we constructed or preserve it? / I am getting drained even for a phoenix / All the time risin’ from the ashes / Mendin’ all her gashes / You may simply have dealt the ultimate blow.”
Followers additionally gleaned that maybe marriage was a degree of rivalry within the relationship, as Swift sang, “I am the very best factor at this get together / And I would not marry me both / A pathological individuals pleaser / Who solely needed you to see her.”
November 2023
Amid Swift’s newfound romance with Travis Kelce, her longtime collaborator, Jack Antonoff, put some consideration again on her relationship with Alwyn.
In a publish about “You are Dropping Me,” Antonoff appeared to recommend that Swift and Alwyn had relationship troubles lengthy earlier than their 2023 break up. The hypothesis got here after Antonoff revealed that the tune was recorded in December 2021, greater than a yr earlier than their breakup turned public.
February 2024
When Swift introduced that her eleventh studio album can be titled The Tortured Poets Division, she despatched followers right into a frenzy with theories that the identify referenced her romance with Alwyn.
The speculation was based mostly on a 2022 interview Alwyn gave Selection wherein he revealed that he was in a gaggle chat with Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott referred to as “The Tortured Man Membership.”
April 2024
When The Tortured Poets Division arrived on April 19, Swifties may hardly wait to listen to the album’s fifth observe, “So Lengthy, London.” Its place on the tracklist is significant, as Swift has traditionally reserved a few of her strongest songs for the observe 5 slot together with “You are On Your Personal, Child” from Midnights and maybe her most iconic breakup observe thus far, Crimson‘s “All Too Nicely.”
“And also you say I deserted the ship, however I used to be happening with it / My white knuckle dying grip holding tight to your quiet resentment / And my buddies stated it is not proper to be scared / Day by day-old love affair, each breath appears like rarest air / If you’re unsure if he needs to be there,” she sings on “So Lengthy, London.”
“So how a lot unhappy did you suppose I had, did you suppose I had in me? / How a lot tragedy? / Simply how low did you suppose I would go ‘fore I would self implode? / ‘Fore I would must go be free?,” she continues. “You swore that you just beloved me however the place have been the clues? / I died on the altar ready for the proof / You sacrificed us to the gods of your bluest days / And I am simply getting colour again into my face.”
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