Taylor Swift is one of the most successful recording artists of all time…and she's
been keeping her relationship with boyfriend Joe Alwyn remarkably private.
We don't know a whole lot, but the details that have come out about their relationship
are admittedly a bit odd.
Taylor's famous exes
A lot of internet ink has been spilled over Taylor Swift's alleged and confirmed boyfriends
before she dated English actor Joe Alwyn.
Let's separate some fact from fiction.
Did she really date actor Eddie Redmayne?
As he said on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen:
"I absolutely can put the rumors to rest.
I never went out on a date with Taylor Swift."
So that's that.
But what about musical artist Calvin Harris?
According to Cosmopolitan UK, he most certainly did date Taylor Swift.
In fact, many people believe Swift uses her league of famous exes as inspiration for some
of her most popular songs.
According to People, the song "Forever and Always" from Swift's album Fearless is about
her ex, Joe Jonas.
Meanwhile, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," Swift's first Billboard #1 single,
is almost definitely a song about her ex Jake Gyllenhaal, at least if Rolling Stone can
be believed.
That's rough.
Meanwhile, several songs on her seventh album, Lover, are likely inspired by her relationship
to Alwyn.
Songs like "London Boy" or "Paper Rings" even have some fans spreading engagement rumors,
thanks to lyrics like:
"I like shiny things, but I'd marry you with paper rings"
Time will tell!
News that Taylor Swift was dating actor Joe Alwyn seemed to come from out of nowhere.
Up to that point, the British actor was relatively unknown... but the lack of news coverage about
the couple was still rather surprising.
The two celebrities seem to be doing everything they can to shield their personal lives from
the public eye.
Joe Alwyn got his big break as an actor in 2016 playing the lead character in Ang Lee's
Billy Lynn's Halftime Walk.
This was 10 years after Taylor Swift's self-titled debut album, so there isn't a lot of natural
fanbase crossover between the two.
In an interview with Mr. Porter, Alwyn explained that he's a very private person and still
doesn't consider himself famous, even after pairing up with Swift.
He seems to be quite adept at not answering questions about their relationship.
As he says in the interview,
"I don’t think anyone you meet on the streets would just spill their guts out to you, therefore
why should I?
And then that is defined as being ‘strangely private’.
Fine.
But I don’t think it is.
I think it’s normal."
According to an interview with Vogue UK, tabloids refer to Joe Alwyn as "Taylor Bae", but he
still remains silent on any hints about his girlfriend.
He understands why the public is interested in details, but he isn't letting that sway
him.
As he puts it:
"I think we have been successfully very private, and that has now sunk in for people."
Consider us still unsatisfied - we want more juicy details!
But he's just not spilling, is he?
"Would there ever be a chance that, Taylor's done some acting too."
"Say again?"
"Taylor's done some acting too.
Any chance you guys would ever do anything together?"
"It's not planned at the moment but who knows?"
Taylor Swift is well aware that the media wants to know about her relationships, but
she doesn't like it when details about her romantic life become national headlines.
As Swift told Rolling Stone,
"I don’t like it when headlines read ‘Careful, Bro, She’ll Write a Song About You,’ because
it trivializes my work.
And most of all, I don’t like how all these factors add up to build the pressure so high
in a new relationship that it gets snuffed out before it even has a chance to start."
To that end, Swift has kept her relationship with Joe Alwyn completely low-key.
Much like her boyfriend, Swift is an expert when it comes to deflecting any direct questions
about their relationship.
As she pointedly told The Guardian:
"Our relationship isn't up for discussion.
If you and I were having a glass of wine right now, we’d be talking about it – but it’s
just that it goes out into the world.
That’s where the boundary is, and that’s where my life has become manageable.
I really want to keep it feeling manageable."
And that's that.
Of course, Swift has plenty of reasons to want to keep her private life private.
"Since all my addresses are on the Internet, people tend to show up uninvited.
Like, you know, dudes that think we have an imaginary marriage."
Never has a picture of a plant caused such a commotion online.
In 2018, Taylor Swift posted an Instagram photo that featured her standing next to a
gigantic cactus in the desert - the shot taken by an unspecified photographer.
"There is a picture everyone has been talking about.
Taylor, out and about, in the valley, but…where is this EXACT cactus?!"
One day later, this already-delicious story had a gasp-worthy new chapter: Joe Alwyn posted
a photo on his Instagram page standing solo next to what else, a cactus.
Coincidence?
Sure, there's more than one cactus in the world, but this was the same cactus Taylor
Swift had been standing next to, even taken from roughly the same position.
The mind reels.
Naturally, fans went collectively nuts and considered these posts proof of a happy relationship...or
at least, proof that they took a vacation together.
When GQ UK asked Alwyn if the dual Instagram photos were intended to send a message, he
claimed he didn't even see the significance.
He said upon returning to New York from the desert, someone pointed out the scenario to
which Alwyn clarified,
"No, no!
It wasn't purposeful at all!"
Alwyn likely found out the hard way that nothing gets past The Swifties.
But where is that exact cactus?
Tell us now or we'll scream.
Taylor Swift's fans are known for deciphering her lyrics and coming up with theories about
her relationships.
The singer knows this all too well.
Discussing what happens whenever she releases a new song, Swift told Rolling Stone:
"I know people are going to obsess over who it’s about, because they think they have
all my relationships mapped out."
This is certainly true when it comes to her relationship with Joe Alwyn.
Since she rarely says anything on the record about him, fans are left to form their own
theories.
Hey, it beats minding your own business.
As Elle reports, one Tumblr user posted an incredibly detailed explanation as to why
Swift's song "...Ready For It?" was likely about her relationship with Alwyn, methodically
breaking down the lyrics for our pleasure.
Then...Swift's Tumblr account actually liked the post!
In fact, a handful of other posts broke down the lyrics - and they were also "liked" by
the singer's Tumblr account.
Of course, this proves nothing - but it certainly fans the flames and flames the fans.
We'll take it.
With several major events on most celebrities' social calendars, it was only a matter of
time until Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn were both invited to the same party as a couple.
At the 2019 Golden Globes award show, Alwyn showed up on the red carpet solo in support
of his movie The Favourite.
Taylor Swift also showed up on the red carpet...but not in person.
The singer surprised Elisabeth Moss with a video message in which she told Moss how much
she loves her show The Handmaid's Tale.
"Hey it's Taylor.
I just wanted to do this video as a shout-out to Elisabeth, and thank you so much for saying
in an interview that you listen to my music."
During the ceremony, Taylor Swift then made a surprise appearance as a category presenter
alongside her Cats co-star Idris Elba.
Joe Alwyn was in the audience, but it's unclear if he knew Taylor Swift was going to end up
on stage.
"It's been a good year.
It's been nice and busy.
Just trying to be a part of things that people want to see."
According to E! News, the couple was spotted together at several of the Golden Globe afterparties,
Maybe these two will eventually give the world some cute couple photos…but it's safe to
say we aren't getting any until they're ready for it!
In early 2019, roughly two years after the public learned of the relationship between
Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn, rumors swirled that the couple was nearly engaged, according
to Us Weekly.
A source told the magazine:
"Taylor’s friends are all talking about a proposal and how she really wants to marry
Joe.
He’s her dream guy."
Another source told US Weekly:
"Taylor really believes Joe is the one for her.
She wants to get engaged to him."
Shortly before releasing her seventh album, Lover, Swift posted a little rhyme to Twitter:
"My heart’s been borrowed and yours has been blue.
All's well that ends well, to end up with you."
Of course, fans went absolutely crazy, making connections to wedding superstitions about
borrowed things and blue things respectively.
The rhyme turned out to be a lyrical segment from the album's title track, "Lover."
"You better believe those lyrics got people talking fast."
This song also contains the lyrics:
"I've loved you three summers honey / And I want them all"
Meanwhile, the bridge to the song contains the lyrics:
"I take this magnetic force of a man to be my lover"
These words are obviously going heavy on the wedding imagery, leading fans to suspect that
Swift and Alwyn's nuptials are coming soon.
In fact, some people are speculating that these two super-private people are already
married.
Honestly, who knows?
As we've seen, Taylor Swift's fans work overtime trying to unearth all the pertinent details
about her relationships - and her romance with Joe Alwyn is absolutely no exception.
As PopSugar reports, Swift released a cover of the song "September" by Earth, Wind, & Fire
in April 2019, making just the slightest lyrical tweak.
The original song lyric is:
"Do you remember the 21st night of September?"
But Swift's version changes the date to the twenty-eighth of September.
It's worth noting that Swift released personal diary entries as part of the promotion for
the album Lover…and in one January 2017 entry, she writes that she and Alwyn had been
together for three months at that point.
If you do the math, this seems to suggest that the "28th of September" could indeed
be the exact date their relationship began.
As an aside, we feel we should point out that the co-writer of "September" didn't appreciate
Swift's cover at all - whether or not it alludes to her relationship to Alwyn:
"Yes, I felt it was as lethargic as a drunk turtle dozing under a sunflower after ingesting
a bottle of Valium and I thought it had all the build of a one-story motel."
Since Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn are each very secretive about their relationship, there
aren't too many definitive details available to the public.
Fans must use whatever scant info has surfaced to try and crack the case of this mysterious
couple.
One seemingly simple question is still unanswered: Where did these two first meet?
There are two main theories.
The first is that the pair bumped into each other at the Met Gala - the exclusive yearly
fashion fundraiser.
Fans of this theory are reading into the lyrics for her song "Dress" and pointing to the fact
that both Swift and Alwyn attended the 2016 gala, according to Cosmopolitan UK.
People are particularly interested in the lyrics
"Flashback to when you met me/Your buzz cut/And my hair bleached"
These seem to reference the platinum blonde hair that she debuted while co-hosting the
gala.
The second theory is that the two actually met at a secret Kings of Leon concert.
"The 26-year-old singer stepped out Wednesday in NYC with her gal pals Martha Hunt, Cara
Delevingne, and Lorde."
As Bustle reports, eagle-eyed fans impressively used video footage to place Swift and Alwyn
at the same New York City bar - Lovers of Today - at the same time.
Neither of the two has ever commented on these theories, so you'll have to pick your favorite.
What would you do to hide a romantic relationship?
What if you were one of the world's biggest pop stars?
In May 2017, The Sun first reported that Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn had already been dating
for months at the time the article was published.
Swift's boyfriends and relationships are usually heavily documented, so this news was rather
surprising.
The hoops they leapt through to keep the relationship under wraps are actually quite impressive.
A source told the magazine that Swift had been renting a home in London to spend more
time with Alwyn.
She was reportedly flying into London on private jets and using extreme security measures to
keep the relationship a secret.
The source claims:
"Her security has made it a military-like mission to prevent her from being seen.
She's been walking around with Joe in London using disguises, like scarves and hats, to
keep her identity under wraps.
Nobody has a clue they've been walking past a music superstar - not even her new neighbors."
If the theories are true that the pair started dating in September 2016, this means that
all these precautions earned Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn about eight months of secrecy.
We're sure we'll find out more and more about this fascinating couple as their relationship
evolves.
Maybe.
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