So long, London.
Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn were famously private about their romance. After getting together in 2017, the couple kept their relationship strictly out of the spotlight. Even though they spent six years together, they never walked a joint red carpet... or even posted an Instagram pic. But that quiet Lover era has come to an end.
Six months after Swift released Midnights (with love songs like “Lavender Haze” and “Sweet Nothing”), reports emerged that Swift and Alwyn had ended things. On April 8, 2023, Entertainment Tonight reported that the couple’s split was “not dramatic,” and their exclusive was quickly picked up by other outlets.
The breakup came as a major shock to Swifties, especially considering how loved-up Swift had seemed while promoting the album. Explaining her song “Lavender Haze” on Instagram, Swift said she picked up the popular ’50s phrase from watching Mad Men. “If you were in the lavender haze, then that meant that you were in that all-encompassing love glow, and I thought that was really beautiful,” she explained, before clarifying that’s how she felt with Alwyn.
So, um, how could that deep love turn into a breakup in less than a year? And now that Swift has released The Tortured Poets Department, where do these two exes stand? Alwyn finally addressed the split over a year later — but he didn’t give many details besides shedding more light on the date of their breakup.
A look back on Swift and Alwyn’s extremely private relationship history gives some much-needed context to their split and their current status. Here are all the details.
Alwyn publicly discussed the split for the first time in a June interview with The Sunday Times. “I would hope that anyone and everyone can empathize and understand the difficulties that come with the end of a long, loving, fully committed relationship of over six and a half years. That is a hard thing to navigate,” he told the outlet.
Per Alwyn, news of the breakup hit the press only a week after it happened, making it difficult to deal with. (Reminder: Those rumors started April 8, 2023.) “What is unusual and abnormal in this situation is that, one week later, it's suddenly in the public domain and the outside world is able to weigh in,” he added.
Alwyn explained that the media then took their “very real experience” and “dissected, speculated on, pulled out of shape beyond recognition.” He added, “There is always going to be a gap between what is known and what is said.”
Beyond that, however, he gave no more details. “It was never something to commodify and I see no reason to change that now,” Alwyn continued. “And, look, this is also a little over a year ago now and I feel fortunate to be in a really great place in my life, professionally and personally. I feel really good.”
After Swift released Tortured Poets and dropped some clues about her and Alwyn’s breakup (specifically in “So Long, London”), sources chimed in with a reported update from the actor. “He’s dating and happy,” an insider told People on April 28. “He’s a great guy and not into drama in any way.” Per the source, Alwyn has “moved on” from his relationship with Swift.
The insider added that The Favourite actor “certainly doesn’t talk poorly about her.” (Reminder: In “Loml,” Swift sings, “You sh*t-talked me under the table talking rings and talking cradles.”) The People insider added, “He was in love with her, and it just didn’t work out.”
A source also spoke to Entertainment Tonight, clarifying that Swift and Alwyn are no longer in contact with each other. “Taylor and Joe are not in touch at this point, but they try to be respectful of one another,” the insider said.
“Joe wants to keep his personal life private,” the ET source continued. “He is more introverted and the interest about his personal life is a bit overwhelming to him. He is focused on acting and his career.”
It wasn’t the first time sources have mentioned Alwyn’s preference for a more private private life. “Joe loves acting, but can’t stand the attention that comes with it. He’s not comfortable in the spotlight,” the insider added.
After six years together, reports surfaced that Swift and Alwyn split. On April 8, a source told Entertainment Tonight that the duo had an amicable breakup a few weeks prior. “The relationship had just run its course. It’s why [Alwyn] hasn’t been spotted at any [Eras Tour] shows,” the source claimed.
Per People, Swift’s fame played a role in the reported breakup. “Joe has struggled with Taylor’s level of fame and the attention from the public,” the source claimed. “The differences in their personalities have also become harder to ignore after years together. They’ve grown apart.” Apparently, they realized they were not “the right fit” together.
Swift’s set list swaps — she traded “Invisible String,” a love song, for “The 1,” a breakup song — gave more legitimacy to the rumors, though Swift and Alwyn didn’t comment on the speculation.
During her “Midnights Mayhem” TikTok series, Swift shared her album’s track list and explained the personal meaning behind the song “Lavender Haze.”
“If the world finds out that you’re in love with somebody, they’re going to weigh in on it,” she said. “Like my relationship for six years, we’ve had to dodge weird rumors, tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it. And so this song is sort of about the act of ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff.”
During an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Alwyn addressed engagement rumors — kind of. “If I had a pound for every time I think I’ve been told I’ve been engaged, then I’d have a lot of pound coins,” he joked before adding, “I mean, the truth is, if the answer was yes, I wouldn’t say, and if the answer was no, I wouldn’t say.”
In Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, Swift revealed that Alwyn co-wrote some songs on the album, putting breakup rumors to rest. “There’s been a lot of discussion about William Bowery and his identity because it’s not a real person,” Swift said in the film. “William Bowery is Joe, as we know.”
Apparently, Alwyn had a hand in five songs, spanning Folklore and Evermore: “Exile,” “Betty,” “Champagne Problems,” “Coney Island,” and “Evermore.”
When Swift released Folklore in July 2020, the heartbreaking lyrics prompted some fans to assume a breakup was on the horizon (or had already happened). With songs like “Peace” and “The 1,” Swift was writing quite a few breakup songs — or breakup-adjacent songs.
Fortunately, Swift clarified that the stories in the album were made up. “In isolation my imagination has run wild and this album is the result, a collection of songs and stories that flowed like a stream of consciousness,” she wrote on Instagram. “Picking up a pen was my way of escaping into fantasy, history, and memory. I’ve told these stories to the best of my ability with all the love, wonder, and whimsy they deserve.”
Alwyn made a few surprise appearances in Swift’s Netflix documentary Miss Americana. In the movie, the singer explained their relationship, per Insider: “I also was falling in love with someone who had a really wonderfully normal, balanced, grounded life, and we decided together that we wanted our relationship to be private.”
In August 2018, Swift released her album Lover, featuring many songs that were presumably about Alwyn — including “Lover,” “London Boy,” and “Call It What You Want.” Though she never mentioned him by name, the songs said plenty, hinting at a really serious connection.
Alwyn and Swift rarely shared details of their romance, and the actor explained why during a September 2018 conversation with Total Film. “For me, I just don’t feel it’s something I want to offer up to be picked apart by people who don’t know about it, and it’s just not theirs to have,” he said, per People.
Swift and Alwyn never officially posted photos together on Instagram, but in May 2018, they did hint at their relationship with matching solo photos next to a cactus. Fortunately, it seemed like only the foliage was feeling prickly.
Swift and Alwyn’s relationship reportedly started in 2017, with outlets beginning to report on the new couple that May. According to People, the two had been seeing each other for a couple of months before anyone knew.
Swift and Alwyn met at the 2016 Met Gala, while she was still seeing Tom Hiddleston. In her 2017 song “Dress,” she sang about the moment. “Flashback when you met me / Your buzzcut and my hair bleached,” the lyrics read.
This article was originally published on
