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It’s a love story. Taylor Swift’s boyfriends and current and past relationships have been hot topics of conversation for almost a decade.
Since the release of her debut single, “Tim McGraw,” in 2006, Swift has made love songs her bread and butter. With 10 Grammys, nine studio albums and seven number-one hits, there’s no doubt Swift is the queen of songwriting, especially when it comes to heartbreak ballads. “I can’t deal with someone wanting to take a relationship backward or needing space or cheating on you. It’s a conscious thing: it’s a common-sense thing…I just don’t ever want to end up in a relationship that isn’t fair ever again,” she told Cosmopolitan in 2012. She continued about what she looks for in a partner. “I need that unexplainable spark…I just need to see someone and feel, oh no, uh-oh. It’s only happened a few times in my life, but I feel like if I was gonna be with someone forever, it would be because I saw them and I thought, oh no,” she said at the time.
Though Swift bares her soul in her music, she’s been famously private about her real-life relationships. Ahead is what we know about Taylor Swift’s ex-boyfriends, including Joe Alwyn and Harry Styles, and who else in Hollywood has inspired her music.
Who is Taylor Swift dating now? Look back at her ex-boyfriends, from Joe Alwyn to Harry Styles.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce were first linked in September 2023 after The Messenger reported that the two were “hanging out” two months after the Kansas City Chiefs linebacker tried to give the singer his phone number. “Taylor and Travis have been quietly hanging out,” a source told the site at the time. “She saw him when she was in NYC a few weeks ago.”
During an episode of the podcast “New Heighs” in July 2023, Travis revealed that he tried to give Taylor a friendship bracelet with the digits of his phone number before her concert for her Eras Tour at the Arrowhead Stadium, in Kansas City, Kansas. “I was disappointed that she doesn’t talk before or after her shows because she has to save her voice for the 44 songs that she sings, so I was a little butthurt I didn’t get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her,” Kelce said on the podcast.
Kelce’s brother, Jason Kelce added, “She doesn’t meet anybody — or at least she didn’t want to meet me, so I took it personal, but it was an unbelievable show.” News of Taylor and Travis “hanging out” also came after e suffered a hyperextended knee injury in September 2023 and had to miss the Chiefs’ Week One game. “People actually don’t know how big of a bullet they missed on Travis Kelce,” NFL correspondent Jay Glazer said of Travis’ injury on FOX NFL at the time. “When it first happened, they actually thought there was a tibial plateau fracture, which is a fracture of the leg which would’ve put him out for the year. Instead, he just had a really deep bone bruise. They had to pull out 45 cc of blood.”
On May 3, 2023, sources told The Sun that Taylor Swift is reportedly dating The 1975 frontman, Matty Healy. A source told the UK gossip site, that the two “are madly in love.” “It’s super-early days, but it feels right. They first dated, very briefly, almost ten years ago but timings just didn’t work out,” the source said. “Taylor and Joe actually split up back in February, so there was absolutely no crossover.”
“Both Matty and Taylor have been touring over the past few weeks, so it’s been a lot of Face-Timing and texting but she cannot wait to see him again,” the source said while Taylor is in the thick of her Eras Tour while Matty is wrapping up The 1975’s At Their Very Best tour. “But as two international megastars, they understand the pressures of one another’s jobs better than anyone, and are incredibly supportive of their respective careers. They are both massively proud and excited about this relationship and, unlike Taylor’s last one — which was very much kept out of the spotlight, deliberately — she wants to ‘own’ this romance, and not hide it away. Taylor just wants to live her life, and be happy. She’s told pals Matty is flying to Nashville over the weekend to support her on the next leg of her tour.”
The two have been spotted together after her Eras tour concerts and they headed out of Electric Lady Studios frequently. It all came to an end on June 5, 2023, when a source told TMZ that the two called it quits when Taylor was reportedly “single.” Fans also noticed that she was crying during one of her surprise songs: “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever in Chicago” a very well-known song about a breakup. A short-lived romance!
In July 2023, Taylor seemingly responded to rumors she and Matty were back together with an Instagram post on Fourth of July captioned: “Happy belated Independence Day from your local neighborhood independent girlies.” HAIM, who was included in the post, also shared the same photo with the caption: “single summer.” A source also told People on July 5, 2023, that Taylor and Matty weren’t even in contact anymore after their breakup. “They are absolutely not together and aren’t even in contact anymore. She is enjoying being single and has been spending time in the studio and hanging out with friends in New York City. This is all B.S.,” the insider said. Another source added, “It’s complete nonsense. Not true at all.”
Rumors Taylor and Matty were back together came after The Sun reported in July 2023 that the two were back on following their breakup. “There is just something electric between them and they seem to have overcome it all quite quickly and decided they definitely want to make it work at all costs,” the insider said. “They’re arranging time together in between tour dates and talking all the time. He’s utterly smitten and it seems to be mutual.”
The source continued, “It sounds as though there may have been some issues behind the scenes but he’s made changes to fix them. One thing is for sure, he isn’t letting anything come between his chances of making it work with Taylor.”
Swift and Alwyn met at the 2016 Met Gala, where Swift also met Hiddleston. The two sparked dating rumors in October 2016 when they both attended a Kings of Leon concert. A month later, Swift was seen attending the premiere of Alwyn’s movie, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. New broke of their relationship in May 2017. In an interview with Esquire in 2018, Alwyn revealed if he sought advice about dating a celebrity. “I didn’t seek out advice on that,” he said. “Because I know what I feel about it. I think there’s a very clear line as to what somebody should share, or feel like they have to share, and what they don’t want to and shouldn’t have to.” Alwyn, who co-wrote a few songs on Swift’s 2020 album Folklore, is believed to have inspired several of Swift’s tracks, including “Gorgeous,” “Call It What You Want” and “Cardigan.“
After more than six years together, Entertainment Tonight reported in April 2023 that Swift and Alwyn had broken up. “It was not dramatic,” a source told the site at the time. “The relationship had just run its course.” The insider explained that the breakup is why Alwyn had not attended any of Swift’s Eras Tour at the time. “It’s why [Alwyn] hasn’t been spotted at any shows,” the source said.
Swift and Hiddleston, who is believed to have inspired songs like “Getaway Car,” surprised fans when they were photographed kissing in Rhode Island in June 2016 after meeting at the Met Gala in May. However, the relationship was short lived as Us Weekly reported in 2016 that the two had broken up. “She was the one to put the brakes on the relationship,” an insider said at the time. “Tom wanted the relationship to be more public than she was comfortable with. Taylor knew the backlash that comes with public displays of affection but Tom didn’t listen to her concerns when she brought them up.” Now that they’ve split, the source says, Hiddleston is “embarrassed that the relationship fizzled out.”
In an interview with GQ in 2017, Hiddleston denied that his relationship with Swift was a publicity stunt. “Taylor is an amazing woman,” he said. “She’s generous and kind and lovely, and we had the best time. Of course it was real.”
Harris, who dated Swift for 15 months from 2015 to 2016, is one of the singer’s most public relationships. Harris, who accompanied Swift to the 2015 iHeartRadio Music Awards and Billboard Music Awards, split in June 2016. A source told People at the time that Harris, who is believed to have inspired songs like “I Forgot That You Existed,” was “intimidated” by Swift’s success. “[Harris] said on multiple occasions that he was intimidated by Taylor, which is why he would not attend any events where she was being honored, or any award shows unless he was nominated,” the insider said.
Swift and Harris seemed to deny the report in a tweet at the time. “The only truth here is that a relationship came to an end & what remains is a huge amount of love and respect” Harris wrote in a tweet, which Swift retweeted.
The exact timeline that Swift and Styles dated isn’t known, but it’s believed that the two were in a relationship from late 2012 to early 2023. Styles and Swift sparked dating rumors in November when she started wearing a paper airplane necklace similar to the one the One Direction member wore. A month before, Styles called Swift a “real lovely girl” in an interview with Seventeen. “Honestly, she couldn’t be a sweeter person. She’s a great girl and she’s extremely talented,” he said. “[She’s] one of those people you meet [who’s] genuinely a nice person. Some people you meet and they are not as nice as you make them out to be, but she’s one of those people who’s really just amazing.”
The two went viral a month later after they were photographed on a date in Central Park In December, but in January 2013, reports circulated that they had broken up. An anonymous source told the Daily Mail that she’d split from Styles after they had “an almighty row” and sources confirmed the breakup to People.
Styles, who is believed to inspired Swift’s tracks “Style” and “Out of the Woods,” opened up about their relationship and what it was like to have a song written about him in an interview with Howard Stern in 2020.
“I think about what it means to me to write a song about somebody else and for somebody else to do that, it’s like flattering, even if the song isn’t that flattering, you still spent time on it and ultimately, using Taylor as an example, she’s a great songwriter. So at least they’re good songs,” he said. He continued, “The only time you really think, ’Is this song too personal?’ is if you think about, ‘Is this going to be really annoying for the other person?’ Because I do [care].” Fans speculate that Styles’ 2020 song “Two Ghosts” is about Swift.
In her new song “Is It Over Now” from 1989 (Taylor’s Version), the lyrics that fans think shade Kimberly are: “Your new girl is my clone”, which fans speculate was about his rebound, Kimberly Stewart, the daughter of Rod Stewart.
In April 2014, E! reported that 19-year-old Harry was dating 33-year-old Kimberly Stewart, who is the daughter of singer Rod Stewart. A source said the pair were “introduced by a mutual friend who set them up” and were “very happy” together. “Kim is very strong-willed, she goes for what she wants and Harry appreciates that. It is a very new thing and we’ll see where it goes.” The insider added that she is “exactly his type”.
During an appearance on Alan Carr’s talk show Chatty Man, Rod Stewart pretty much confirmed that Harry and Kimberly spent the night together. “His car was here in the morning. Let’s put it that way,” he said. “But he may just have come round to pick something up.” Realizing how much he’d given away, he exclaimed: “B*******, I let the cat out of the bag! Harry couldn’t be a kinder. He is very funny guy.”
Swift and Gyllenhaal—who is believed to inspired her 2012 heartbreak album, Red—dated for three months from October 2010 to January 2011. In an interview with NPR in 2012, Swift explained the meaning of “The Last Time,” one of her songs from Red. “[It’s about an] experience I had with someone who was kind of this unreliable guy. You never know when he’s going to leave, you never know when he’s going to come back, but he always does come back,” she said at the time.
Though Gyllenhaal is believed to have inspired several songs from Red, including “We Are Never Getting Back Together” and “Moment I Knew,” fans have been the most interested in the lyrics that Swift wrote about Gyllenhaal in her song “All Too Well.” The heartbreak ballad, which is a fan favorite among Swifties, references how Swift left her scarf at Gyllenhaal’s sister’s house. Gyllenhaal’s sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal, reacted to the lyric in a 2017 interview on Watch What Happens Live. “I am in the dark about the scarf. It’s totally possible. I don’t know,” she said.
Swift and Mayer, who is believed to inspired songs like “Dear John,” “Superstar” and “The Story of Us,” dated briefly at the end of 2009. Their relationship came after Swift was featured on Mayer’s 2009 song, “Half of My Heart.” “[John Mayer] Twittered the other day that he wrote a song and he wants to make it a duet with me,” she said. “I freaked out when I heard because I’ve been such a big fan of John for such a long time. I’m really excited about just the idea that he would even mention me in his Twitter!” she told Elle in 2009.
In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2012, Mayer slammed Swift for writing “Dear John” about him. In the song, which was from her 2010 album Speak Now, Swift sang about a toxic relationship she was in when she was 19 years old. “I never got an email,” Mayer told Rolling Stone in 2012.. “I never got a phone call. I was really caught off-guard, and it really humiliated me at a time when I’d already been dressed down. I mean, how would you feel if, at the lowest you’ve ever been, someone kicked you even lower?”
Swift and Jonas dated for three months from July to October 2008. In an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2008, Swift claimed that Jonas—who is believed to have inspired songs like “Last Kiss,” “Forever & Always” and “Holy Ground”—broke up with her in a 27-second phone call. In an interview on Ellen in 2019, Swift called the moment “rebellious” and confessed that she regretted slamming her ex-boyfriend on the talk show. “Probably when I put Joe Jonas on blast on your show. That was too much. I was 18,” Swift said when asked by DeGeneres about her most “rebellious” thing she’s done. “We laugh about it now, but that was mouthy. Just some teenage stuff there.”
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