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18 April 2024, 17:20 | Updated: 19 April 2024, 12:59
By Tiasha Debray
‘The Tortured Poets Department’ is supposedly all about Joe Alwyn. So from his age, net worth, whether he has any brothers to how Joe met Taylor Swift. Here’s what we know.
Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ is said to be inspired by her six-year relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn, which ended in 2023.
The album’s tracklist has hinted at references to their relationship, from songs such as ‘loml’ which could stand for ‘love of my life,’ as well as ‘So Long, London.’
The latter hints towards her London-born ex as Taylor’s 2019 song ‘London Boy’ from her album ‘Lover’ was all about how they’d spend their days in the English capital together.
‘The Tortured Poets Department’ as a name itself seems to be a direct link to Joe, who revealed in 2022 that he was in a group chat called ‘The Tortured Man Club’ with fellow actors Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott.
What's obvious is that there must be a link between Taylor’s latest album and her ex-Joe, so we need to know more about him. From his age, net worth and siblings to how he met Taylor in the first place. Here’s what we know.
Joe Alwyn was born on the 21st of February 1991, which makes him 33 years old and a Pisces.
This also makes him just over a year younger than Taylor whose birthday is the 13th of December, 1989. The 34-year-old superstar is a Sagittarius.
According to certain astrological sites, a Pisces and a Sagittarius couple make for a creative and romantic pairing, which adds up with Taylor’s music career and Joe’s acting.
Joe’s net worth sat at an estimated $4 million (£3.2 million) which should be no surprise because the actor has appeared in hit films such as The Favourite, Boy Erased and Mary Queen of Scots.
However, Joe also has writing credits on a number of Taylor’s songs that they worked on together while they were dating.
Joe’s songwriting pseudonym was William Bowery and under that name he helped write ‘Sweet Nothing’ from the album ‘Midnights’ as well as ‘Champagne Problems,’ ‘Evermore,’ and ‘Coney Island’ from the album ‘Evermore.’
But his best work lay in ‘Exile’ and ‘Betty’ from the album ‘Folklore’ which won him and Taylor a Grammy in 2020.
Joe has pocketed, from these six tracks alone, roughly $2.3 million (£1.8 million) from Spotify streams.
Despite having dated one of the highest-profile celebrities in the world, both Joe and Taylor kept their private lives private and it’s not exactly known when or where they met.
The most popular theory was that the pair met at the Met Gala in 2016. The reason this was the case was because online detectives dissected Taylor’s song ‘Dress’ from her 2017 album ‘Reputation’, where she supposedly sings about their first meeting.
In the song, the lyrics read, “ “Flashback to when you met me, your buzzed cut and my hair bleached.”
In photos from the Met Gala that year, fans could see that Taylor’s hair was very bleached, and Joe’s was buzzed, and the rest is history.
Taylor Swift is kind of a tough act a follow, a fact we're sure Joe is aware of as he navigates being single and dating again. The actor has not confirmed that he's dating anyone, despite Taylor's official relationship with Travis Kelce being all over the headlines in 2024.
Joe has always kept his personal life very personal and this has been no exception, however, he has been seen out and about with female costars that have fans looking extra carefully at his dating life.
In September 2023, Joe was first linked to actress Emma Laird with whom he shares the screen of The Brutalist. Emma posted a carousel of images on her Instagram one of which was just a solitary picture of Joe, which had eyebrows raised.
However, in February 2024, the actor was seen attending a pre-BAFTA dinner with another costar from Conversations With Friends? Alison Oliver. Fans will best know her from her iconic role as Venetia in Saltburn. Whether the pair were just hanging out as colleagues, friends or something more, only time will tell.
A post shared by Emma Laird (@emmalaird)
Joe has two brothers, Thomas and Patrick. There was not much information about them online, however it seems like Patrick is roughly 29 years old. Patrick made headlines in 2022 after he was associated with Iris Apatow, the two rumoured to be dating.
Taylor referenced Joe’s brothers in a few of her songs. ‘Paper Rings’, from the 2019 album ‘Lover’ mentions painting the walls in one of their rooms.
‘Peace’ from the 2020 album ‘Folklore’ saw Taylor singing about how she saw Joe’s brother “as my brother”
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