Taylor Swift and Matty Healy: Lovers?

As one of the most famous women in the world, there is (and always has been) an inordinate amount of public interest in Taylor Swift’s love life. She’s long been hailed the queen of breakup anthems which only seems to fuel the intrigue and there have been many, many rumours about her relationship status over the years. 

“I feel like watching my dating life has become a bit of a national pastime,” she told Rolling Stone in an interview back in 2014. “And I’m just not comfortable providing that kind of entertainment anymore. I don’t like seeing slide shows of guys I’ve apparently dated.”

Last month, the gossip mill started up once again after word broke that she and now ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn (of Conversations With Friends fame) had parted ways after six years. According to a source, the split was largely caused by “differences in their personalities” – which is suitably vague and very hard to verify; the sweet spot of celebrity reporting.

“They’ve had rough patches before and always worked things out, so friends thought they would take some time apart but eventually come back together,” the source continued, noting that “ultimately” they “weren’t the right fit for one another.” Their breakup supposedly “was not dramatic” and though neither has publicly addressed the situation, it’s pretty clear that Taylor is back on the market… not least because of the Matty Healy connection. 

So, are the two dating? It’s the question on everyone’s lips (or at least that’s all my TikTok algorithm is showing me these days). Here’s what my research has yielded: 

Taylor and Joe; the timeline

News of Joe and Taylor’s breakup only broke in April but another source close to the couple told The Sun that the two actually split up way back in February of this year. Alwyn’s absence during the opening leg of Swift’s Era’s tour seemed to corroborate this, though many had initially put this down to presumed scheduling conflicts/filming commitments. 

In April, public opinion seemed to turn against Alwyn when DeuxMoi shared that an anonymous source had told them that Alwyn was the one to initiate their “break” and Swift suspects he was the one responsible for leaking it to the press. It’s at this point that the Great Unfollowing of Joe Alwyn began and many of Taylor’s closest friends – including Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, the Haim sisters, Gigi Hadid and her childhood bestie, Abigail Anderson Berard – unfollowed him on social media after catching up with Taylor. Suspicious…

Taylor and Matt; the timeline

Cut to earlier this month when The Sun reports that Swift is now allegedly dating The 1975 frontman Matt Healy. “She and Matty are madly in love,” a source told the publication. “It’s super-early days, but it feels right. They first dated, very briefly, almost 10 years ago but timings just didn’t work out. Both Matty and Taylor have been touring over the past few weeks, so it’s been a lot of FaceTiming and texting, but she cannot wait to see him again.”

MATTY HEALY HERE CONFIRMED #TSTheErasTourNashville pic.twitter.com/QU3UEsdN0x

— Kimbrrlee ?? (@Kimbrrleeee) May 6, 2023

Last week, Healy was spotted at Swift’s concert on two consecutive nights – there with Phoebe Bridgers one night (who he was spotted kissing amidst her own breakup with Paul Mescal lest we forget), Gigi Hadid the next. “MATTY HEALY HERE CONFIRMED,” one fan tweeted from the gig, also sharing a photo of the singer in Swift’s VIP tent. 

Starting to feel like i’m in a documentary WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING TAYLOR SWIFT AND MATTY HEALY THIS IS NOT NORMAL BEHAVIOR pic.twitter.com/0vEFYVVTc0

— maggie ? (@trumanslack) May 6, 2023

adding she’s american back to the setlist right after the taylor rumors is the funniest thing matty healy has done https://t.co/BaDbiViSGU

— LYSS (@Lyssuhh7) May 4, 2023

Two days prior, Matt readded the song “She’s American” to the setlist for one of his gigs in the Philippines, mouthing the words “This one’s about you, you know who you are. I love you”, during the show. Fans also noticed Swift mouthing what appears to be the exact same message during her performance of “Cardigan”. 

Still sceptical? The Daily Mail claims to have obtained the first photos of the two together since rumours of their potential romance began swirling. In said photo, Healy can be seen sitting next to Swift in the back of a car on the way back to her Nashville condo after one of her shows. Is it definitely Healy in the car with her? Hard to say, but the figure is wearing the same bracelet Matty was seen sporting the day before so, it’s not completely out of the question that it’s him. 

Entertainment Tonight reports that sources close to the rumoured couple confirm that they “like each other” and that they were “reconnected” by Swift’s longtime collaborator and friend Jack Antonoff whom she met for dinner, along with his fiancée Margaret Qualley, not long after she split with Joe. 

To play devil’s advocate, it is entirely plausible that Healy is intentionally fanning the flames here… he strikes me as being an agent of chaos so this could be nothing more than a funny game he’s decided to indulge. And the two were previously linked before with Matty telling E! News, “We met each other, we exchanged numbers in the same way that a lot of people in this kind of world do, and we spoke occasionally. She’s the biggest pop star in the world and I’m in Australia. There’s no relationship or anything happening. It’s just funny how people really, really buy into that.”

That said, there have been more than a few coincidences this time around and Taylor did give a surprise performance at the 1975’s concert in London this January. So, this is either extreme commitment to the bit or proof that the rumours are actually true. What say you?

Photography by @taylorswift.