Here’s what we know about Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn’s break-up

IT WAS THE April long weekend of surprising celebrity relationship rumours. First, we hear that Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner have been secretly dating since January, and then news that Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn have broken up after six years.

While neither alleged romance/break-down have been confirmed, multiple outlets have validated claims of Swift and Alwyn’s split. Entertainment Tonight reported that the pop superstar and the British actor quietly broke up “a few weeks ago,” with a source explaining to the outlet that the split was amicable. Fans also believe Swift hinted at the break-up with a few Easter eggs during her The Eras Tour.

Here’s what we know about Swift and Alywn’s break-up, including what’ll happen to their London home.

Related: Inside Taylor Swift’s Eras tour wardrobe — from designer sketches to outfit details

Why did Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn break-up?

News began circulating that Taylor Swift, 33, and Joe Alwyn, 32, broke up on April 9, after Entertainment Tonight revealed the pair amicably split “a few weeks ago.”

“It was not dramatic,” the insider shared. “The relationship had just run its course. It’s why [Alwyn] hasn’t been spotted at any shows.”

Several sources have spoken to outlets in the months since, sharing various reasons for the split. However, on May 26 Swift seemingly addressed what led to the breakup for the first time with the release of her new song “You’re Losing Me.” On the new track from her Midnights vault, the songstress sings about growing apart in a relationship.

“My heart won’t start anymore for you / ‘Cause you’re losing me,” she sings.

The lyrics later see her contemplate the end of the romance: “Do I throw out everything we built or keep it?”

“Now you’re running down the hallway / And you know what they all say, ‘You don’t know what you got until it’s gone.'”

The pair, who were rumoured to have first met at the Met Gala in 2016, managed to keep much of their relationship private — never sharing pictures of each other to social media, often skipping red carpet events and avoiding questions during interviews about their love life. Fans even believed Swift’s decision to keep her relationship out of the spotlight was part of the reason why they worked. There were suggestions the pair even secretly wed, due to Easter eggs in Swift’s Folklore and Evermore albums.

Page Six later debunked marriage claims via an insider, but fans are still speculating a line in “You’re Losing Me” alludes to her being turned down in marriage: “I’m the best thing at this party / And I wouldn’t marry me either / A pathological people pleaser / Who only wanted you to see her.”

However, according to People, a separate source close to the pair revealed the breakup was largely caused by “differences in their personalities” and lifestyles. Notably, the continued lack of privacy. Page Six reported that while Alwyn’s family “loved” Taylor, it took the Londoners a while to get to used to her “round-the-clock security.” An insider told People: “Joe has struggled with Taylor’s level of fame and the attention from the public. The differences in their personalities have also become harder to ignore after years together. They’ve grown apart.”

The source continued: “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.” But “ultimately” Swift and Alwyn “weren’t the right fit for one another” and weren’t ready for a future together.

“Taylor didn’t see them working out in the long run,” insider said noting “they are friendly” and that “Taylor is staying very focused on her tour right now.”

Neither Swift nor Alwyn have directly commented on the reports as of writing.

Is Taylor Swift dating Matt Healy?

Taylor Swift has been spending plenty of time with The 1975 front-man Matt Healy. While Swifties initially brushed off reports by The Sun that the pair were “madly in love,” they’ve since been snapped multiple times leaving venues and holding hands. On May 16, the U.S. pop star was spotted leaving Electric Lady studio in New York City with Healy following a recording session where Florence Welch, Swift’s longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff and partner Margaret Qualley, and Kendrick Lamar were also seen. A now viral TikTok video sees Swift wearing a purple college jumper with black mini skirt, with Healy’s hand affectionately placed on her back.

A fan even claims that Healy confirmed relationship rumours as he watched Swift’s Philadelphia concert on May 12. To a TikTok of the British rockstar watching Swift perform ‘Marjorie’ alongside her father, @eleanorazefirst wrote: “Taylor’s parents omggg” before captioning the end of the clip: “Then Matty Healy [sic] he said yes when we asked if they were dating.”

She provided more context in a separate selfie video, sharing: “So basically it was just her mom and her dad originally. And I want to say, it was the sweetest thing. During ‘Marjorie,’ her mom was crying and everything like that. And I didn’t want to record because that would be like kind of bad, that’s not a good thing. And then Matt came, and everyone started freaking out. Then the girls next to me were actually the ones who were like, ‘Matt, blink twice if you and Taylor are dating,’ and he goes like…” @eleanorazefirst then blinked her eyes twice and nodded.

While neither have publicly revealed their relationship status, we all know Swift loves a London boy. Anything’s possible.

The new clips come after Healy flew all the way from the Phillipines to watch Swift’s Nashville concert on May 5, with pictures obtained by Page Six showing them departing for her Tennessee condo. Healy was even driven to a nearby Starbucks earlier that day by Swift’s bodyguard, according to the Daily Mail.

Eagle-eyed fans not only spotted Healy watching her performance in the VIP tent alongside celeb-friends Gigi Hadid and Lily Aldridge, but believe they may have been sending each other secret messages on stage. During her Friday night concert, Swift reportedly looked enigmatically at the camera and mouthed, “This is about you, you know who you are. I love you.” The exact same words Healy had shared during his May 5 set in the Phillipines.

Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn are embracing single life

Single and ready to mingle. Taylor Swift has been glowing and stylishly socialising in her new era. On April 19, Swift was photographed heading to celeb fave restaurant Casa Cipriani in New York with longtime friends Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively. And just a week earlier, the pop superstar was photographed leaving restaurant Via Carota, also in Manhattan, after having dinner with producer and friend Jack Antonoff — whom worked with her on her most recent album Midnights — and his fiancée, Margaret Qualley.

Swift added a little statement-making shimmer to her single girl ensemble, pairing a black off-the-shoulder top with blue high-waisted cut-off jeans by Area which featured a butterfly-shaped cutout embellished with clear crystals. She styled the look with patent black heeled Mary Janes by Sam Edelman, a silver Paco Rabanne mini bag, and a complementary silver necklace. Her hair was down and effortlessly tousled, and she donned her signature red lip and black liner.

As for Joe Alwyn, while he’s kept a low profile since break up news broke, he was seen for the first time on April 20. The British actor was photographed leaving a hotel in London wearing a black fuzzy jacket, baggy jeans and tan boots. While he hasn’t had much of a public presence like Swift has as of late, he’s certainly keeping busy.

Alwyn has landed a role in the upcoming drama film The Brutalist, according to Deadline. The project, first announced three years ago, stars leads Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones and Guy Pearce, and chronicles thirty years of an artist’s life. “When visionary architect László Toth (Brody) and his wife Erzsébet (Jones) flee post-war Europe to rebuild their legacy in America, a mysterious and wealthy client (Pearce) ends up changing their lives forever,” the outlet reports. Filming is already underway in Hungary.

Taylor Swift’s brother and celeb friends unfollow Joe Alywn on Instagram

Taylor Swift’s friends and family certainly have her back and are making social media moves to prove it. Celeb gossip Instagram account Deux Moi claimed that eagle eyed fans had noticed that Swift’s brother Austin, Ryan Reynolds and the Haim sisters — Este, Alana and Danielle — all unfollowed Joe Alwyn since the pair split. Alywn still follows both Austin and Reynolds. As for Swift, her Instagram account follows no one but Alwyn continues to follow hers.

Did Taylor Swift drop hints about her break-up from Joe Alywn?

Taylor Swift is known for dropping Easter eggs in her work, with fans believing she may have hinted at her break-up more than a week before reports emerged. Fans have not only noted that the Grammy-winner has been crying and getting emotional while singing some of her most heartbreaking songs during her U.S. Eras Tour performances — most recently “Champagne Problems,” but that she made a pivotal set-list swap.

During her March 31 concert in Arlington, Texas — four shows into her tour — she swapped the track ‘Invisible String,’ rumoured to be about the British actor, for ‘The 1,’ which is about a lost love.

“In her last show she replaced invisible string with the one… this is real #taylorswift #joealwyn,” one person tweeted, while another said: “that’s why taylor swift removed invisible string off the setlist.”

Both songs appear on her Album of the Year Grammy winner, Folklore, to which Alwyn also contributed using the pseudonym “William Bowery.”

Related: Taylor Swift is set to announce Australia/New Zealand Eras Tour

What will happen to Taylor Swift’s London home?

It’s no secret Taylor Swift is a big fan of London. Lyrically, it’s well-documented. But now that her and Joe Alwyn have reportedly moved on, will she say sayonara to the big smoke once and for all? Unlikely, due to touring and work requirements — it was only a few days ago she was spotted shooting a music video in Liverpool, England alongside actor Joey King — but it certainly raises plenty of questions surrounding recent rumours of her purchasing property in London.

“This is the big gossip all over the central London super-prime market at present,” says Rosy Khalastchy, head of Beauchamp Estates’ St John’s Wood office told the Evening Standard. “There is always huge excitement when someone super famous is house hunting.”

Khalastchy continued: “We are led to believe that Taylor Swift is looking in St John’s Wood and Hampstead for a house to live in; I am told she currently lives in Primrose Hill. Taylor has been looking for a period house with a garden, and crucially looking at roads and addresses that will provide her with privacy, security and discretion.”

Previously, it was thought the couple split their time between Alwyn’s Crouch End flat and his parents’ house in Highgate. It was also rumoured that Alwyn and Swift rented a £7 million (AUD $13.05 million) flat in the celebrity enclave of Primrose Hill. Once dubbed the “Primrose Hill set,” the salubrious borough was famous as the go-to residential spot for A-Listers in the early ‘aughts, including Kate Moss, Sadie Frost, Jude Law and Oasis star Noel Gallagher. Swift even hosted Zoë Kravitz at her home during lockdown, while the actor was shooting The Batman in London.

“She was my [pandemic] pod,” Kravitz said of Swift during a GQ spread. “She was a very important part of being in London, just having a friend that I could see and that would make me home-cooked meals and dinner on my birthday.”

With Swift’s extensive real estate portfolio, with eight diverse properties ranging from a $20 million (AUD $30 million) penthouse in TriBeCa to an 11,000-square-foot historical landmark in California, she has no shortage of homes return to during her singer Era. But for now, Swift will continue living that ‘suite life’ as she tours the U.S., Europe and hopefully Australia.

Related: See all the celebs who choose to rent mansions over buy them