Taylor Swift Reflects On Her Tumultuous Romance With Matty Healy in Telling New Songs
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Hearts broke across the world when news spread of Taylor Swift’s split from longtime boyfriend Joe Alwyn. Then, only weeks later, the singer proved love wasn’t dead, getting involved with a new man—or really, one who had been there all along.
The Midnights singer’s relationship with Matty Healy, frontman of British pop-rock band the 1975, dates back to 2014, when the two met backstage at one of Healy’s concerts, subsequently inspiring rumors they’d had a secret fling. Whether their dynamic was romantic or platonic, the artists remained connected through the years, collaborating on music and openly supporting each other’s work. Their musical kinship grew into a reconnection after her breakup with Alwyn, culminating in Swift’s surprise performance at Healy’s January 2023 show in London, and then in Healy’s visit to Nashville in May 2023 to see Swift in concert on a leg of her Eras Tour. Ultimately, though, the relationship wasn’t meant to be, and Swift and Healy broke up after a few short months. She is now involved with NFL tight end Travis Kelce, and Healy is dating model and musician Gabriette Bechtel.
Ahead, see everything we know about Swift and Healy’s romantic history—including their first dating rumors in 2014, their brief summer dalliance in 2023, and Swift's Tortured Poets Department songs about their relationship.
April 19, 2024: Taylor alludes to romance with Matty in her eleventh studio album.
Fans may have initially speculated The Tortured Poets Department to document the end of her six-year long relationship with actor Joe Alwyn, but blondie knows how to throw a curveball. Indeed, much of the singer's newest album appears to reference her short-lived dalliance with the 1975 frontman, including songs like “Fresh Out the Slammer,” “Guilty as Sin,” “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can),” and “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.” For a full breakdown on the presumed Healy references, click here.
June 2023: They break up.
Multiple outlets report that Swift and Healy's romance has fizzled out.
“Taylor and Matty broke up. They are both extremely busy and realized they're not really compatible with each other,” one source told Entertainment Tonight. “Taylor's friends want what's best for her and aren't shocked that their relationship fizzled out since she recently got out of a long-term relationship.”
May 15, 2023: They’re spotted exiting a building together in New York City.
Swift and Healy are seen leaving Electric Lady Studios in New York City together after a recording session. For the outing, Swift pairs a purple and gray NYU crewneck sweater with Free People's black "Heartbreaker" skort, and tops off the look with beige sneakers and a brown leather crossbody bag. Meanwhile, Healy wears a black long-sleeve shirt, black trousers, and brown boots.
An insider tells People, “Taylor is happy. She’s very focused on her tour but is enjoying hanging out with Matty when she is off.”
Another source added, “They're hanging out and having a good time. It’s not just platonic.”
May 12, 2023: Their romance is caught on camera.
Swift and Healy are captured on an official outing together at Casa Cipriani in New York City (where Swift looks lovely in a breezy yellow sundress from DÔEN). Per an onlooker to Page Six, the pair get cozy at a banquette in the lounge and are seen “cuddling and kissing.” They are also reportedly joined that evening by their mutual friend, Jack Antonoff.
The sighting comes after The Sun reports on May 3 that Swift is in a new relationship with Healy. “She and Matty are madly in love,” a source tells the outlet. “It’s super-early days, but it feels right.”
Days later, on May 8, both Entertainment Tonight and Us Weekly also report that the two artists are “having a good time” hanging out and reconnecting.
May 5, 2023: Matty visits Taylor during her Eras Tour.
Healy—who had just wrapped up a concert in the Philippines—flies 17 hours to Nashville to attend one of Swift’s shows on her Eras Tour.
Eagle-eyed fans note that in their respective performances—Healy’s on May 3 and Swift’s on May 5—the two mouth the same words onstage: “This one is about you. You know who you are. I love you.”
Then, on May 6, Swift and Healy are captured heading back around midnight to Swift’s condo in Nashville, marking the first time the two have been photographed since the breakout of recent dating rumors.
January 12, 2023: Taylor makes a cameo at a 1975 show.
Swift makes a surprise appearance onstage during Healy’s 1975 show in London while she's in town to see now-ex-boyfriend Alwyn. (The cameo is monumental in more ways than one, as the “Midnight Rain” singer also makes her live debut of her hit “Anti-Hero” during the performance.)
TAYLOR SWIFT IS PERFORMING ANTI HERO FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A 1975 CONCERT OMFG?!?!
pic.twitter.com/FNKvLsuXVg— miguel (@cowboyinwoods13) January 12, 2023
The appearance directly confirms recent rumors that Swift and Healy have been collaborating in private. (Healy had initially denied the rumors in September, but eventually came forward on Audacy’s DTS Sound Space, telling hosts Kevin Klein and Ally Johnson that he worked with Swift on several songs for her Midnights album that didn’t make the cut. “We actually worked a bit on that, but then the version of it never came out,” Healy said. He added that there were no hard feelings and that he respects Swift’s artistic decision: “It was for reasons that are not to be criticized. She’s amazing.”)
September 23, 2019: Matty gushes over Taylor.
Healy expresses an interest in collaborating on an acoustic album with Swift (who, by this point, is in a relationship with Alwyn) while praising the singer and her talents. “I would never slag Taylor off, I think Taylor’s amazing,” he tells host Neil Griffiths on the Green Room podcast. “Taylor, if you ever want someone to help you set up the mics for your acoustic record, just so you know, I’m there.”
February 25, 2015: They party at the BRIT Awards.
After Swift attends Healy’s concerts in November and December, she is seen reconnecting with him at an after-party for the BRIT Awards. They are photographed alongside Nick Grimshaw and Ellie Goulding at Universal Music’s bash at the Soho House pop-up in London.
On this night, Swift is believed to have also met Calvin Harris, whom she soon went on to date into 2016. Goulding—who had then recently collaborated with the DJ on his October 2014 single “Outside” (from his fourth studio album, Motion)—reportedly introduced the two at the event.
November 26, 2014: Matty denies dating rumors.
During a talk on Shazam Top 20, Healy hilariously denies that he and Swift are dating. “I mean, bloody hell, what am I going to do, go out with Taylor Swift? She’s a sensation,” he says. “I wouldn’t say no.”
He continues, “We met each other. We exchanged numbers in the same way a lot of people in this kind of world do. And we spoke occasionally, and then she’s the biggest pop star in the world. I’m in Australia. There’s no, like, relationship or anything happening. It’s just funny how people really, really buy into that.”
“So that didn’t really happen,” Healy adds. “As much as it’d be amazing for me if it did, unfortunately it didn’t.”
November 20, 2014: They meet backstage.
Swift attends one of Healy’s 1975 concerts in Los Angeles with fellow musicians Ellie Goulding and Selena Gomez. She meets him backstage and exchanges numbers with him, Healy later reveals.
Days later, on November 22, Swift is captured out wearing a 1975 shirt, spurring rumors of a potential romance. And the following month, Swift attends another of Healy’s concerts, this time with model friend Karlie Kloss, in New York City.
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