Taylor Swift has been dating British actor Joe Alwyn for the past six years, and while her past relationships have been highly publicised, the singer is doing all she can to keep this romance out of the spotlight. Even so, Swift's passionate fans are determined to get to the bottom of her and Alwyn's relationship — specifically those engagement rumours.
Engagement (and marriage) speculation around Swift and Alwyn has been circling online for years, but in an April interview with WSJ Magazine, the "Conversations With Friends" actor finally addressed the rumours (sort of). "If I had a pound for every time I think I've been told I've been engaged, then I'd have a lot of pound coins," Alwyn said. "I mean, the truth is, if the answer was yes, I wouldn't say, and if the answer was no, I wouldn't say."
Since then, both Swift and Alwyn have remained tight-lipped about their relationship, but the former could reveal a few things about it on her upcoming album, "Midnights," set to drop on 21 Oct. Via a detailed explanation on Instagram of the album's opening track, titled "Lavender Haze," Swift revealed that Alwyn actually inspired the song.
Aside from referencing Alwyn in her songs, Swift has only made a handful of public appearances with her Grammy-winning boyfriend. While the start of their relationship is a little fuzzy (she was reportedly still dating Calvin Harris when she and Alwyn first met), it's clear that Alwyn has her heart now.
Read ahead for more details about Swift and Alwyn's low-key love story.
May 2016: The pair reportedly met at the Met Gala. Swift's song "Dress" — which is rumoured to be about Alwyn — notes that when they first met, he had a buzz cut and she had bleached hair, which was around the time of the star-studded gala.
June 2016: Shortly after the Met Gala, Swift broke up with her boyfriend of over a year, Calvin Harris. Two weeks later, news broke that Swift was dating Tom Hiddleston when they were spotted kissing near her Rhode Island home.
September 2016: After three months of dating, Swift called it quits with Hiddleston. According to reports, she "was the one to put the brakes on the relationship" because "Tom wanted the relationship to be more public than she was comfortable with."
November 2016: Two months after her breakup with Hiddleston, a newly single Swift was spotted attending a screening of Alwyn's film "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" in LA with Este and Alana Haim and her mother, Andrea Swift.
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22017: Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn Keep Their Romance Under Wraps
May 2017: The following year, news broke that Swift and Alwyn were a couple. According to "The Sun," the singer had been renting a house in North London for their secret rendezvous. They even wore disguises while out in the capital.
May 2018:Alwyn was front and centre when Swift kicked off her "Reputation" tour in Glendale, AZ. The English actor tried to go incognito in a black baseball cap and a denim shirt, but fans reported that Taylor pointed and winked at him while she sang "Gorgeous."
September 2018: During an interview with British Vogue, Alwyn briefly broke his silence on their romance, saying, "I'm aware people want to know about that side of things. I think we have been successfully very private and that has now sunk in for people . . . but I really prefer to talk about work."
September 2018: Swift showed up to the New York Film Festival premiere of Alwyn's movie "The Favourite." While she didn't walk the red carpet, the couple was spotted entering Swift's NYC apartment together.
October 2018: Just a month later, while at the 2018 BFI London Film Festival for "The Favourite," People reported that Alwyn was pressed about Swift yet again when a reporter brought up her Instagram post about voting. "I think it's great, and I think it's important," Alwyn said.
February 2020: Fans were convinced that Swift and Alwyn were engaged following the release of her song "Lover," which includes references to something "borrowed" and "blue."
April 2022: Alwyn (kind of) addressed the couple's engagement rumours in an interview with WSJ Magazine. "If I had a pound for every time I think I've been told I've been engaged, then I'd have a lot of pound coins," he said. "I mean, the truth is, if the answer was yes, I wouldn't say, and if the answer was no, I wouldn't say."
May 2022: Swift showed support for Alwyn's TV series, "Conversations With Friends," in an Instagram Story where she shared a review of the show from Time, as per People. "Can confirm it's phenomenal," she wrote.
October 2022: Swift briefly opened up about protecting her relationship with Alwyn in an Instagram post where she discussed her "Midnights" album. "I think a lot of people have to deal with this now, not just like 'public figures,' because we live in the era of social media," she explained of a track titled "Lavender Haze." "And if the world finds out that you're in love with somebody, they're gonna weigh in on it. Like my relationship for six years, we've had to dodge weird rumours, tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it. And so this song is sort of about the act of ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff."
