Entertainment
Although Taylor Swift’s relationship history has been a topic of conversation in the past, lately she’s been keeping things more private, especially since she started dating actor Joe Alwyn. For the past two-ish years, Swift and Alwyn have quietly enjoyed their relationship, and he’s rumored to have inspired some of the songs on her most recent album, Reputation. But being that so much of their time together has been spent out of the public eye, you might be wondering about the timeline of Swift and Alwyn’s relationship. Even though they’ve kept things on the down-low as best as they could, there are a few key dates that can help fans figure out what the deal is.
Being that Alwyn and Swift aren’t exactly showing off their relationship on Instagram or attending red carpets together, it can be hard to pinpoint what they’ve been up to. But thanks to paparazzi photos and clues they’ve dropped along the way, it’s possible to piece together when this whole thing started and how they got to where they are today.
With how private they’ve been since they started dating, fans may never truly know the full story behind Alwyn and Swift’s relationship. But hopefully, this timeline will help clear a few things up.
May 2016: Their Potential First Meeting
Although Swift has never opened up about exactly when she met Alwyn, lyrics in her song “Dress” from Reputation could drop a clue about the first time they crossed paths. The lyric “flashback when you met me / your buzzcut and my hair bleached” seems to point to the 2016 Met Gala, when Swift’s hair was bleached and Alwyn was sporting a short cut.
May 2017: Dating Rumors Begin To Emerge
Even though Swift and Alwyn may have met for the first time in 2016, rumors that they were dating didn’t surface for the first time until a year later, which makes sense since Swift was dating Tom Hiddleston for a few months in that year. At that point, the rumor was that they’d been together for months.
June 2017: They're Spotted in Nashville
According to E!, Swift and Alwyn were spotted hanging out in Nashville — where Swift owns an apartment — in June 2017 by paparazzi, signaling that there might be some truth to those dating rumors for the very first time.
July 2017: Hanging Out At Swift’s NYC Apartment
Just one month later, Swift and Alwyn were seen in New York, heading to the gym together, according to Elle UK. This time, they went super undercover, pulling their hoods up while they were in public, but it was still obvious that they were spending a lot of time together.
May 2018: Visiting The Same Cactus
Although Alwyn and Swift have stayed off each other’s social media, last year, they both shared a photo standing with the same very tall cactus right before Swift’s Reputation tour kicked off, so it stands to reason that he was there to support her for the first concert.
September 2018: Alwyn Speaks About Their Relationship For The First Time
But Alwyn didn’t exactly say much. While talking to British Vogue (via E!), he explained, “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.”
November 2018: She Helps Promote His Movie
Right before The Favourite — which just so happened to star Alwyn — made its way into theaters, Swift posted on Instagram, encouraging her fans to go to see the movie, and even tagged Alwyn (and Nicholas Hoult) in the post.
January 2019: Attending A Golden Globes Afterparty
Swift and Alwyn were spotted at the 2019 Golden Globes together, and one reporter even said he witnessed a smooch between them. It doesn't seem like much, but it’s a big deal when such a private couple is concerned.
It’s hard to say whether Swift and Alwyn will be more open to sharing their relationship publicly in the future, but for now, keeping things under wraps seems to be working for them. Anytime Swift wants to drop more clues in her music, though, fans will be listening.
