“And when I meet the band / they ask, ‘Do you have a man?’ / I can still say, ‘I don’t remember.’” Photo Illustration: Vulture. Photos: Getty Images
Taylor Swift has a space, baby — but whose name is she writing? According to The Sun, it’s Matty Healy, the face of English rock band The 1975. A source told the British tabloid, “It’s super early but it feels right,” calling the couple “madly in love.” One problem: Healy is at least the third man Swift has been linked with since her split from longtime boyfriend Joe Alwyn recently became public. (Swift and her other longtime boyfriend, Karma, are reportedly still going strong.) First, just days after news of their split in early April, Swift’s boyfriend and music video star (sorry, short film) was Dylan O’Brien seen leaving her New York apartment one morning. Soon after, Swift was linked to Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso after the driver made a tip-off on internet gossip newspaper DeuxMoi and some cheeky posts. Swifties’ attention only turned to Healy — who she previously dated for a minute in 2014 — after the May 3 report.
According to the Sun’s source, Swift and Healy are “both massively proud and excited about this relationship” (supposedly if Swift’s attorneys are reading this!). The Sun reported that Healy planned to support Swift at her next shows in Nashville that weekend after she wrapped the 1975 Asian leg of the tour. Fans actually did Job Healy in the crowd on May 5th, although that’s not exactly a solid confirmation of anything — now let’s try to clear up some of the lavender haze that Swift, according to Alwyn, actually spent her midnight with.
O’Brien and Swift have been friends since 2021, when he starred in her visual for All Too Well (Taylor’s Version). And sure, Swift is no stranger to mixing work and play, from dating her Valentine’s Day co-star Taylor Lautner in 2009 to writing songs with Alwyn, aka William Bowery, for folklore and more. But come on: Can’t a Friend Support a Friend After a Breakup? Not to mention, O’Brien left Swift’s apartment on the morning of April 12, a day before their three-night stand in Tampa, Fla. on the Eras tour. Maybe she was already in Florida and needed O’Brien to water her plants or throw out some of Alwyn’s clothes — and he just borrowed a 22-dazzling sweater for the brisk walk home.
But if you think Taylan’s shippers are grasping at straws, wait until you hear from Taynando. The original DeuxMoi post linking the two, which only appeared on the account’s Instagram story, only said that some Spanish magazines were spreading rumors about them. (Alonso is Spanish — remember that for later.) Sure, they could potentially be together, as he also split from girlfriend Andrea Schlager last month. But with Swift’s Eras tour in full swing, when would she have had time to meet and start an affair with a rider who lives in Spain and travels the world for work? The only “proof” comes heavily from Alonso himself, who posted a couple of TikToks with Swift’s music playing in the background. And ahead of a race last weekend, Alonso gave the Spanish newspaper Marca the old ‘I usually keep my personal and professional life separate’. It doesn’t take a mastermind to see what’s going on here.
Which brings us to Mattaylor. The couple have known each other for almost a decade and don’t seem to have bad blood, although they were briefly romantically linked in 2014. Last year, when they split custody of Jack Antonoff for their albums Midnights and Being Funny in a Foreign Language, Healy even said his band was working on unreleased Midnights music. In January, Swift made a surprise appearance at a 1975 London concert where she debuted her song “Anti-Hero,” no small move from the overcalculated star. (Equally relevant to their rumored relationship, she met Healy’s mother, English TV presenter Denise Welch, at the show.) And Healy, who notoriously snogged fans on that 1975 tour, told the crowd he wouldn’t “in front of the Queen” that evening. Maybe because they kissed backstage?! The Sun source claims Swift and Alwyn split just weeks later in February; Healy, meanwhile, split from fellow musician FKA Twigs last summer and has only been linked to influencer Charlotte Briar D’Alessio once since (of the Sun, the sometimes unreliable purveyor of this same rumour).
Behind those tones, we also know that Swift loves a London boy, which Healy is. And the two seem like kindred spirits as musicians and celebrities — that is, they both like to play with the public’s perception of them, and even just attention. The Sun source even drew a comparison between the bold Healy and the shy Alwyn, who “deliberately” didn’t go public with their relationship. On top of that, Swift has an album called 1989… set 14 years after 1975. 1 + 4 = 5: Swift’s first Nashville concert, which Healy is said to be attending, is May 5th. That’s 5/5. Keep your eyes peeled.