Taylor Swift and Matty Healy: A Complete Timeline of Their Rumored Relationship

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It sounds like Taylor Swift and Matty Healy were more than just a summer fling….

On May 3, 2023, less than a month after news broke that Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn had ended their six-year relationship, The Sun reported that the pop star had moved on with the front man of The 1975. Though many fans initially brushed off the claim that the singers were “madly in love,” it became a lot harder to ignore when Healy flew all the way from the Philippines to watch Swift perform in Nashville two days later.

Following the initial shock, Swift's fans went back into detective mode and even began speculating that Swift and Healy were exchanging romantic messages while onstage. He even ended up performing with Phoebe Bridgers during multiple Eras Tour stops (though his relationship with another Boygenius member appears to have soured—more on that later).

Swifties were divided about the whole thing as Healy faced backlash for years-old quotes about Swift and an even worse (and much more recent) incident involving Ice Spice made the rounds online. Yes, the same rapper Swift tapped for the remix of “Karma.”

As quickly as their alleged affair began, it appeared to fizzle out by June 2023, but the story may not actually end there. From their rumored romance in 2014 to The Tortured Poets Department theories in 2024, here’s everything we know about Taylor Swift and Matty Healy’s relationship.

November 2014: Healy and Swift meet after she attends one of his band’s shows in LA. “We exchanged numbers,” he tells the Australian radio show Shazam Top 20. “I mean, bloody hell, what am I going to do? Go out with Taylor Swift? She’s a sensation; I wouldn’t say no!” From there, both parties are seen wearing each other’s merch.

December 2014: Relationship rumors begin to surface but never seem to go anywhere.

Ellie Goulding, Taylor Swift, Nick Grimshaw, and Matt Healy attend the Universal Music Brits party at The Soho House Pop-Up on February 25, 2015, with Karlie Kloss in the background.

The Universal Music Brits Party At The Soho House Pop-Up

Ellie Goulding, Taylor Swift, Nick Grimshaw, and Matt Healy attend the Universal Music Brits party at The Soho House Pop-Up on February 25, 2015, with Karlie Kloss in the background.
David M. Benett/Getty Images

March 2016: Healy says it would have been “emasculating” to date Swift. “She wasn’t a big impact on my life,” he says in an interview with Q magazine. “It’s just interesting to me how interested the world is about Taylor Swift. The reason I mention that is because if I had [properly] gone out with Taylor Swift, I would’ve been, ‘Fucking hell, I am not being Taylor Swift’s boyfriend.’ You know, ‘Fuck. That.’ That’s also a man thing, a demasculinating, emasculating thing.” Woof.

But he later backtracks in a message to fans. “I have said on countless occasions that I found her to be one of the most gracious, hardworking, creatively gifted, and beautiful women that I have had the pleasure to meet,” he writes, per Elle. “I personally have a lot of respect and admiration for her. Why would I not?”

November 2022: Healy reveals that he’s linked up with Swift for a Midnights collab that ultimately doesn't make the album “for reasons that are not to be criticized.” During his interview with KROQ’s Klein/Ally Show for Audacy’s DTS Sound Space, he adds, “She’s amazing.”

January 12, 2023: Swift performs “Anti-Hero” live for the first time during a surprise appearance at The 1975’s show in London. She also sings a cover of their song “The City.”

April 8, 2023: Multiple publications report that Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn have broken up after six years together. Cheating rumors unrelated to Healy ensue, which you can read about here.

Celebrity Rumors

She’ll never walk Cornelia Street again.

April 21, 2023: Healy seems to apologize for his appearance on The Adam Freidland Show, which included racist and derogatory jabs at Ice Spice. “I just feel a bit bad, and I’m kind of a bit sorry if I’ve offended you,” Healy says during a concert in Auckland, New Zealand. “Ice Spice, I’m sorry. It’s not because I’m annoyed that me joking got misconstrued. It’s because I don’t want Ice Spice to think I’m a dick. I love you, Ice Spice. I’m so sorry.”

May 3, 2023: The Sun reports that Swift and Healy are dating. According to a source, Swift and Alwyn actually broke things off in February 2023, and Swift and Healy have since fallen in love over FaceTime. “She and Matty are madly in love. It’s super-early days, but it feels right. They first dated, very briefly, almost 10 years ago but timings just didn’t work out,” the source says. “Both Matty and Taylor have been touring over the past few weeks, so it’s been a lot of FaceTiming and texting but she cannot wait to see him again.”

May 4, 2023: Healy plays “She’s American” during a performance in the Philippines. “She sure is!” he allegedly tells the crowd before singing the first verse. One fan tweets, “Adding ‘She’s American’ back to the set list right after the Taylor rumors is the funniest thing Matt Healy has ever done.”

During one of his shows in the Philippines, fans also notice Healy mouth something like, “This one’s about you, you know who you are. I love you.” This will be important in a minute.

May 5, 2023: Matt Healy is seen dancing his heart out to “Shake It Off” during the first night of Swift’s Eras Tour run in Nashville.

Swift is also filmed mouthing what appears to be Healy’s exact message during her performance of “Cardigan.” What is going on?!

As one fan writes on TikTok, “This is either a hilarious commitment to the bit, super romantic, or my worst nightmare!”

May 6, 2023: Healy not only attends Swift’s second Nashville show, but he also performs with Swift’s opener Phoebe Bridgers and her Boygenius bandmates.

Following the show, Swift and Healy were photographed in the back of a car on their way to her Nashville condo, per the Daily Mail.

May 8, 2023: Entertainment Tonight reports that sources close to the rumored couple confirm that they “like each other.” But do they like like each other?

In the same report, a separate source claims that Healy and Swift were “reconnected” by Swift’s longtime collaborator and friend Jack Antonoff. “Taylor and Matty have been hanging out recently and Jack Antonoff reconnected them,” the source tells the outlet.

Days after the news of her breakup with Joe Alwyn went public, Swift is seen grabbing dinner with Antonoff and his fiancée, Margaret Qualley. Could this dinner have been the genesis of Mattlor? (Tatty? What should we call these two?) We’ll probably never know.

May 11, 2023: Swift and Healy are photographed holding hands while out to dinner in NYC with Jack Antonoff. An unnamed “eyewitness” tells Page Six that Swift and Healy “sat next to each other at a banquette in the lounge” at Casa Cipriani and were seen “cuddling and kissing.”

May 12, 2023: Healy joins Bridgers onstage for the opening of Swift’s Eras Tour concert in Philadelphia. He’s later spotted enjoying Swift’s performance from the VIP tent with Sabrina Carpenter and Blake Lively.

Matthew Healy performs onstage with Phoebe Bridgers in the set opener during Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour at Lincoln Financial Field on May 12, 2023, in Philadelphia.

Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour - Philadelphia, PA

Matthew Healy performs onstage with Phoebe Bridgers in the set opener during Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour at Lincoln Financial Field on May 12, 2023, in Philadelphia.
Lisa Lake/TAS23/Getty Images

A source tells Entertainment Tonight that Swift has fully “moved on” from Joe Alwyn and is “enjoying her time” with the 1975 front man. “Taylor and Matty have known each other and have history, so there’s a comfortability factor there, but also feelings of excitement,” the source says.

May 15, 2023: Did he charm her dad with self-effacing jokes? Healy is in with Papa Swift, a huge endorsement. After making friends with her friends, Healy is spotted at one of Taylor’s Philly concerts hanging out with none other than Scott Swift, as captured by a fan in the crowd.

May 18, 2023: A source tells the Daily Mail that Alywn feels “feels slighted and is distraught” over his ex-girlfriend’s “budding relationship.”

According to the source, Alwyn is not happy she moved on from their relationship so soon, especially with someone she collaborated with while still dating Alwyn. “Joe was aware that Taylor and Matt were making music together and collaborating. She told him that they had become friends and he trusted her,” the source says, though they deny the relationships overlapped.

May 19, 2023: A source tells the now defunct news site The Messenger that Swift and Healy “have been inseparable” since reconnecting through mutual friends. “Things moved very quickly and she was swept off her feet,” the source says, adding that Healy has met Swift’s family and “fits right in as if they have been dating for years.”

May 20, 2023: Just before singing “Question…?” during her performance at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, Swift gives a rare update on how she’s been feeling. “Oh, my gosh, this is insane,” she says. “I kinda just feel like telling you, I don’t know, I’ve just never been this happy in my life in all aspects of my life ever before.”

She continues, “I don’t know, it’s not just the tour. I just sort of feel like my life feels like it finally makes sense. So I thought I’d play this song, which brings me a lot of happy memories.”

All aspects of her life…not just the tour…? Hey, Taylor, can I ask you a question?

May 23, 2023: Taylor’s been spotted at Electric Lady Studios in NYC a lot, prompting speculation about her next album. Now there’s a rumor that Healy is involved as more than just a muse. “It’s been decided that he will help her pen songs for her next album, and he might even provide some vocals if it works for the tracks,” a source tells UK tabloid The Sun, adding, “Ideally, he would like a proper collab, with the whole band involved. That’s the only way Matty will ever appear onstage with her. He feels he has to earn it.”

A proper collab is for sure a Brit turn of phrase. So his team’s leaking (probably, maybe). Of course, they want the Swift bump up the charts!

May 24, 2023: They’re spotted making out at Zero Bond in NYC while hanging with the usual clique of Kravitz, Antonoff, and Qualley. This is just hours after Swift announces a remix of “Karma” with Ice Spice and a new song called “You’re Losing Me” that miiiiiiight be about a certain recent breakup?

May 27, 2023: The Sun reports that Matty Healy is moving in with Taylor Swift to work on her next album. “He and Taylor are so loved up and want to spend as much time together as they can,” an “insider” tells the publication. “Matty has already told The 1975 team that he’ll be doing all the band demos in America for the foreseeable future. He will work on his parts for their collaboration while she is on tour and has scheduled time to attend select shows to gather inspiration for her next album.”

Obviously, this should be taken with a heavy grain of salt considering the source, but The Sun was the first to report the initial Swift-Healy dating rumors, so…do with that information what you will.

Regarding the current state of Swift and Healy’s relationship, the Sun’s source adds, “Matty is Joe 2.0—her superstar status doesn’t faze him in the slightest.”

June 5, 2023: Over so soon? TMZ reports on June 5 that Taylor Swift and Matty Healy have called it quits, just a little over a month after it was first reported that the two were dating. Quoting “a friend close to the situation,” the outlet says that Blondie is once again “single.”

Though their relationship status has yet to be confirmed by either party (and likely won’t be), Healy has already returned to his onstage antics—particularly his tendency to make out with fans while onstage, a shtick he appeared to give up during his rumored romance with Taylor. Over the weekend in Denmark, the singer is photographed kissing a security guard midperformance.

June 5, 2023, later that day: Tree Paine is up and at ’em. “They are both extremely busy and realized they’re not really compatible with each other,” a “source” tells ET, adding, “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.” Emphasis ours. Meanwhile, Us gets the quote that “they had fun together, but it was never serious."

June 5, 2023, nighttime: Healy and The 1975 take the stage in Vienna, where he addresses the crowd. “[Fans at] the front had some very beautiful signs that said, ‘You are loved.’ That was very, very kind of you and I’m sure that it’s alluding to… As you’re aware, I’m not very online at the moment and I’m sure people have just been calling me a c-nt relentlessly. I’ve not been online,” he says, per People. “But what I have been with is with my boys [in the band] and honestly as much as I appreciate that—it’s so beautiful, and I thank you, but—I don’t need it ’cause I’ve got them.” The outlet also quotes an “insider” as saying that Matty and Tay “were never boyfriend-girlfriend and were always just having fun…. There is no drama, and who knows what could happen again. It was a good time and ran its course.” Emphasis ours.

July 26, 2023: Swift gets a shout-out from football player Travis Kelce on his New Heights podcast in late July. “I was disappointed that she doesn’t talk before or after her shows because she has to save her voice for the 44 songs that she sings,” Kelce tells his cohost and brother Jason Kelce at the time. “So I was a little butt-hurt I didn’t get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her.”

August 2023: Swift and Kelce start dating in secret.

September 24, 2023: Swift attends her first Chiefs game…and the Traylor saga truly kicks off. You can read all about them here.

Celebrity News

It all started with a friendship bracelet.

September 25, 2023: Healy reportedly deactivates his X.com account after a brutal (and much-deserved) shutdown by Boygenius member Lucy Dacus. In some kind of attempt at his usual brand of edgelord comedy, Healy tweets that he doesn't hear from Dacus “that often” after telling her the name of her band inspired him to start a new band, switching out “boy” for “girl” and “genius” for the R-word….

Her response: “You don't hear from me at all.”

February 4, 2024: Swift announces her next album, The Tortured Poets Department. Most fans prepare for a Joe Alwyn breakup album to drop on April 19.

February 8, 2024: Healy gives a cryptic speech during a concert in Glasgow, which some fans believe is aimed at Taylor Swift. “Do not come for me. Trust me. You know who I’m talking to,” he tells the crowd, per a fan-recorded video. “Honestly, I am as mental as I seem. I have the receipts. Don't fuck with me.”

April 17, 2024: As an alleged Tortured Poets leak makes the rounds online, many Swifties claim the album focuses more on Healy than Alwyn, especially the song, “But Daddy I Love Him.”

“Taylor Swift basically defending Matty and denouncing her ‘fans’ for ruining things was not on my 2024 bingo card but…we love to see it,” reads one tweet, while another user writes, “The Tortured Poets Department being about Matty Healy and not Joe Alwyn is the gag of the century.”

According to one user, Swift may even reveal that Healy ghosted her toward the end of their romance, writing, “Imagine telling the whole world that not only did you date Matty Healy but you also got ghosted by him.”

April 19, 2024: Taylor Swift releases The Tortured Poets Department and it's 15-track extension, TTPD: The Anthology. Fans immediately connect a slew of songs to Healy, including the particularly scathing “But Daddy I Love Him,” which appears to chastise fans for “sanctimonious” critiques of their relationship.

“I'll tell you something right now, I'd rather burn my whole life down than listen to one more second of all this bitchin' and moanin’,” she sings, in part. “I'll tell you something ‘bout my good name: It's mine alone to disgrace. I don't cater to all these vipers dressed in empath's clothing.”

And here's the bridge:

God save the most judgmental creeps
Who say they want what's best for me
Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I'll never see
Thinkin' it can change the beat
Of my heart when he touches me
And counteract the chemistry
And undo the destiny
You ain't gotta pray for me
Me and my wild boy and all of this wild joy
If all you want is gray for me
Then it's just white noise, and it's just my choice

In her 11th studio album, Swift grapples with the consequences of the monoculture she’s built around herself.

While songs like “But Daddy I Love Him,” “Down Bad,” “Fresh Out the Slammer,” and “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)” seemingly paint a frenetic picture of the tryst, other songs may suggest the relationship was more serious and heartbreaking for Swift than previously believed. Among the many tracks fans have tied to Healy, many claim the musician is the central focus of “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” which suggests Swift was ghosted by the musician.

“Was any of it true? Gazing at me starry-eyed in your Jehovah's Witness suit,” she sings. “Who the fuck was that guy? You tried to buy some pills from a friend of friends of mine. They just ghosted you. Now you know what it feels like.”

Following the album's release, a source tells UsWeekly that Healy “couldn’t be happier” with how the album depicted their relationship, which the source says was “fast, but extremely passionate and real.

“Matty still thinks very highly of Taylor but we were all nervous about what she might have said on the album,” the source says. “Matty’s family knew about the relationship and they were worried that Taylor was going to rip him apart. Matty has struggled with life in the public eye, and he’s been doing really well, but the last thing that he needs is for every Swiftie in the world to think he’s a villain.”

According to the source, Healy was given a heads up about the album from Swift's team and “was worried that their story would be shed in a negative light.” Now, the source says Healy is “happy he can move on with less anxiety.”

Celebrity News

Some fans think he got two songs—others think he got more than that.

This post will be updated.


Originally Appeared on Glamour