A Timeline of Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston's Relationship
Were we ever so young?
It seems like mere days ago we were a nation blissfully agog at the possibility that a handsome British actor could fall for an American pop songstress. But Tom Hiddleston and Taylor Swift's relationship has indeed fallen by the wayside, perhaps somehow in sync with the changing season. How did we get here? Let's take a look back.
May 2, 2016
Swift was a co-chair at the 2016 Met Gala and attended without her then-boyfriend Calvin Harris. She and Hiddleston apparently engaged in an impromptu dance-off, which left him appreciative, if not over-the-top smitten: "I sat next to her at dinner that night, and she's very charming, she's amazing," he told MTV around the time. "I've seen a couple of her videos."
May 20, 2016
Harris was involved in a car crash after being photographed with Swift earlier that day. He was forced to cancel his show in Vegas the following day.
May 31, 2016
Hiddleston arrived in Los Angeles from London.
June 1, 2016
PEOPLE confirmed exclusively that Swift and Harris split. A source close to the couple told PEOPLE that "there was no drama" surrounding the breakup and that "things just don't work out sometimes. No one cheated." Then things got messy.
June 2, 2016
Harris took to Twitter and tweeted a kind-hearted dispelling of any rumors the breakup wasn't amicable. "The only truth here is that a relationship came to an end & what remains is a huge amount of love and respect," he tweeted, which Swift quickly retweeted.
June 15, 2016
Photos of Hiddleston and Swift cuddling in Rhode Island hit the internet, and the pair's respective fanbases erupted. Amidst all this, Swift and Harris scrubbed their respective social media accounts of all evidence of the relationship and one another.
June 21, 2016
HiddleSwift hit Nashville at a stop on Selena Gomez's Revival tour. OG Swift BFF Abigail Anderson, brother Austin and country singer Kelsey Ballerini were also present.
June 24, 2016
The pair jetted around as only a rich, good-looking power couple could do, with Hiddleston meeting Swift's parents in Nashville and then Swift meeting Hiddleston's mom in England. There was also a stop in Rome for some well-photographed PDA.
July 4, 2016
The accompanying media frenzy that surrounded Swift's annual Fourth of July party in Rhode Island lasted for days, as virtually every aspect of the gathering was scrutinized from multiple angles. One thing was for sure: Hiddleston was there and was wearing, at least for some time being, a tank top that read "I [heart] T.S."
July 7, 2016
The couple headed to Australia, continuing their whirlwind, international tour. Swift also got in a visit to a children's hospital while there.
July 10, 2016
The couple enjoyed an hours-long meal at Gemelli, an Italian restaurant in Gold Coast, Australia. "Taylor told the staff that Italian is her favorite food and she was very excited to try the food," a source told PEOPLE.
July 14, 2016
Hiddleston put to rest any doubts that his relationship with Swift was fake. "It's not a publicity stunt," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "We are together and we're very happy," he added to MTV.
July 15, 2016
Thor: Ragnarok costar Chris Hemsworth said Hiddleston "looks happy." "I haven't met her, personally," he shared of Swift, "but she's obviously hugely talented." He adds that he would love for Swift to "sing a song" for his 4-year-old daughter, India.
July 15, 2016
Hemsworth then presumably met Swift when Hiddleston and the singer took in a private screening of Ghostbusters at an Australian movie theater with Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo.
July 23, 2016
Things were all quiet on the Hiddleswift front for about a week as the singer weathered the storm of the Kim/Kanye/"Famous" narrative that she would very much like to have been excluded from. But she and Hiddleston were later spotted out in Los Angeles, smiling.
July 24, 2016
Hiddleston obliquely mentioned Swift during an appearance at San Diego Comic-Con. Asked how he's handling the attention his relationship has garnered, he responded thusly: "I don't know, it comes down to being authentic," he said. "Everything you do you have to make sure you truly believe in it and as long as you know that, it doesn't matter what anyone else says about it because the nature of being a public figure is that everyone will have an opinion about anything you do, and as long as you know why you’ve done something and you've committed to it with authenticity then you're okay."
July 28, 2016
Hiddleswift were spotted at dinner in Santa Monica, California. "They were tucked away in the second floor of the restaurant," a source told PEOPLE. "They seemed to really be enjoying each others' company."
Aug. 3, 2016
The two were back in L.A. together. "After their long Australia trip, you would think they need some space," a source said at the time. "But they are the happiest when they are together."
Aug. 9, 2016
Hiddleston joined Instagram.
Aug. 12, 2016
Swift followed Hiddleston on Instagram.
Aug. 15, 2016
Hiddleston made some more vague comments about life in the spotlight, again to The Hollywood Reporter: "I've learned that there are many sides to a story, and that sometimes there are a lot of stories out there which are false," he said. "The hardest thing is to try to not let those falsehoods affect your life."
Aug. 17, 2016Swift sent her private plane to pick up Tom, and the pair spent a quiet weekend at her home in Rhode Island.
Sept. 6, 2016Swift and Hiddleston break up, "amicably," following their Rhode Island reunion. And the Internet, again, lost its mind.
