Since I’m not part of the Snake Fam, I sometimes forget that Taylor Swift has actually been in a very serious relationship for the past four years. Reportedly, Taylor met Joe Alwyn in the fall of 2016, just as she was ending things with Tom Hiddleston (RIP Tiddles). Joe and Taylor were pretty quiet about their relationship for months, but slowly she let the Snake Fam see bits and pieces of her thing with Joe. Throughout the past four years though… this relationship has just been different from anything she’s ever been through. She seems genuinely content with Joe and there hasn’t been the strong “performative love” aspect, which has been common with other boyfriends. Sure, I think Tay and Joe look like brother and sister, but even I have to admit that they seem like a mature match and a good match. So, no surprise, we’re hearing now that Tay and Joe are in it for the long haul.
Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn are “in it for the long haul.” The singer and the actor have been dating for about four years and appear to be stronger than ever. Just last week, they were photographed holding hands on a rare outing in London, where they are quarantining together.
A source tells ET, “Taylor has gotten more and more comfortable being public with Joe and letting fans in on their romance in a way that she feels is still protecting it. She loves Joe so much and, of course, is not trying to hide their relationship, but she prefers to keep specific details private. Taylor and Joe are in it for the long haul and totally see a future with each other. They don’t need outside praise or attention and are so fulfilled just being with each other and growing together as a couple.”
Alwyn and Swift’s time spent together in quarantine, meanwhile, has been great for the pair. They even collaborated on her album, Folklore, with the actor — under the pseudonym William Bowery — co-writing a number of her songs, among them “Betty” and “Exile.”
Last month, another source told ET that the singer’s beau has been a “great support system” as she’s dealt with not only the global threat of the coronavirus, but also her mother’s health battle.
“He is the one constant in her life that she can truly rely on,” ET’s source said. “Joe has helped Taylor with her music, inspiring it. She is so grateful for him and in love with him. He is her cheerleader and rock. They have spoken about their future together and they love celebrating the holidays together.”
I do wonder if either of them wants to get married. I mean… four years, they live together, they collaborate with each other, they’re “in it for the long haul.” Of course no one has to get married and of course marriage isn’t for everyone. I’m just curious about whether they’ve discussed it and decided that they don’t need it. Taylor’s fans are always eager to claim that Taylor will announce, any day now, that she and Joe got hitched, or that she’s wearing a wedding dress in some album artwork therefore they got married in quarantine or something. I always think back to that Graham Norton interview with Taylor and John Cleese, where he spoke about getting a divorce and Taylor joked about that being the reason she wasn’t married. I think she’s very aware of her wealth and how her business would be affected. Hm.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Taylor’s social media.
I could almost see her coming out in a few years and casually mentioning they had married a few years before.
Same. I can’t imagine a boyfriend being cool with all the wedding/babies lyrics if marriage or an engagement is not close LOL
+1. It’s been really pleasing to see her evolve, and a low key long term relationship feels like part of that.
That’s what prenups are for if they decided to get married, especially since Swift is an industry in her own right (her image rights and song deals should be protected, yes)
The “stronger than ever” pr usually heralds a breakup… just sayin’!
But it’s no bad thing to be aware of her own wealth – and for women in general to consider the financial implications of both marriage and eventually divorce… I think the main question might be whether she wants children and when, but they’re young yet 🙂
I almost wonder if this is to combat the whispers that things weren’t great with her and Joe after some of her songs on folklore alluded to heartbreak once again.
Or this could be a precursor to engagement news. Or even Tay leaning on Joe publicly to propose. As the whole thing talks about *her* feelings towards him, it def feels like it’s coming from her camp. It screams “I feel really solid about us and totally see a future with you HINT HINT!”
I have faith her people could draw up an iron-clad pre-nup, I don’t think that’s the issue. I think she’s itching to escalate the relationship. And maybe squash a rumor or two.
You read my mind. This is the playbook pre any Switfy break up and she was trying to be extra secret squirrel with this relationship. Why start leaking to folks about how “strong” and “solid” you are now unless its not?
You should know her PR practice by now she will respond one way or another. She had been pap’ed with Joe in London during lockdown. At the time there was some noise that they broke the lockdown rule, so her PR had to do some explanation. Also if I am right it seems that pap’d picture prompted EOnline! and ET made some enquiries and there are some odd bits of information out there in their article that should raise one’s eye brows.
I really like the outfit Taylor is wearing the top photo! That’s all I’ve got.
I really like the top outfit too.
If she wants kids (and she may not) she’s going to have to deal with this eventually. Because even if she doesn’t marry, whomever she has kids with is going to have his hooks in her financially. She’d have to be with someone on her level, and who is there? Styles? Affleck? (the 2nd one is a joke lol). I dunno. Anyway, I think it’s a sign of maturity that she hasn’t rushed into it with this one.
@darla, I agree that we are seeing a more mature Taylor here. I feel like maybe as few as 5 years ago she would already be married, because of the “fairytale” that inhabits space in so many creatives’ heads. I’m sure she had a vision board of her dress and flowers at some point, but maybe that need for the “Romeo and Juliet” drama and passion has subsided in the years since. We are all entitled to learn and grow. I’m thankful my most prescient learning/growing years weren’t broadcasted to the world.
She wants kids with him. She already sang it on Peace lyrics.
“They don’t need outside praise or attention” but a source has magically brought this information to the press? Ugh. Happy for Taylor because i do think she has finally learned that publicizing your relationship via pap walks and Taymerica photo shoots isnt the wisest. However this line really stuck out to me that somewhere out there Taylor still does need approval despite her success.
I found this line to be so strange. What couple needs outside praise or attention? That’s a bizarre thing to include.
She’s very needy for approval — in her Miss Americana documentary, when she found out Reputation didn’t get nominated for AOTY, her response was “oh, I’ll write a better album next time.” That is…beyond insecure and disappointing. Artists shouldn’t create music solely to win awards, or think that if they’re not nominated that means their work is crap. Stand by your creations that you worked so hard on!
Am hoping she is not so “in love” that she marries without an ironclad pre-nup.
Didn’t they also say that about her coupling with Hiddleston? Lol.
Anyway good luck to them.
She didn’t have feelings for Tom. I thought that was well established 3 years ago when her Reputation album came out (Getaway Car). And when Lover came out 1 year ago, we now know she was just making Joe jealousy.
You can hear in her lyrics that she has gotten a lot more mature about love/relationships during the past few years. I like them together, he seems to be good for her.
Of course there are summer flings/let’s have fun/etc. situations but surely people go into the vast majority of relationships hoping/assuming it’s for the long haul?
But I’m reading that as the average person sat on my sofa not a publicist so who knows what it’s supposed to tell us.
As for marriage it’s not for everyone and societal expectations are being challenged more regularly and openly these days. She says speaking as someone nearly 11 years into a relationship, we’ve bought a house, etc. and marriage just never came up! I’ve asked if it’s something he wants and he’s not fussed which is fine by me.
I have to sides to the same opinion here:
On the one hand, she’s a very shrewd businesswoman and I think is mature enough to understand that marriage may be more of a long-term liability than benefit to her financially. It may be a practical choice that she seems to have veered away from needing that, especially in the wake of losing her masters.
On the other hand, it may be that the relationship is fulfilling enough as it is, where she doesn’t need to marry him. I remember with all my ex-boyfriends there was this wedding fantasy but also a deep insecurity that they didn’t like me as much as I liked them (I was right). When I met my husband, I didn’t dream of marriage the same way, just wanted to spend as much time as possible with him. But the need to marry him simply wasn’t there the same way. So I always see a little of each with her
Taylors parents also divorced after like 30 years of marriage. Taylor hasn’t really spoken publicly about it but I do recall her describing it as “earth shattering”. I’m sure that has maybe changed her views on marriage. If her parents can’t make it when she thought they were in it for the long haul then I would imagine that would turn her into a cynic.
If her recent songs about him (Cowboy like me, Peace, Invisible string) tell us anything, she is romantic and plans to marry him and have kids with him, even if it turns to be a con, she will pay for it anyway. Plus his parents’ marriage is very stable, so she may not lose faith in marriage yet.
Two things can be true at once: she could have matured and not feel a need to put her relationship on display, AND she could really want marriage and for him to propose. I think she really really wants that but wants to put off an image of “meh, maybe we do maybe we don’t.” Like she wants to be seen as cool and blasé about it, but deep down would desperately like to be married. Nothing wrong with that. They have been together 4 years, so it’s not like she’s scaring him off at this point.
I am not speaking to Taylor & Joe here, but for the general population….
We know that many relationships become abusive & the hook of marriage is a common tool for people to feel more secure in being abusive. We know that marriages are more difficult for people to leave. So, I’m all for women who don’t get married quickly or at all. If one of these decisions hinders possible abuse or makes it easier for a woman to leave an abusive relationship, I’m all for it.
Any healthy relationship that can withstand this pandemic has certainly passed the “together” test. I’ve been married almost 40 years, and don’t know if our early years would have survived this!
My husband and I recently talked about this. We’ve got friends who’ve separated during this pandemic. I don’t know if they would have split anyways or if being together for much more time has forced them to face deep seeded issues that they can’t reconcile. But it’s been a shock hearing about some of the splits so I’m inclined to think it’s the second reason.
My husband and I have been married 7 years to your 40. He and I agreed that we’ve grown to like each other even more with all of this together time. It’s been so nice growing even closer. I am really really thankful for that despite this dark year.
And we’ve also been candid with each other and agreed that it’s possible that our first couple of years in our marriage might not have survived this either. What a fascinating journey marriage can be.
I originally thought Joe was a beard because I was convinced Taytay was gay, or bi.
I love TS and hope she is happy with Joe or whomever she chooses to “longhaul” it with.
Honestly, I understand that there’s a history with celebs doing this, but I don’t think she would use a beard now. She’s opened up a lot about her support for LGBTQ fans and has learned from her past mistakes about staying quiet politically. I think she is genuinely in love with Joe.
Now, I’m not saying she can’t be bi and/or hasn’t had some relationships with women in the past that she chose to keep quiet about then. I just think she’s in a different place now than she was when she was younger, and if/when she’s in a relationship with a woman, she won’t hide it with a beard.
If it ain’t broke… don’t rush to marry just to prove something. She seems content, and that’s nice.
Happy for them both. Love her new sound too.
After “Lover,” I was totally sure that they were gearing up for a 2020 or 2021 wedding. I thought they’d announce an engagement early 2020 and then have the wedding either that fall or 2021. But with COVID locking everything down, I think they’re putting off the (formal) engagement and wedding until they can do it up big. T Swift has kept this relationship out of the public eye for the most part but I think for the engagement/wedding period, she wants to be public and have huge parties. If she can’t do it that way, I think she’d rather just not do the engagement/wedding part at all, just live with her partner and have a nice, quiet lockdown life. Maybe we’ll see her throw the splashy well-photographed celebrations in 2022.
This makes a lot of sense. I can’t imagine trying to plan a wedding during this pandemic. If you’re not in a rush, already “together” in every sense, then waiting to have the wedding you want would be wise. She would get so much flack for doing any kind of wedding, you know? She’s under such a microscope. It would take away from the joy of the event.
However, I guess that would depend on her mom’s health. If I was her, I would want my mom to be able to participate in my wedding. That would be a good reason to get married (of COURSE if it’s to the person you’re planning to marry anyway!)
So whoever said they think she’s probably low-key married already, I could also totally see this as what’s happened.
I wish her well. I have really really enjoyed her last two albums. It’s actually nice to know that some songs are about made-up people, not direct parallels to her life. I love the characters and storylines she’s created in these last two albums, as well as the way they sound.
Her PR regarding men always sounds like it was written by an alien who doesn’t understand Earth relationships. So stilted and weird. No one is asking about them so idk why she releases these weird articles every so often (unless she was upset people were speculating her newly-released bonus songs were about Karlie Kloss and wanted to distract from it).
Of course they asked. They were pap’d by DailyMail. So Eonline and ET made enquiries with her PR.
They are the whitest white couple I’ve ever seen.
I feel like they secretly married awhile ago with only family present and will eventually have a party and tell the world. Their life, their business. The trouble will be the snake fam feeling betrayed so hence the slow roll of wedding looking photos as part of album releases and stories about being in it for the long haul. Maybe to get the fans ready….
With that level of wealth and fame, even a pre-nup won’t protect you from years of toxic publicity and stress. Just look at Angelina Jolie. I’m sure Taylor will think very hard if and when she decides to marry. She may be a romantic, but she isn’t stupid.