The British actor and the pop superstar, who released their latest album “The Tortured Poets Department” on April 19, were together for six years until early 2023.
Joe Alwyn came into the spotlight when he started dating Taylor Swift in 2016.
The couple’s split was confirmed by PEOPLE in April 2023, and a year after the split, a source from Alwyn told PEOPLE that the 33-year-old British actor intentionally maintained his relationship with the pop superstar, who just released her latest album. The Tormented Poets section — from the public.
When friends found out he was dating Swift, 34, “(the relationship) was a surprise to a lot of people,” the source says, adding, “But he didn’t want to brag about it.”
Despite the high level of public interest in the relationship, Alwyn wanted the romance to remain “his personal story,” the source says.
Related: Taylor Swifts Tortured poets Lyrics in detail Anger and heartbreak in the relationships between Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy
In her latest effort, Swift sings about feeling trapped and lonely as a romance falls apart. “I stopped trying to make him laugh / Stopped trying to break open the safe,” she narrates in “So Long, London,” which seems to have been inspired by her breakup with Alwyn. “And I’m mad that you let me give you all this youth for nothing.”
And on “Fresh Out the Slammer,” the pop star goes on to talk about how isolated she felt: “Another summer in hiding / Rolling thunder, he don’t understand me / Back in the winter split / Silent dinner, bitter that he was with her in her dreams.”
Related: What’s Joe Alwyn been up to since splitting from Taylor Swift? Inside his past year as he heads to Cannes with his new film
During their six-year romance, Alwyn and Swift were very private about their relationship and often dodged engagement rumors.
“If I had a pound every time someone told me I was engaged, I would have a lot of pound coins,” said the Conversations with friends Stern told WSJ. Magazine in April 2022.
“I mean, the truth is, if the answer was yes, I wouldn’t say it, and if the answer was no, I wouldn’t say it,” he added.
Related: Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn’s relationship timeline
The actor was first publicly linked to the “Karma” singer in May 2017, when it was revealed that they had been secretly dating for months. Fans speculate that the two first crossed paths at the 2016 Met Gala.
Although the former couple kept their cards on the table during their years together, they attended several events, including the premiere of Alwyn’s film The favorite at the 2018 New York Film Festival, the 2019 BAFTAs and the 2020 Golden Globes.
At the time of their split, a source close to the couple told PEOPLE that the split was largely due to “differences in their personalities” and that they “ultimately weren’t a good fit for each other.”
Since their split, Swift – who has since moved on with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce – has performed around the world as part of her record-breaking Eras Tour and recorded her new studio album.
Meanwhile, Alwyn is preparing for the release of his latest film. Types of kindness.
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With Swift’s friend Emma Stone, with whom Alwyn appeared in “The Last Man” in 2018. The favoriteThe film is “a triptych-like fable about a man without choices who tries to take control of his life; a policeman alarmed because his wife, missing at sea, has returned and seems to be a different person; and a woman determined to find a certain someone with a special ability who is destined to become an extraordinary spiritual leader,” according to an official synopsis.
The film also stars Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Jesse Plemons, Hong Chau, Mamoudou Athie and Hunter Schaefer. The film is set to have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May and will be released in the US on June 21.
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