The True Timeline Of Taylor Swift & Matty Healy's Relationship Confirms What We Suspected
If there's one thing we all know about Taylor Swift, it's that she doesn't kiss and tell; she kisses and sings. Much of what we know about her colorful love life, we only discovered through her songs, and we wouldn't have it any other way. But while we've managed to piece together her romantic history through her albums, even the most dedicated Swiftie will tell you that some mysteries have remained just that — mysteries. That is, until the release of her 11th studio album, "The Tortured Poets Department" (TTPD). As it turns out, the muse behind some of Swift's most head-scratching songs in the past is none other than The 1975's frontman, Matty Healy.
The world simultaneously cheered and booed when Swift and Healy dated in early 2023 before Travis Kelce came into the picture. While their relationship ended sooner than expected, "TTPD" made it pretty clear that there was more to their story than what the tabloids managed to wrangle (more on this later). To the untrained (non-Swiftie) eye, their fling might seem like a blip in Swift's radar, but "TTPD" revealed a connection worthy of a deep dive.
If you're as confused as the next fan, here's the scoop about Swift and Healy's apparent years-long (kind of) romance. From their first meeting in 2014 to the Healy-centric "TTPD" album release, here's what you need to know.
Taylor and Matty's love story began in 2014
Taylor Swift and Matty Healy's love story, or as some might call it, a decade-spanning "situationship," kicked off in November 2014. It all started when The 1975 frontman rocked a "1989" tee at one of his band's gigs — not exactly a grand romantic gesture given that it's also his birth year, but it sure caught Swift's attention. It prompted her to proudly share a photo of Healy on her Tumblr and confess her love for The 1975.
Weeks later, she hit up a The 1975 concert with her besties, where she officially met Healy, whom she swapped digits with backstage. The following day, Swift wore a The 1975 shirt, igniting dating rumors instantly. Playing into the hype, Healy told Shazam 20, "I mean bloody hell, what am I going to do? Go out with Taylor Swift? ... I wouldn't say no," according to E! News. Come December 2014, the streets were saying that they managed to hit it off and started a secret relationship, with Us Weekly reporting that it was Healy who made the first move. "It's very new and they're having fun," a source dished. But Healy was quick to deny the speculations, branding the whole thing a sham like the true London Boy he is — pun intended.
The pair were then spotted hanging out at the afterparty of the Brits in February 2015. But as fate would have it, that was the night Swift met her next beau, Calvin Harris. And well, we all know what happened after.
Matty repeatedly denied dating Taylor
In 2016, Matty Healy appeared to be on a mission to set the record straight about his rumored fling with Taylor Swift, going so far as to call the idea of dating the pop star an "emasculating thing." According to NME, during an interview with Q Magazine, Healy expressed his disdain for being potentially labeled as Swift's man, using err, colorful language to emphasize his point: "If I had gone out with Taylor Swift, I would've been, 'F***ing hell! I am NOT being Taylor Swift's boyfriend. F**K. THAT.'" That statement obviously sent him straight atop Swifties' blacklist.
But in the same interview, Healy admitted that there was indeed little something between him and Swift, labeling it a "flirtation," though he insisted it was nothing to write home about. "She wasn't a big impact on my life," he said. In response to the backlash his comments generated, Healy took to X to share a lengthy explanation, where he lamented being relegated as "somebody's boyfriend" before anyone could appreciate him for his work. "I was being HONEST about all the thoughts, feelings, and situations that come along when people ASSUME you are dating the most famous woman on the planet," he said, as noted by Elle.
He also clarified that he was "not a misogynist" and ended his statement waxing poetic about Swift. "I have said on countless occasions that I found her to be one of the most gracious, hard working, creatively gifted, and beautiful women that I have had the pleasure to meet," he penned.
Taylor and The 1975 collaborated on a track in 2022
It wasn't until late 2019 that Matty Healy started inching his way back into Taylor Swift's orbit — if he even left at all. But at the time, Swift is three years deep into her relationship with Joe Alwyn. On Neil Griffiths' podcast, "The Green Room," Healy came to Swift's defense when it was suggested that her music was all fluff and no substance. "I would never slag Taylor off, I think Taylor's amazing," he said before adding in an offer to collaborate.
But he chickened out when he actually bumped into Swift a few months later, telling Zane Lowe on Apple Music's "New Music Daily" that it was the first time he had seen Swift in a few years. He recalled, "She was just stood behind me ... Unfortunately, it wasn't the time for me to pitch my post-rock Joni Mitchell project." The stars finally aligned in 2022, all thanks to Jack Antonoff, who's practically an extension of Swift's musical brain. Antonoff co-produced The 1975's fifth album and might have also engineered Swift and Healy's reunion.
When Swift's "Midnights" era took off in late 2022, a leaked tracklist that included The 1975 made rounds and sent fans into a frenzy, but Healy dismissed it as fiction. But upon the album's release, he confessed that the collaboration was legit. "We actually worked a bit on that," he revealed to KROQ. "But then the version of it never came out. It was for reasons not to be criticized. She's amazing."
Taylor and Matty went public just a month after the TayJoe split
And so we hit 2023, the year Taylor Swift and Matty Healy finally rekindled their situationship. In January, it was pretty evident that they'd buried the hatchet as Swift made a surprise appearance at one of The 1975's gigs to sing "Anti-hero" live for the first time, alongside a cover of the band's hit "The City."
Fast forward to April, news emerged that Swift and Joe Alwyn had officially parted ways, a breakup that had apparently been official for months. By May, Swift and Healy were already an item, with a source telling The Sun that the two were "madly in love" and stressed that there was "no crossover" as TayJoe had called it quits back in February. And while many fans side-eyed their relationship due to Healy's controversies, including one involving Ice Spice, Swift appeared unfazed. Seriously, just listen to "But Daddy, I Love Him." Plus, an insider also confirmed with ET that it was indeed Jack Antonoff who reunited the two.
Over the following months, Healy was a regular at "The Eras Tour" and Swift's New York City apartment. Swift herself seemed over the moon, telling a Massachusetts crowd that "I've just never been this happy in my life, in all aspects of my life." But approximately two weeks later, their romance met its end. "They are both extremely busy and realized they're not really compatible with each other," a source dished to the outlet.
Taylor's 2024 Tortured Poets album reveals the true nature of their relationship
Alas, nearly a decade after Taylor Swift and Matty Healy met, the real score between them is now as clear as ever, thanks to "TTPD," and well, it's far from the casual fling they let on. It also dawned on fans that some of Swift's past songs that they had a tough time decoding may have been about Healy all this time. And curiously, Swift seems to have more to say about her fleeting moments with him than about her almost marriage with Joe Alwyn. What gives?
The answers are buried in the lyrics, in true Swift fashion. For instance, the track "Guilty As Sin" hints that she daydreamed about Healy while with Alwyn, while "Fresh Out the Slammer" suggests that she was yearning to run "the one who says I'm the girl of his American dreams." In the titular track, she describes Healy as a "tattooed golden retriever" who left a "typewriter at my apartment." Who else do we know has a well-documented obsession with typewriters? In the single "Fortnight," which is a decidedly English term, Swift sings about taking a "miracle move-on-drug," only to realize that it's not what she needed after all.
Don't hold your breath for Swift to ever come out and say any of this explicitly since her songs are as good as official statements. Healy, for his part, isn't losing any sleep about having nearly an entire album dedicated to him, or so says his aunt, Debbie Dedes. "Nothing surprises him any more," she the Daily Mail. "He will not be surprised by the song. Him and her know what went on."