What Really Went Wrong With Taylor Swift And Tom Hiddleston?

Taylor Swift is notorious for her quick, fiery relationships with A-List celebs — and all the hit breakup songs that follow. She's been linked to guys like Harry Styles, John Mayer, Joe Jonas, and most recently, actor Tom Hiddleston. According to Elle, Hiddleswift first met at the Met Gala in May 2016 while Swift was still dating Calvin Harris. One breakup and a couple months later, paparazzi spotted Swift and Hiddleston cuddling in Rhode Island. By September of the same year, Us Weekly reported that Hiddleswift had broken up, and the world was left wondering: what really went wrong with Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston?

When Swift and Hiddleston first hit it off, Swift was still with Harris. When Swift and Hiddleston were first photographed together, it had only been 13 days since TMZ reported the Swift-Harris breakup. And while at first the breakup seemed amicable, eventually news broke that perhaps Swift had cheated on Harris with Hiddleston. Harris stole a page from the (very long) Swift book and released a single, "Ole," reportedly about Swift's cheating ways. Whatever happened, Swift moved on to the relationship with Hiddleston very quickly — and it ended almost as quickly as it started.

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In the few short weeks Hiddleswift was official, they did things that take most other couples months to do. A little over a week after The Sun first published photos of Hiddleswift, they took a vacation to Italy, met the parents, and spent a holiday weekend with Swift's friends in just a matter of a few weeks. To be fair, celebrity relationships are never quite normal (especially Swift's). However, this one moved so quick it's no surprise it burned out so fast.

Swift had two things working against her in this relationship. First, she's known for using her love life as inspiration for her chart-topping albums. And second, the relationship was blazing fast and unexpected — leading many people to question just how real Hiddleswift actually was. E! questioned if their relationship was a publicity stunt, perhaps to gather press for Hiddleston or distract fans from the whole Kanye West/Kim Kardashian/Taylor Swift feud.

For what it's worth: when GQ posed the question to Hiddleston in a 2017 interview, he replied, "Of course it was real." So, at least there's that!

Hiddleswift left us dumbfounded in August 2016 when they officially ended their whirlwind relationship. Us Weekly reported that the two had a "major argument" at the beginning of August, and subsequently split. A source told Us Weekly that Swift was the one who called things off, saying "Tom wanted the relationship to be more public than she was comfortable with."

Given how public her breakup from Calvin Harris had become during the course of her relationship with Hiddleston, we can't really say we blame her.

Before dating Swift, Hiddleston was relatively unknown in the States. That all changed the moment he was seen in an "I [Heart] T.S." tank top during a star-studded Fourth of July party. Swift's relationships are always highly publicized, which perhaps Hiddleston wasn't truly ready for. "A relationship in the limelight... a relationship always takes work," Hiddleston told GQ in 2017. "A relationship in the limelight takes work. And it's not just the limelight. It's everything else."

Speaking of that infamous "I [Heart] T.S." tank top, Tom was really hurt by the backlash he received after being photographed in the silly top. "If you're under attack," he said in a 2017 interview with GQ, "if your values are under attack, if you're being shamed, if you're being humiliated, the animal response is to hide in the bush." We can't help but wonder, though, what exactly that little PDA was all about. According to Hiddleston, "It was a joke," he told GQ.

"The truth is, it was the Fourth of July and a public holiday and we were playing a game and I slipped and hurt my back," he said. "And I wanted to protect the graze from the sun and said, 'Does anyone have a T-shirt?' And one of her friends said, 'I've got this' ... and we all laughed about it."

Swift has been pretty quiet in the months following her breakup with Hiddleston. According to E!, she's currently working on new music in Nashville. As for whether or not she'll follow in her own ex-boyfriend bashing lyrical footsteps, we can't be too sure. According to Us Weekly, a source said Swift and Hiddleston continue to "get along great and will remain friends."

Hiddleston, meanwhile, has nothing but kind things to say about Swift. "Taylor is an amazing woman," he told GQ. "She's generous and kind and lovely, and we had the best time.

"I only know the woman I met," he added. "She's incredible." Well, maybe there won't be a break-up song after all!