Since Taylor Swift and Matty Healy‘s rumoured romance made headlines earlier this month, Swifties, in true fashion, have gone into a deep detective dive, taking a look back at their years-long relationship — from friends and a previous rumoured romance in 2014 to being romantically linked yet again, nearly a decade later.
Old photos and clips of the pair have began to resurface, especially after this weekend, when rumours became hard to ignore after Healy was spotted attending all three of Swift’s Eras Tour shows in Nashville.
As dating rumours continue to heat up, ET Canada is taking a look back at the pair’s longtime relationship, including both friendly and flirty.
November 2014
On November 7, 2014, Healy went viral after wearing a T-shirt from Swift’s 1989 album merchandise while performing at the Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee. The lead singer of The 1975 caught Swift’s attention — she re-shared a pic of Healy on her personal Tumblr, captioning the post, “#thats my favorite band though #WHAT.”
MATTY HEALY IS TAYLOR SWIFT AF #1989 pic.twitter.com/d12MP8iCiR
— kelly (@tweetsbykell) November 8, 2014
Matty reppin Taylor Swift at Milwaukee
The 1975 + 1989 =
pic.twitter.com/qt40f8tFVU — CJ
(Taylor's Version) (@slayertswift) November 8, 2014
Two weeks later, on November 20, Swift met Healy backstage after attending his band’s concert in L.A. with her bestie, Selena Gomez, and Ellie Goulding.
The 1975 at The Palladium. @selenagomez @elliegoulding
(Nov 21, 2014) pic.twitter.com/xX48DHdOxx— Taylor Swift’s old account (@ts_old_tweets) September 30, 2022
Two days later, Swift was spotted wearing a tank top with The 1975’s logo.
Taylor wearing The 1975's Shirt in LA today
OMG! I need that shirt! #MTVStars Taylor Swift pic.twitter.com/nmCPrmmNZM — chica (@Tswiwzled) November 23, 2014
READ MORE: Swifties Are Convinced Taylor Swift Is About To Publish A Memoir After Sifting Through Clues
On November 29, 2014, Healy revealed that he and Swift “exchanged numbers” when they met at his L.A. concert a few weeks earlier.
“I met Taylor Swift, that was really nice,” he told Shazam Top 20 during a radio interview.
“We exchanged numbers. Let’s see what happens,” he continued. “I mean bloody hell, what am I going to do? Go out with Taylor Swift? She’s a sensation, I wouldn’t say no.”
December 2014
In December, dating rumours began to spread as Swift attended another 1975 concert on Dec. 4, this time in New York City where she was seen dancing with her gal pals — Victoria Secret models, Martha Hunt, Lily Aldridge, and Karlie Kloss, plus all three Haim sisters. One day later, Swift and Healy’s rumoured romance made headlines, but it never seemed to go anywhere. A few days later, on Dec. 8, the “All Too Well” singer asked the public “to stop accusing all my friends of dating me” in a since-deleted tweet.
December 4, 2014: Taylor at the 1975 Concert in New York City, New York pic.twitter.com/mfe4lwNFKg
— Taylor Throwbacks (@ThrowbackTaylor) December 4, 2019
Sure, the 1975 tour in 2022 is wild. But if you lived through the 2014 era… I’ve seen some shit. #taylorswift #the1975 #the1975live #midnights #karliekloss
December 8, 2014: Taylor via twitter “As my 25th birthday present from the media, I'd like for you to stop accusing all my friends of dating me. #thirsty” pic.twitter.com/He4Dlg56iU
— Taylor Throwbacks (@ThrowbackTaylor) December 8, 2019
January 2015
Dating speculation followed Swift and Healy into the new year, which the latter addressed in another radio interview with Australia’s 2DayFM.
“It’s all bloody fake. It’s a farce,” Healy told the outlet.
“We met each other, we exchanged numbers in the same way that a lot of people in this kind of world do, and we spoke occasionally,” he explained. “She’s the biggest pop star in the world and I’m in Australia. There’s no relationship or anything happening. It’s just funny how people really, really buy into that.”
February 2015
On February 25, 2015, Healy and Swift hung out at Universal Music’s BRITs Awards after-party at London’s Soho House. The two celebrated her award win for international female solo artist with Kloss, Goulding and more.
One more…..Matt Healy at the 2015 Brit Awards….and yes that is the beautiful Taylor Swift:-) pic.twitter.com/UlJwrk9Mlu
— musiq_vibes
(@perez_tj) March 3, 2015
March 2016
One year later, in an interview with with Q magazine, Healy reflected on being linked to Swift in the media, criticizing tabloids’ reports on their relationship, which he described as a “flirtation.”
“I didn’t make a big deal out of it myself,” he said, as per NME. “It’s not really anything to talk about, because if she wasn’t Taylor Swift we wouldn’t be talking about her. She wasn’t a big impact on my life. It’s just interesting to me how interested the world is about Taylor Swift.”
“If I had gone out with Taylor Swift I would’ve been, ‘F**king hell! I am not being Taylor Swift’s boyfriend.’ You know, ‘F**k. That.’ That’s also a man thing, a de-masculinating, emasculating thing.”
Healy later clarified his comments to Elle: “I was for a very short time immersed in a celebrity world that I found confusing and scary. At that time, I had fears of being ‘somebody’s boyfriend’ before even being recognized for my music or presence as a person in my own right.”
He went on to call Swift “one of the most gracious, hard-working, creatively gifted, and beautiful women that I have had the pleasure to meet.”
“I personally have a lot of respect and admiration for her,” he added. “Why would I not?”
READ MORE: Taylor Swift Reveals Next ‘Taylor’s Version’ Re-Recorded Album
September 2022
Prior to the release of Swift’s 10th studio album Midnights, rumours began circulating that a nonexistent song titled “In My Dreams” featuring The 1975 was part of the tracklist. Healy shut down the album “leak” on Twitter, writing: “I would love that! But unfortunately FAKE NEWS.” He’s since deleted his account.
November 2022
After Midnights was released on October 21, just one week after The 1975 released their fifth album Being Funny In a Foreign Language, Healy revealed that Swift heard parts of his album before it came out because of their mutual friend and producer, Jack Antonoff, who produced both albums.
He further revealed that he and Swift “actually worked a bit on” her song “Midnights” together, “but then the version of it never came out.”
“It was for reasons that are not to be criticized,” he added during his interview with Audacy’s DTS Sound Space. “She’s amazing.”
December 2022
In December 2022, Healy shared a steamy pic of himself kissing Phoebe Bridgers amid reports that the singer had broken up with Paul Mescal and that she’d been hanging out with comedian Bo Burnham. As the two kissed in the pic, Burnham stood in the middle with his arms around them. The photo is no longer available after Healy deleted his account. Both Healy and Swift have been longtime friends and collaborators with Bridgers, whom is also one of Swift’s opening acts on The Eras Tour.
“GAY POETS SOCIETY”
MATTY HEALY, PHOEBE BRIDGERS & BO BURNHAM pic.twitter.com/I7U0dbVnP1
— The 1975 Online
(@the1975online) December 13, 2022
January 2023
On January 12, 2023, Swift surprised fans when she hit the stage at The O2 in London during The 1975’s At Their Very Best Tour, where she performed her hit “Anti-Hero” for the first time live, and an acoustic cover of the band’s “The City”.
READ MORE: Sky Sports’ F1 Commentators Poke Fun At Fernando Alonso Amid Taylor Swift Romance Rumours
May 2023
After news broke in April that Swift and Joe Alwyn’s six-year relationship had come to an end, The Sun sparked dating rumours between the global pop star, 33, and Healy, 34, in a May 3 report citing that they “are madly in love.”
“They first dated, very briefly, almost 10 years ago but timings just didn’t work out,” a source told the publication, adding that they’ve both “been touring over the past few weeks, so it’s been a lot of FaceTiming and texting but she cannot wait to see him again.”
On May 4, Healy performed “She’s American” in the Philippines, wrapping the band’s Australian and Asian tour leg. Before singing the first verse, he allegedly told the crowd: “She sure is!”
According to fans, during one of the shows in the Philippines, Healy mouthed something along the lines of: “This one’s about you, you know who you are. I love you.”
adding she’s american back to the setlist right after the taylor rumors is the funniest thing matty healy has done https://t.co/BaDbiViSGU
— LYSS (@Lyssuhh7) May 4, 2023
On May 5, videos of Healy dancing to Swift’s “Shake It Off” went viral as he attended the first night of the Eras Tour in Nashville.
Matty at the Eras Tour in Nash! #tserastour #taylorswift #matthealy #erastournashville
On May 6, Healy supported Swift again during her second Nashville show at Nissan Stadium. This time, he joined Bridgers onstage, playing guitar during her opening set.
MATTY HEALY IS PLAYING AT THE ERAS TOUR! Amid rumors that he’s dating Taylor Swift, The 1975’s lead singer joined @phoebebridgers on stage dressed as a skeleton on night two of the #ErasTourNashville pic.twitter.com/DLU46l9Fpt
— HOT 106.7 (@hot1067) May 7, 2023
When he wasn’t onstage, he was watching from the VIP section where he was also spotted singing along to “Lover”.
| Matty disfrutando la canción 'Lover' esta noche en Nashville, USA durante el concierto de Taylor Swift (The Eras Tour). Estuvo presente en el show de ayer también. #NashvilleTSTheErasTour#MattyHealy pic.twitter.com/IiY24GGknj — The 1975 Bolivia (@the1975bolivia) May 7, 2023
Following Swift’ second hometown show, she was photographed with Healy. The pics saw the pair in the back of their chauffeured car before arriving at Swift’s Nashville condo.
On May 7, Healy was back in the crowd to watch Swift’s third and final Eras Tour show in Nashville.
After their weekend fling, sources told ET on May 8 that Swift and Healy “like each other,” noting that “Taylor has a crush on Matty and they are having a good time hanging out.
“Matty also thinks Taylor is awesome and incredibly talented, too,” the source added.
Another source told ET that “Taylor and Matty have been hanging out recently [after] Jack Antonoff reconnected them.”