Who is Matty Healy?
We’ll get this out of the way first - Matty Healy, 34, is an English singer and musician who is part of the band, The 1975.
The son of English actress and television personality Denise Welch, Matty has had a tumultuous relationship with fame, retreating back and forth between over-sharing on social media and disappearing and deactivating his accounts completely.
Throughout his time in the spotlight, Matty has dated a number of notable names including FKA Twigs, Gabriella Brooks and Halsey.
Did Taylor Swift and Matty Healy date?
November 2014
It’s believed the pair first met back in 2014 when Taylor attended The 1975’s concert in LA alongside Selena Gomez.
"We exchanged numbers," Matty told Aussie reality show Shazam Top 20. “I mean, bloody hell, what am I going to do? Go out with Taylor Swift? She's a sensation; I wouldn't say no!”
Mere days after attending the concert Taylor was spotted wearing a The 1975 T-shirt, then (brace yourselves) Matty was spotted wearing a 1989 T-shirt and Tumblr collectively lost its mind.
By December 2014, rumours began circulating that the pair were dating after Taylor was spotted at another concert alongside Karlie Kloss.
However, the rumours seemed to fizzle out pretty quickly, apart from a few pictures of the pair attending the Universal Music Brits party in February 2015.
December 2016
Almost two years after fans speculated that the pair dated, Matty spoke out on the rumours, telling Q Magazine that the idea of being Taylor Swift’s boyfriend was “demasculinating ” and “emasculating.”
Yeah. The same guy who is now supposedly dating the pop star had some pretty choice words at the time. But then again, he's known for saying an unhinged thing or two from time to time - even about his closest friends.
"So the one time I did have a flirtation with a girl, it ends up going everywhere...I mean, I got on E! News and people were like, 'Who's Matt Healy?' so that was cool," he told the publication.
"But I didn't make a big deal out of it myself. 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. The reason I mention that is because if I had [properly] 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 demasculinating, emasculating thing."
Matty later backtracked on he remarks, explaining that his comments were taken out of context.
“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 told Elle. “I personally have a lot of respect and admiration for her. Why would I not?’”
At the time of publication, Taylor Swift was dating Calvin Harris and didn’t make any comment on the quotes.
November 2022
For the next few years, any rumours of the pair dissipated as Taylor began dating Joe Alwyn, apart from Matty confirming that he collaborated with Taylor for a song on her Midnights album, which unfortunately didn't make the album “for reasons that are not to be criticized.”
“She’s amazing,” he added during the interview.
January 2023
On January 12 Taylor Swift shocked fans when she appeared at The 1975’s show in London, performing Anti-Hero for the first time live.
She also sang a cover of The 1975’s song, The City, but fans didn’t think much of it considering she was rumoured to have replaced Harry Styles as the surprise guest at the last minute.
Watch Below: Taylor Swift performs at The 1975 concert
May 2023
After news broke that Taylor and Joe split in April, The Sun reported that she was now dating Matty Healy.
“She and Matty are madly in love,” a source told the publication on May 3. “It’s super-early days, but it feels right. They first dated, very briefly, almost ten years ago but timings just didn’t work out.”
“Both Matty and Taylor have been touring over the past few weeks, so it’s been a lot of Face-Timing and texting but she cannot wait to see him again...But as two international megastars, they understand the pressures of one another’s jobs better than anyone, and are incredibly supportive of their respective careers.”
“They are both massively proud and excited about this relationship and, unlike Taylor’s last one — which was very much kept out of the spotlight, deliberately — she wants to ‘own’ this romance, and not hide it away,” the source continued.
“Taylor just wants to live her life, and be happy. She’s told pals Matty is flying to Nashville over the weekend to support her on the next leg of her tour.”
Watch Below: Matty Healy sings 'She's American' amid Taylor Swift dating rumours
Adding fuel to the fire, The 1975 played their song She’s American on May 4, which fans believe was an obvious sign that the pair are officially dating - especially considering the track was not part of previous set lists.
“This one’s about you, you know who you are. I love you,” he appeared to mouth to the camera during the song.
Watch Below: Matty Healy spotted at The Eras Tour
Whilst there was a bit of chatter about the rumours initially, things really ramped up when Matty was spotted at Taylor’s concert in Nashville on May 5, seemingly confirming that at least a part of the source’s information was correct.
TikTok well and truly (and understandably) lost the plot, with Swifties sharing clips of Matty dancing to The Eras setlist alongside Phoebe Bridgers.
Which leads to the question…how accurate is the rest of the source's tip?
The following night on May 6, Matty was once again in attendance at Taylor’s concert, even performing with Phoebe Bridgers and her Boygenious bandmates as the opening act for the night.
The DailyMail also obtained photos that appear to show Taylor Swift and Matty Healy arriving at Taylor’s condo following her concert…..which begs the question, are Taylor Swift and Matty Healy legitimately dating?
One fan succinctly summed up how we felt on TikTok, commenting, “This is either a hilarious commitment to the bit, super romantic, or my worst nightmare!” And we can’t help but agree!
June 2023
And just like that it appears this relationship is over! Whether it was real or not, it looks like whatever may have been happening between Matty Healy and Taylor Swift is done and dusted according to recent reports.
A close friend first told Page Six that Taylor was “single” again but didn't reveal the reason behind the pair's split.
However, a source later told Entertainment Tonight that scheduling and incompatibility were the causes.
“Taylor and Matty broke up. They are both extremely busy and realised they’re not really compatible with each other,” the source explained.
“Taylor’s friends want what’s best for her and aren’t shocked that their relationship fizzled out since she recently got out of a long-term relationship.”
August 2023
As Taylor travels the globe on her Eras Tour, it appears that Matty has reconnected with his former flame Meredith Mickelson.
According to The Mirror, Matty and Meredith were initially together during the early part of this year, with a source telling the publication that Meredith "thought nothing" of Matty's time in the studio with Taylor.
"He'd spend the day in the studio then come home to her. Things were going well until around March 29 then, out of the blue, he stopped replying to messages and calls," the insider told The Mirror.
"Four weeks later, he went public with Taylor. She was totally blindsided and, of course, it stung her a bit."
It appears any hard feelings between the couple have since been put aside, with photographs emerging of Matty and Meredith sharing an affectionate moment outside a restaurant in Los Angeles.
September 2023
On September 6, Taylor's ex Joe Alwyn made his highly anticipated return to Instagram after nearly four months.
Fans of Taylor and Joe were quickly sent into a frenzy trying to decode his cryptic photo dump, with many drawing references to Taylor's lyrics in his supposed subtle hints.
According to a number of eagle-eyed Swifties on social media, Joe made a number of subtle hints towards Taylor's later discography, with his childhood photo potentially hinting at the "Peter losing Wendy" lyric in Cardigan and his line drawing of a building facade being oddly reminiscent of Taylor's home on Cordelia Street.
Although we can't be entirely sure if Joe's sudden return to Instagram was a truly Taylor-coded event, we'll be sure to keep a close eye out for any glimpse of the former couple.
On the same day that Joe made his return to social media, Matty was spotted out and about with his rumoured new love interest, Gabbriette Bechtel.
The news of Matty's potential new romance comes just over one month since the Daily Mail reported that his rekindled relationship with ex-girlfriend Meredith Mickelson was growing more serious, with the publication reporting that the pair were embarking on a tropical holiday.
"Matty is in Hawaii with the band and the whole of their crew. They had a show in Hawaii... and they've stayed on for a short break as a thank you for everyone's hard work," a source told the publication.
Just over one week later, The Messenger reported that Taylor Swift and NFL star Travis Kelce have been getting to know each other for a few weeks.
"Taylor and Travis have been quietly hanging out. She saw him when she was in NYC a few weeks ago," an insider told the publication.
While any news of Taylor's new romance with Travis is still highly speculative at this point, the Kansas City Chiefs star has previously alluded to his potential crush on the pop star.
"If you're up on Taylor Swift concerts, there are friendship bracelets, and I received a bunch of them being there, but I wanted to give Taylor Swift one with my number on it," he said on his New Heights podcast.
"She doesn't talk before or after shows because she has to save her voice for the 44 songs that she sings, so I was a little butthurt I didn't get to hand her one of the bracelets I've made for her," he joked.
