Taylor Swift’s dating history: from Joe Jonas to Travis Kelce

Taylor Swift has released her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, a behind-the-scenes look at her personal journey during the record-breaking Eras Tour - the most successful concert tour in history.

The album explores what life was like offstage for Swift during the whirlwind of the Eras Tour, offering fans a glimpse into the emotional and creative experiences that shaped her latest work.

From the Eras Tour and the release of her previous album The Tortured Poets Department, to the promotional campaign for The Life of a Showgirl, Swift has been accompanied by her now-fiancé, NFL superstar Travis Kelce.

The couple announced their engagement in late August after two years together. But before Kelce, Swift endured her share of heartbreak - experiences she’s candidly reflected on in many of her songs.

From Joe Jonas to her current partner, Swift’s romantic history has often served as lyrical inspiration. Her journey through love and loss continues to resonate with fans, and The Life of a Showgirl adds new chapters to that story - this time, with a hopeful and celebratory tone.

Joe Jonas

Swift dated musician Jonas for just a few months back in summer 2008, but it is a relationship that nonetheless made its mark in the public consciousness - chiefly because of how they split up. In an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, Swift revealed that Jonas dumped her in a phone call that lasted 25 seconds.

Together with the Jonas-inspired 2008 song “Forever and Always”, it’s rumored that her 2010 tracks “Last Kiss” and “Better Than Revenge” are about her break-up with Jonas.

Taylor Lautner

Swift went out with the Twilight actor from October to December 2009. “Back to December”, which came out in 2010, is thought to be about Lautner.

Lucas Till

Swift and Till dated briefly after he appeared in the video to the 2009 song “You Belong With Me”.

John Mayer

Another of Swift’s best-remembered boyfriends is the singer John Mayer, largely because of the age difference between them - and his rumored response to her lyrics. They were together from late 2009 to early 2010, when she was 19 and he was 32. It’s speculated that Swift wrote the 2010 song “Dear John” about him, while his 2013 track “Paper Doll” is said to have been composed in reply, although he has denied this.

Jake Gyllenhaal

Is Gyllenhaal in possession of that mysterious scarf? Swift’s relationship with the movie star, another man who is significantly older than her, is also among her most talked-about relationships. Swift and Gyllenhaal, who at the time were 20 and 29, respectively, dated between autumn 2010 and early 2011.

‘Swifties’ believe several songs from her 2012 album Red are inspired by her time with Gyllenhaal. They include “We Are Never Getting Back Together” and “All Too Well”, a track that features the much-commented line: “I left my scarf there at your sister’s house, and you’ve still got it in your drawer, even now.”

Conor Kennedy

Swift dated Kennedy, the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, during summer 2012. Many of the singer’s fans are convinced that the 2012 song “Begin Again” is about the start of their relationship.

Harry Styles

The pair went out from October 2012 to January 2013. It’s believed that a number of songs - “Out of the Woods”, “Style”, “All You Had to Do Was Stay”, “I Wish You Would”, “How You Get the Girl”, “This Love”, “I Know Places”, “Clean” and “Wonderland” - are inspired by Swift’s relationship with the former One Direction star.

Calvin Harris

One of Swift’s longest-term and most public boyfriends was Harris, whose real name is Adam Wiles. She dated the DJ for 15 months, between January 2015 and March 2016.

Tom Hiddleston

Who could forget Hiddleston’s “I ♥ TS” vest? Swift had a summer romance with the actor in 2016, before they went their separate ways that September. It’s thought that the song “Getaway Car”, released the following year, is about their short time together.

Joe Alwyn

To date, Swift’s longest-running relationship has been with Conversations With Friends star Alwyn, who she began dating in late 2016. In April 2023, it was confirmed that the pair had split after some six years together.

Speaking to the celebrity-gossip magazine People, a source close to the former couple revealed that Swift and Alwyn’s break-up had chiefly come about as a result of “differences in their personalities”.

Travis Kelce

In September 2023, Swift was in the stands to watch NFL player Kelce in action for the Kansas City Chiefs - the first of several Chiefs games that she took in across the autumn and winter. Although that was the first time that she and Kelce had been seen together in public, Swift later said that, by that point, their relationship had already reached boyfriend-girlfriend status away from the gaze of the watching world.

“We actually had a significant amount of time that no one knew, which I’m grateful for, because we got to get to know each other,” she told an interview with Time in December 2023, after being named the magazine’s Person of the Year. “By the time I went to that first game, we were a couple.”

As expected, Swift’s latest record includes a reference or two to Kelce...

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