This love story has come to a close.
Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn have called it quits after six years of dating, according to multiple outlets. E! News has reached out to their reps about the split but hasn't received a comment.
The stars, who were first spotted out together in late 2016, have worked hard to keep their romance private over the years. Instead of discussing their relationship in interviews or hitting red carpets together, much of what fans know has come from T.Swift's music—including their collaborations on her 2020 album folklore and its sister album evermore.
At the beginning of the couple's love story, Swift was taking time out of the spotlight. During that period of her life, the Grammy winner was creating her sixth studio album, reputation, which addressed negative headlines about her over the years. However, the album was also an introduction to Swift's new relationship with The Favourite actor with songs like "Delicate" and "Gorgeous," as well as "Call It What You Want."
It's in "Call It What You Want" that Swift addressed the beginning of her relationship with Alwyn.
"I want to wear his initial/On a chain round my neck, chain round my neck/Not because he owns me/But 'cause he really knows me," she sings on the track. "Which is more than they can say, I/I recall late November, holdin' my breath/Slowly I said, 'You don't need to save me/But would you run away with me?'"
For the first few months of their relationship, Swift, 33, and Alwyn, 32, were able to keep their romance under wraps. Their relationship was only revealed to the world in May 2017, meaning they had a good period of time where they were able to get to know each other, without the media attention.
After the romance was revealed, a source explained to E! News why Swift went to "great lengths" to keep her relationship with London-based Alwyn private.
"She has made several trips to see him," the insider shared at the time, "but always flies in and out on a private jet with lots of security and has been flying into very small and remote airports."
"If she was seen in England, she made sure everyone thought it was a work trip," the source explained. "Taylor and Joe have really tried to be on lockdown and have spent most of their time together in private locations where they could get to know each other without the pressure of a public relationship and people making judgement calls."
A year after the couple's first public outing, to a Kings of Leon concert in New York City, Alwyn got the stamp of approval from Swift's close pal Ed Sheeran.
"He's really nice. Really, really friendly, really good dude," Sheeran said during an October 2017 interview with Roman Kemp on Capital Breakfast. "We're in touch, quite a fair bit, you know, and she's been in London quite a bit as well."
At the end of 2017, Swift released reputation and later hit the stage at Z100's iHeartRadio Jingle Ball concert, where she performed alongside Sheeran. Alwyn was in attendance at the event to support his leading lady, and the couple was spotted packing on the PDA.
Despite this public outing together, the couple continued to keep their romance as private as possible in the months to follow. In the summer of 2018, after a busy few months for both stars, the duo took a trip to Turks and Caicos together, where they were spotted holding hands and walking on the beach.
In September 2018, during an interview with British Vogue, Alwyn publicly addressed his relationship with Swift for the first time, explaining why they liked to keep their romance private.
"I'm aware people want to know about that side of things," Alwyn told the outlet. "I think we have been successfully very private and that has now sunk in for people...but I really prefer to talk about work."
Despite not wanting to discuss their romance, they duo has had no problem showing their support for each other over the years. That same month, Swift joined Alwyn at the premiere of his movie The Favourite in NYC. The Lover artist also gave the film, which also starred her pal Emma Stone, a shout-out on Instagram in Nov. 2018. Swift was also by Alwyn's side throughout award season as he promoted his nominated films.
Amid their busy schedules, Swift and Alwyn found time to enjoy cozy nights out together, specifically in London.
"Taylor has been spending a lot of down time in London. She doesn't go out much other than to take a walk with Joe or go to the local pub," a separate source told E! News in late 2019. "They spend a lot of time with Joe's family and friends. All weekend they had people come over or they went to family members homes."
The second insider also shared that Swift and Alwyn were "close with Joe's parents and brothers" and "like to see them" often.
"There's nothing really exciting or big happening," the same source said. "They just like the simplicity of life in London and visiting with family and friends."
Much of Swift's seventh studio album, Lover, released in Aug. 2019, is about Swift's relationship with Alwyn. In the tracks, Swift revealed that they'd been together for three summers, but she wants 'em all! She also shared with fans that she lives with Alwyn, and that she'd marry him with "paper rings." In addition to the couple's time together in London, Swift also paid tribute to NYC in her songs, which is where their love story began.
Swift even referenced marriage goals in her "Lover" hit, "Ladies and gentlemen, will you please stand? With every guitar string scar on my hand/I take this magnetic force of a man to be my lover."