Taylor Swift appeared to address her rumoured breakup from Joe Alwyn at her Eras tour concert on Thursday.
The singer spoke to her fans with an apparent reference to how her split has made headlines during her performance at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. As documented in a video shared by a fan on TikTok, Swift made the remark as she was sitting at a piano and about to sing a song from her 2020 album Evermore.
“So, we have a lot to catch up on, don’t we?” she asked, before reflecting on her previous experiences performing in Florida. “I’ve played in Tampa so many times, and it’s been absolutely incredible.”
On 8 April, it was first reported that Swift and Alwyn had broken up after six years of dating, with Entertainment Tonight claiming that they had split several weeks ago. A source also told the publication that the breakup was “not dramatic” and the “relationship had just run its course”.
Along with her apparent allusion to her breakup, Swift made similar comments during her opening night concert on 18 March. While on stage at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona last month, she once again told fans they had “a lot of things to catch up on”, as documented in a video shared to TikTok by a fan.
She then reflected on her career over the years, adding: “It’s been a really long time since I’ve been on tour, and to say that a lot has happened is really an understatement.”
Swift picked a “few things” that seemed “relevant to the topic at hand”, as she acknowledged that she release four albums since her 2018 tour. She went on to list the albums: Lover, Folklore, Evermore, and Midnights.
Following the reports that Alwyn and Swift had split, many Swifties spotted changes in the singer’s setlist. At the start of her tour, she performed the song “Invisible String”, which is about the intrinsic connection between two lovers, from her 2020 album, Folklore. However, since her show in Arlington, Texas, on 31 March, she has instead played Folklore track “The 1,” which details a breakup as Swift sings about “waking up alone”.
Others have claimed to see Swift tearing up while performing the breakup song “champagne problems” from her 2020 album Evermore in the wake of the rumoured split.
According to a report from People shared on 10 April, the 33-year-old singer and the 32-year-old actor split due to “differences in their personalities” that “become harder to ignore after years together”.
“They’ve had rough patches before and always worked things out, so friends thought they would take some time apart but eventually come back together,” the source claimed, adding that “ultimately” the two “weren’t the right fit for one another.”
The source also claimed that Alwyn “struggled with Taylor’s level of fame and the attention from the public”.
While Swift and Alwyn haven’t publicly addressed the breakup rumours, this isn’t necessarily a surprise, as they have been notoriously private about their relationship over the years. During an interview with The Guardian last year, the Conversation with Friends star explained why he doesn’t like to talk publicly about his relationship.
“It’s just not for other people. And I don’t say that with aggression,” he said. “It’s just not something I particularly care about, or have much interest in feeding, I guess, because the more it’s fed, the more you are opening a gate for intrusion.”
In 2018, the actor confessed to British Vogue that he’s aware that fans want to know about his relationship with Swift. However, he said that they have been “successfully very private, and that has now sunk in for people.”
Swift also made a rare comment about Alwyn in October 2022. “Like my relationship for six years we’ve had to dodge weird rumours, tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it,” she said in an Instagram video, at the time.
The Independent has reached out to representative for Swift and Alwyn for comment.
