Olivia Rodrigo fans are processing a range of emotions after she and Joshua Bassett publicly reunited on Wednesday.
The 19-year-old singer and 21-year-old actor posed on the red carpet on Wednesday night for the season three premiere of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, in which they play on-screen love interests. For the occasion, the pair both wore black outfits, with Rodrigo, who plays the role of Nini on the show, dressed in a black two-piece, black sheer tights, and platform heels, while Bassett, who plays Ricky, opted for a black satin suit.
On social media, videos and pictures of the duo smiling on the red carpet together went viral as fans expressed their shock to see them together at all, as rumours sparked last year suggested that Rodrigo and Bassett had dated and that her hit breakup song “Drivers License” was about him.
“JOSHUA BASSETT AND OLIVIA RODRIGO…BREATHING THE SAME AIR…NEXT TO EACH OTHER…IN 2022…I HAVE NO WORDS,” one person tweeted.
“Olivia Rodrigo and Joshua Bassett said ‘let’s make history today!’” another added.
A third person said: “Never in a million f***ing years I would have predicted an Olivia Rodrigo and Joshua Bassett pic together.”
Multiple fans also described the duo’s reunion as “surreal” and “a fever dream”.
However, others had their suspicions, with some questioning if the co-stars were actually on good terms, after Bassett revealed in December while speaking to GQ that he and his co-star had not spoken since the debut of her Grammy-winning single, and that he had been subjected to intense scrutiny since the release of the song.
Fans were convinced that Rodrigo and Bassett grew close in 2019 while filming the first season of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, but assumed that the pair couldn’t date because the “Deja Vu” singer was 15 at the time and the Disney Channel actor was 18.
However, fans later speculated that Rodrigo was referring to Sabrina Carpenter, who was seen hanging out with Bassett during late 2019 and early 2020, when she references a “blonde girl” in “Drivers License”.
“Idk but Olivia Rodrigo happily posing with Joshua Bassett as if she didn’t write all those songs about him is a bit weird to me,” one Twitter user claimed.
Neither Rodrigo or Bassett have confirmed if they were ever in a relationship or if Sour is about their alleged romance.
