Taylor Swift is reported to have secretly gotten engaged to British actor Joe Alwyn, who happened to go to the University of Bristol. What's more, the pair are set to tie the knot in just 18 months time, according to reports.
In an article by The Mirror, the 31-year-old actor is reported to have asked Taylor, 32, to marry him a few months ago, with but a few in their closest circle knowing about their intentions to marry. The couple has been dating since 2016 and wedding plans are so far reported to be 'simple yet elegant' with no magazine or TV deals on the table so far.
A source close to Joe told The Sun: "Taylor and Joe are incredibly happy, and very, very in love, they’ve actually been engaged for a few months but have only told their inner-inner circle - basically immediate family, and trusted, very old friends. Everyone has been sworn to secrecy, too.
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"Taylor has a beautiful ring but she only wears it when she’s at home - i.e behind closed doors. Again, only a handful of people know details about the wedding and Taylor hasn’t even told some of her team about the engagement."
It is not yet known if there are any plans in place for the couple to officially announce their engagement just yet, or if there are any wedding details set in stone at this time, however they previously sparked rumours of an engagement back in January, when they journeyed 4,000 miles from Nashville to St Ives in Cornwall for a romantic break.
Mirror Online has contacted Taylor and Joe's representatives for comment.
Who is Taylor's rumoured fiance?
Joe Alwyn was born in Tunbridge Wells in Kent and raised in North London. He's the great-grandson of composer William Alwyn.
After becoming a member of the National Youth Theatre in his late teens, he studied towards a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in English Literature and drama at the University of Bristol, graduating in 2012 and even acting in two student productions at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He then went on to study at the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, after being rejected by three other drama schools.
Since then he has had roles in films including 'Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk' (2016), 'The Favourite' (2018), 'Boy Erased' (2018), 'Mary Queen of Scots' (2018) and 'Harriet' (2019). This summer he starred in BBC's Conversations with Friends
The couple's secretive romance
Grammy Award-winner Taylor and Joe have been together for six years and split their time between the US and London. According to the Mirror, a source familiar with the couple said their relationship intensified during the Covid-19 pandemic as it resulted in them living together throughout the subsequent lockdowns.
Speaking to The Guardian about keeping his relationship private with the Grammy winner, Joe said back in April: "It’s just not for other people. I don’t know how best to talk about it. I mean, I’m aware of people’s… of that size of interest, and that world existing.
"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. I think that’s just my response to a culture that has this increasing expectation that everything is going to be given."
In 2019, Joe revealed that he liked when Taylor wrote songs about him. When asked by The Sunday Times if he minded being her subject matter for her music, he said: “No, not at all. No. It’s flattering."
The actor even co-wrote songs with Swift for her most recent albums, Folklore and Evermore, which were released last year, writing under the pseudonym 'William Bowery'. And Swift herself has even avoided talking about Alwyn in interviews.
Speaking to The Guardian about her decision, she said: “I’ve learned that if I do, people think it’s up for discussion, and our relationship isn’t up for discussion."
Taylor has dated some pretty famous men over the years, including Tom Hiddleston, Calvin Harris, Harry Styles, John Mayer and Jake Gyllenhaal and is known for writing songs about her exes. But, in 2020, the pop sensation hinted that Joe helped inspire her song Peace, while talking to Paul McCartney for Rolling Stone.
She explained the song “is actually more rooted in my personal life. I know you have done a really excellent job of this in your personal life: carving out a human life within public life, and how scary that can be when you do fall in love and you meet someone, especially if you’ve met someone who has a very grounded, normal way of living."
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