Taylor Swift has stepped well and truly out of the spotlight in recent months, in an effort to concentrate on her new music. But it seems she has also started up a new romance, with rising British actor Joe Alwyn. The pair have managed to keep their relationship secret for a few months now. But Taylor, 27, has been spending plenty of time in London to be close to 26-year-old Joe, even renting out a home in the capital, the Sun reports. "Taylor and Joe are the real deal, this is a very serious relationship,” an insider said. “But after what happened with [her ex] Tom Hiddleston, they were determined to keep it quiet."
Here's four things you need to know about the up-and-coming Hollywood actor…
Taylor Swift has been secretly dating British actor Joe Alwyn
- He's family-orientated. Crouch End-born Joe is the son of a psychotherapist mother and documentary-maker father, and reportedly still lives at home with his parents. Speaking to the Evening Standard in February, he admitted he was in no rush to leave the "sanctity" of his mum and dad's.
- He's been dubbed Hollywood's next big thing. Joe's very first film role was in the critically-acclaimed 2016 Ang Lee Iraq war film, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, in which he starred alongside A-listers Kristen Stewart, Vin Diesel and Steve Martin. Following that, he landed a role in The Sense of an Ending, opposite Jim Broadbent and Charlotte Rampling. He will next be seen on screen in The Favourite, starring Oscar winner – and Taylor's longtime friend – Emma Stone, and Keepers, a psychological thriller starring Gerard Butler.
- He's worked hard at his education. Joe graduated from the National Youth Theatre before studying at the University of Bristol and London's Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
- He's Taylor's fourth boyfriend from the UK. Taylor's last, very high-profile romance was with British actor Tom Hiddleston. Prior to that, she was in a relationship with Scottish DJ Calvin Harris and previously dated One Direction singer Harry Styles.