Are we out of the woods yet? Taylor Swift and Harry Styles may have had a whirlwind, on and off again romance — but that doesn’t mean there’s any bad blood between the two exes.
The Red singer and England native first sparked romance speculation in December 2012 after they were spotted getting cozy in New York’s Central Park. That same month, the pair were seen sharing a smooch in Times Square as the ball dropped on New Year’s Eve, as well as jet-setting together across the globe to visit their respective families for the holidays.
Just one month later, Us Weekly reported that the twosome had called it quits while on a tropical getaway together in the Virgin Islands following a “heated argument” that led Swift to cut her vacation short. Fan conversation around the duo, however, was only just beginning.
Two years after their split, Swift released her first pop album, 1989, which featured an array of tracks — including “Out of the Woods” and “Style” — that left people speculating if the Folklore artist was singing about her seemingly rocky relationship with Styles.
During an interview on The Morning Show in December 2014, the “Gold Rush” artist opened up about her inspiration behind the tracks.
“‘Style’ is actually bout those relationships that are never really done,” she explained. “You always kind of have that one person who you feel like might interrupt your wedding and be like, ‘Don’t do it, we’re not over yet.’ I think everybody has that one person who kind of floats in and out of their life and the narrative is never truly over.”
After Swift claimed she was comparing feelings to “trends in fashion,” host Lisa Fromer asked the Grammy winner if “her person” also sings, to which Swift replied, “One of the things about writing music and to be this vulnerable is to never name names.”
While the Evermore songstress never officially confirmed her music was about the “Adore You” crooner, she has heavily teased the idea. In February 2015, she told Rolling Stone that “Style” should have been titled, “I’m Not Even Sorry.’”
The “Golden” singer, for his part, shared his thoughts on seemingly being the subject of Swift’s music during an interview with Google Hangout.
“We always say that we write from personal experience, and I think everyone does. So, it would be hypocritical to say ‘Oh, you can’t write songs.’ And she’s really good, so, they’re good songs,” he gushed. “I’m really lucky in that sense.”
During a Rolling Stone interview three years later, Styles expanded on his thoughts.
“I’m lucky if everything [we went through] helped create those songs,” he said, noting that he can’t say for sure if the songs are about him. “That’s what hits your heart. That’s the stuff that’s hardest to say, and it’s the stuff I talk least about. That’s the part that’s about the two people.”
Scroll down to relive Swift and Styles’ on and off again romance: