So long, Hiddleswift! Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston called it quits on their whirlwind romance in September 2016 after three months of dating — but the memory of their brief love affair lives on.
At the time of their breakup, a source exclusively told Us Weekly, “[Taylor] was the one to put the brakes on the relationship. Tom wanted the relationship to be more public than she was comfortable with.”
From the moment the “All Too Well” singer and the Thor actor shared a dance at the Met Gala in May 2016, the two caught people’s attention. So much so, that their entire relationship was plagued by rumors that it was a product of publicity — something Hiddleston refuted.
“Taylor is an amazing woman. She’s generous and kind and lovely, and we had the best time,” the Tony nominee told GQ in February 2017 following their split. “Of course, it was real.”
When Hiddleston and Swift met in May 2016, she was dating Calvin Harris, two months later, however, the musicians ended their romance of more than one year. It wasn’t long before the Valentine’s Day actress was caught making out with the Night Manager alum on a beach not far from her Rhode Island home in June 2016.
As their connection continued to heat up, a source exclusively told Us that Hiddleston “started reaching out” to the “Getaway Car” singer following her ending things with Harris.
“[Tom] really courted her,” the insider said at the time. “He liked her and saw an opportunity when she was suddenly single, and he went for it.”
While Swift never spoke publicly about Hiddleston, the Marvel star couldn’t seem to escape questions about the pop singer — many of which he seemed to answer happily. “She is amazing,” he gushed to MTV UK days after the 2016 Met Gala.
Later that year, he would go viral for wearing a “I Heart T.S.” tank top while celebrating Independence Day with the Pennsylvania native and her friends. “Nobody had the context for that story,” he told GQ after the fact. “And I’m still trying to work out a way of having a personal life and protecting it, but also without hiding. So the hardest thing is that that was a joke among friends on the Fourth of July.”
Hiddleston, who moved on with Marvel costar Zawe Ashton, has said that his short time with Swift taught him a lot about dating in the public eye. “It’s not possible, and nor should it be possible, to control what anyone thinks about you,” he told The New York Times in 2019. “Especially if it’s not based … in any reality.”
He continued, “And yes, I’m protective about my internal world now in probably a different way. That’s because I didn’t realize it needed protecting before.”
Keep scrolling to look back on Hiddleswift’s most memorable relationship moments: