It is, perhaps not shockingly, all over for Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston.
The singer and actor, whose coupling dominated celebrity gossip headlines all summer, have reportedly ended their relationship.
What went wrong?
How did a couple that seemed either so in love or so contrived (depending on who you asked) fizzle out after months of PDA and even talk of marriage?
“It was an amicable split,” an insider tells People Magazine of the Swiddleston dissolution.
It also should maybe not be a surprising one, considering Taylor and Tom had not been spotted out together since they had dinner in Santa Monica on July 27.
Heck, just a few days prior to this confirmation, THG reported that Hiddleston had had enough of Swift.
The romance between the singing sensation and The Avengers actor – who is nine years her senior – went viral on June 15 when photos of the celebrities frolicking on the beach in Rhode Island covered The Sun.
By frolicking, of course, we mean that the stars got to at least first base for all of the world to see and gawk over.
This kiss-filled interaction took place just weeks after Swift broke up with Calvin Harris, her previous long-term boyfriend.
There was talk soon afterward that Swift actually cheated on Harris with Hiddleston, but that scandal has never been proven.
Within weeks of swapping spit and maybe other bodily fluids, the pair met each other’s families.
They also celebrated July Fourth together and were spotted around the world; from Italy to Australia.
As is so often the case with Swift, sources claimed she thought she had found The One in Hiddleston.
So … what happened?
“Taylor felt he wanted to take the relationship to be too public,” a source told E! News. “And she was not happy about it and thought it was too much publicity.”
Wait, what?!? Taylor Swift did NOT want to make a big, public deal out of her relationship?
What will you tell us next, that Chris Brown is kind and sensitive when it comes to women?
This revelation is particularly stunning because most have assumed Swift was the one who both pushed hard to hook up with Hiddleston…
… and then who pushed even harder to make sure the entire world knew about it.
An endless array of critics accused the stars of faking their relationship for PR purposes, although it was never clear why Swift would do this.
For starters, she’s the latest celebrity who needs to fake anything for PR purposes. She’s already the biggest-selling artist on the planet.
Second, IF Taylor Swift were thinking about her image, wouldn’t she abstain from a relationship with a fellow celebrity?
The one consistent knock on Swift is that she dates around and that she only dates a certain type of famous person.
So no one has yet been able to explain what possible advantage there would be for her to shove this romance in the world’s face.
Swift, meanwhile, hasn’t released any new music since she and Calvin Harris got together in early 2015.
We doubt she’ll comment at all on her break up any time soon, at least not in straightforward fashion.
But if she sings at all about a “low-key”* relationship on her next album, we think we know exactly who it will be about.
(*Get it? Because Hiddleston portrays Loki on the big screen?)
What do you think of Taylor and Tom calling it quits? Did you see this coming? Do you believe that he was the one who wanted to make things more public?
AND WHO WILL TAYLOR SWIFT DATE NEXT?!?
