The 1975’s Matty Healy is focusing on his new relationship after inspiring ex-girlfriend Taylor Swift‘s latest album.
“Matty’s uncomfortable with the renewed attention on his relationship [with Taylor] — especially because he’s [with someone] new,” an insider exclusively reveals in the new issue of Us Weekly.
Healy, 35, began dating model Gabbriette Bechtel in September 2023. Three months earlier that year, in June, Us confirmed that Healy and Swift, 34, called off their brief romance. The twosome, who were initially linked in 2014, rekindled their connection shortly after news broke in April 2023 of Swift’s split from Joe Alwyn.
When Swift announced her 11th album, The Tortured Poets Department, at the 2024 Grammys in February, fans were quick to assume Alwyn, 33, would be its central subject. Following the record’s release, however, many clues in Swift’s lyrics pointed to Healy as her main inspiration.
Despite her sometimes scathing songwriting — Swift doesn’t hold back on “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” and “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)” — a separate insider told Us last month that Healy felt “relief” about the album.
Matty Healy, Taylor Swift. Getty Images
“Matty still thinks very highly of Taylor but we were all nervous about what she might have said on the album,” the source added, noting that Healy “couldn’t be happier” about how TTPD turned out.
According to the insider, Healy’s family was “worried” that the songs would “rip him apart,” adding, “Matty has struggled with life in the public eye, and he’s been doing really well, but the last thing that he needs is for every Swiftie in the world to think he’s a villain.”
A third source told Us at the time that Healy was “really appreciative” to get a heads-up from Swift’s team about the contents of the LP before its debut.
Gabriette Bechtel. Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 4 presented by Prime Video
While fans have looked into Swift and Healy’s long history, he’s been laying low. “He’s very happy in his new relationship, so I’m sure he will be focusing on that,” his aunt Debbie Dedes told the Daily Mail in April 19.
Dedes added that as a fellow songwriter, Healy likely wouldn’t be surprised by Swift’s approach. “She writes about all her relationships, doesn’t she?” she told the outlet. “I don’t think it will come as a shock to him at all. … He will not be surprised by the song. Him and her know what went on.”
Healy, for his part, was asked about his TTPD “diss track” while out and about days later. “I haven’t really listened to that much of it, but I’m sure it’s good,” he said in a video obtained by Entertainment Tonight.
For more on Healy and Swift, watch the video above and pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now.
