Why is Taylor Swift and Matty Healy rumour headline news?
- Published
Taylor and Matty - pictured with Nick Grimshaw and Ellie Goulding in 2015 - have long been friends
It's front page news - Taylor Swift and Matty Healy are reportedly dating.
The megastar singer and The 1975 frontman are rumoured to be "madly in love" according to anonymous sources quoted in The Sun newspaper.
Whether you believe it or not - and neither of them has confirmed it - the internet's exploded since the report dropped.
There have been thousands of Google searches, tweets and TikToks discussing their alleged romance.
Fans have leapt on apparent clues such as the pair's long friendship and the fact Taylor made a cameo at one of The 1975's recent shows.
This rampant speculation is nothing new - and there have been lots of eye-rolls and sarcastic responses to The Sun's front page.
Just last week, there were reports linking Taylor to F1 racer Fernando Alonso.
But why are people so obsessed with who she is or isn't dating? And why is it headline news?
'Feel like we know her'
Rebecca Reid, a journalist, who's worked at national newspapers and women's magazines, admits "the fascination with Taylor's love life is pretty unique".
"There aren't many people, even very famous people, whose new relationship would be the front page of a national paper," she tells BBC Newsbeat.
"I feel like it's partially because we feel like we know her.
"Her songs are incredibly personal and she's seen a lot of us through heartbreaks, new relationships, situationships and crushes."
But she also thinks the fact Taylor is a woman plays into it.
"We love to define women by who they're dating, and regard their romantic situation as somehow more interesting or more important than anything else about them," she says.
It can also be difficult to separate art from artist - and for someone as popular as Taylor, that's especially true, according to fans.
Taylor Swift fan Isobel, seen here dressed as her idol, says the star's openness drives the obsession
Sophie Singer, 20, and Isobel Hales, 19, are part of Cardiff University's Taylor Swift society.
Isobel agrees that people are invested in Taylor's love life because "she's always been so open about it".
Taylor's famous for leaving Easter eggs and hidden messages about her life in her songs and fans spend hours deciphering them.
"She's always leaving little clues," Isobel says.
"Especially in her younger career, she used to leave secret messages in lyrics and song books."
Isobel says fans could decode a song, and believes Taylor "sort of trained us with these into hunting them down and finding out who she's writing about".
Society president Sophie says it's easy for fans to have "parasocial relationships" with celebrities, where they feel like friends.
And this drives their obsession, she says.
"Her music is obviously so personal and so a fan will listen and become so engaged in her life because the story she's telling through her music is her life," Sophie says.
Taylor Swift society president Sophie Singer says reporting about Taylor can sometimes feel intrusive
But do Sophie and Isobel think it's fair for Taylor's personal life to be reported on?
Well, they have slightly different opinions.
"It should be reported... if it's stuff that she shared with us," Sophie says.
"But when you're just documenting, like, ridiculous rumours it's kind of putting her life under the microscope."
Isobel says "there's obviously a line" and a "need to be respectful of people as human beings".
"But I think Taylor is very aware that this is going to be up for discussion," she says. "And I don't think that she's doing much to discourage it.
"I think as much as she does like a little bit of privacy, even her last album Midnights was literally full of songs all about events in her past and trying to make us decode messages about events.
"Especially with some of her songs about famous celebrities, I feel like she does put references and stuff into the songs.
"And not in any kind of rude way - but I think Taylor enjoys a little bit of discussion to be honest."
BBC Newsbeat has contacted Taylor and Matty's representatives for comment.
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