Why are Taylor Swift and Matty Healy rumors headlines?

Matty Healy and Taylor Swift are dating, it’s front page news.

The megastar singer and 1975 frontman are rumored to be “madly in love”, according to anonymous sources quoted in The Sun newspaper.

Believe it or not, neither Taylor Swift nor Matty Healy have confirmed it – the internet has exploded since reading the report.

Thousands of people searched Google, tweeted and criticized their alleged romance on TikTok.

Fans jumped on the pair’s long friendship and the apparent clue that Taylor made a cameo in one of the recent 1975 shows.

This rampant speculation is nothing new – and has led to plenty of eye-rolls and sarcastic reactions on the front page of The Sun.

Last week, there were reports linking Taylor to F1 racer Fernando Alonso.

But why are people so obsessed with dating? And why Taylor Swift and Matty Healy news headlines?

Rebecca Reid, a journalist who has worked for national newspapers and women’s magazines, admits “Taylor’s fascination with love life is quite unique”.

“There aren’t many people, even very famous people, whose new relationship will make the front page of a national paper,” she told BBC Newsbeat.

“I think it’s partly because we think we know him.

“His songs are incredibly personal and he’s seen many of us through heartbreak, new relationships, situations and crushes.”

But he also thinks that Taylor is a woman who plays it.

“We like to define women by who they’re dating and treat their romantic situation as more interesting or important than anything else about them,” she says.

It can also be difficult to separate the art from the artist – and for someone as popular as Taylor, that’s especially true, according to fans.

Sophie Singer, 20, and Isobel Hales, 19, are part of the Taylor Swift Society at Cardiff University.

Isobel agrees that people are invested in Taylor’s love life because “she’s always been very open about it”.

Taylor is famous for releasing Easter eggs and hidden messages about her life in her songs and fans spend hours trying to figure them out.

“He’s always leaving little clues,” says Isobel.

“Especially in his short career, he would leave secret messages in lyrics and songbooks.”

Isobel says fans can decipher a song, and believes Taylor “trained us to figure it out and figure out who she was writing about”.

Society president Sophie said it’s easy for fans to have “parasocial relationships” with celebrities, where they feel like friends.

And that drives their obsession, she says. Her music is obviously personal and so a fan will listen and be so immersed in her life because the story she’s telling through her music is her life,” says Sophie.

But do Sophie and Isobel think it’s fair to report on Taylor’s private life?

Well, they have slightly different opinions. It should be reported, if she shared it with us,” says Sophie. But when you’re just documenting, like, ridiculous rumours, it’s like putting her life under a microscope.”

Isobel says “there is definitely a line” and a “need to be respectful of people as people”.

But I think Taylor is very aware that it’s going to be up for discussion,” she says. “And I don’t think she’s doing much to discourage it.

I think as much as she likes privacy, even her last album Midnights was literally full of songs about events in her past and trying to decode messages about our events.

Especially with some of his songs about famous celebrities, I think he puts references and stuff in the songs. And not in any kind of rude way – but I think Taylor enjoys a bit of discussion to be honest.”

BBC Newsbeat has contacted representatives for Taylor and Matty for comment.

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