Joe Alwyn Doesn't Mind Being Taylor Swift's Muse, Despite Their Private Relationship

While she might not share much about her love life with the public anymore, Taylor Swift has given fans some insight into her relationship through her songs, and now, the inspiration behind many of those tracks has finally shared his feelings about being her muse. Joe Alwyn's comments on Taylor Swift's songs about him reveal that the normally private actor is OK with his very famous girlfriend using their romance for inspiration on her most recent albums.

The Favourite star opened up about his three-year relationship with Swift in a recent interview with the UK outlet The Times, revealing that while he is hesitant to speak publicly about their romance, he's not upset that the singer likes to write songs inspired by their relationship. "No, not at all. No," he said, when asked if Swift's revealing lyrics bothered him. "It’s flattering."

Though he reiterated that he doesn't want to open up about his relationship with the press, Alwyn also admitted that he's not bothered by the fact that people are fascinated by his romance with Swift. "I just don’t pay attention to what I don’t want to pay attention to," the actor explained. "I turn everything else down on a dial. I don’t have any interest in tabloids. I know what I want to do, and that’s this, and that’s what I am doing." Alwyn also added that it's easy to tune out a lot of the tabloid reports because "99.9 percent of what the press write" isn't true.

Alwyn and Swift were first rumored to be dating back in May 2017, and were spotted together in Nashville a month later. Though Swift has never publicly commented on their relationship, she did tell fans at the reputation secret sessions in October 2017 that many of the songs on that album — and specifically, the song "Gorgeous" — were about Alwyn. Based on her lyrics, fans have pieced together plenty of information about their relationship, including the fact that they likely met at the 2016 Met Gala and were friends for a few years before they started dating.

However, in a September 2018 interview with British Vogue, Alwyn made it clear that Swift's song lyrics were the only place that the couple planned to be so open about their love lives. "I’m aware people want to know about that side of things," he said at the time. "I think we have been successfully very private, and that has now sunk in for people. But I really prefer to talk about work." Around the same time, he told British GQ that "someone's private life is by definition private," and that they didn't feel obligated to share that private side of themselves with the world.

In January 2019, Alwyn explained to Mr. Porter that the couple's reluctance to talk about their relationship in the press wasn't due to Swift's fame, but simply because they see themselves as just a normal couple. "I don’t think anyone you meet on the streets would just spill their guts out to you, therefore why should I?" he explained. "And then that is defined as being ‘strangely private’. Fine. But I don’t think it is. I think it’s normal."

Swift, meanwhile, has only shared that she is happy that her relationship with Alwyn has taught her that she doesn't have to be miserable in order to write powerful songs, and that she can be both creative and happy. "There’s a common misconception that artists have to be miserable in order to make good art, that art and suffering go hand in hand," the singer wrote in a March essay for Elle. "I’m really grateful to have learned this isn’t true." Based on the romantic lyrics that Swift has written about him, Alwyn is likely happy that she has made that discovery as well.