'Of Course It Was Real': 6 of Taylor Swift's Exes Open Up About Dating the Superstar

TOM HIDDLESTON

The actor, who dated Swift for three months in 2016, candidly discussed the whirlwind romance in the March 2017 issue of GQ. "Taylor is an amazing woman. She's generous and kind and lovely, and we had the best time," he said, adding, "Of course it was real." Hiddleston went on to explain the much-buzzed about "I ♥ T.S." tank top he was photographed wearing at the singer's Fourth of July party. "The truth is, it was the Fourth of July and a public holiday and we were playing a game and I slipped and hurt my back. And I wanted to protect the graze from the sun and said, 'Does anyone have a T-shirt?' And one of her friends said, 'I've got this.'" he recalled. "I just, I was surprised. I was just surprised that it got so much attention. The tank top became an emblem of this thing."

Hiddleston went on to explain that he and Swift opted to pursue a relationship, despite the challenges of media scrutiny. "So we decided to go out for dinner, we decided to travel," he told the magazine. "A relationship in the limelight … A relationship always takes work. A relationship in the limelight takes work. And it's not just the limelight. It's everything else."

CALVIN HARRIS

Harris and Swift dated for 15 months starting in 2015. In October 2016, the deejay told British GQ about his experience with the "media circus," following their high-profile split. "It's very difficult when something I consider so personal plays out very publicly," he admitted. "The aftermath of the relationship was way more heavily publicised than the relationship itself. When we were together, we were very careful for it not to be a media circus. She respected my feelings in that sense. I'm not good at being a celebrity."

Harris even touched on the Twitter dramasurrounding Swift's involvement in his hit, "This Is What You Came For." "But when it ended, all hell broke loose. Now I see that Twitter thing as a result of me succumbing to pressure. It took me a minute to realise that none of that matters. I'm a positive guy," he confessed. "For both of us it was the wrong situation. It clearly wasn't right, so it ended, but all of the stuff that happened afterwards..."

TAYLOR LAUTNER

The two Taylors briefly dated in 2009 after meeting on the set of Valentine's Day. Looking back on the fling in August 2016, Lautner told ET: "It was a good time. It was a fun few months there." The actor's Scream Queens costars Lea Michele and John Stamos later interrogated him about the romance once again during a Facebook Live. "That's what she does. She writes songs," Lautner replied when Michele asked whether Swift had penned a track about him. "It's called 'Back to December.'"

When Swift released Speak Now (Taylor's Version) in 2023, the couple's romantic history resurfaced — and Lautner (along with his wife Taylor, an avowed Swiftie) was happy to celebrate his ex, even appearing in her music video for "I Can See You" and performing a backflip at one of her Eras Tour concerts.

Lautner reflected on their friendly relationship to Today around the time of the album drop, saying, "I think it's a great album. Yeah, I feel safe. Praying for John [Mayer]."

HARRY STYLES

The former lovebirds were together from November 2012 through January 2013. Two years later, the One Direction star was asked during a Google Hangout chat if it "felt odd" that Swift had allegedly written songs about him. "We write from personal experience, and I think everyone does, so it would be hypocritical of us to be like, 'Oh you can't write about us,' And she's really good, so they're good songs," he replied. "I'm really lucky in that sense."

JOHN MAYER

Mayer and the songstress split in February 2010 after a couple months of dating. Then in June 2012, Mayer told Rolling Stone he felt "humilated" by Swift's track, "Dear John," which he believed to be about him. "It made me feel terrible," he said. "Because I didn't deserve it. I'm pretty good at taking accountability now, and I never did anything to deserve that. It was a really lousy thing for her to do."

The musician went on to say that he learned of Swift's feelings for the first time when he heard the song: "I never got an e-mail. I never got a phone call. I was really caught off-guard, and it really humiliated me at a time when I'd already been dressed down. I mean, how would you feel if, at the lowest you've ever been, someone kicked you even lower?"

JOE JONAS

Jonas infamously ended his relationship with the Grammy winner over the phone in 2008. Shortly after Swift discussed their 27-second call on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Jonas stepped in to share his own thoughts on the matter via a Myspace post. "I never cheated on a girlfriend. It might make someone feel better to assume or imply I have been unfaithful but it is simply not true. Maybe there were reasons for a breakup. Maybe the heart moved on. Perhaps feelings changed. I am truly saddened that anything would potentially cause you to think less of me," he wrote to his fans. "For those who have expressed concern over the '27 second' phone call, I called to discuss feelings with the other person. Those feelings were obviously not well received. I did not end the conversation. Someone else did. Phone calls can only last as long as the person on the other end of the line is willing to talk."

With the teen romance long in the past by July 2016, Jonas said of the relationship on What What Happens Live: "We were children."

In 2023, Jonas switched up the lyrics to his song "Much Better" (thought to be about Swift) during the band's Broadway residency, singing, "Now I'm cool with superstars." Following the show, Swift liked PEOPLE's TikTok of the performance which was captioned "In their supportive exes era 🥹."