ONE word springs to mind after seeing Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s loved-up dinner in Lake Como: showmance.
The pair were photographed, conveniently, having a romantic dinner for two in the sprawling grounds of the palatial Villa Sola Cabiati where the website claims visitors can find “peace like no other”.
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Unless, of course, a photographer has been told exactly where you are going to set up shop right outside the entrance.
And you definitely won’t miss it, because it’s the only table out there – and the waiters have even kindly put a white sheet on the table and thrown in some silver ornaments for good measure.
The photographs remind me of Taylor’s relationship with British actor Tom Hiddleston, whose romance with Taylor was PR’d to within an inch of its life.
Who could forget the moment he was introduced to her mother, just nine days after they’d publicly started dating… right in front of the paparazzi.
Tom certainly won’t – he even got an “I heart T.S” vest as a memento of their doomed relationship.
By contrast, her relationship with Joe Alwyn was kept almost entirely under wraps.
The pair, who dated for six years until last April, were only seen together a handful of times.
And Joe, bar some barbs on Taylor’s latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, escaped virtually unscathed – but more interestingly…unseen.
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Matty Healy, who dated Taylor after Joe, was also the real deal.
Tellingly, the pair were never really properly seen together – bar a handful of fan photographs and blurred paparazzi pictures.
People close to The 1975 frontman told me how he had been desperate for them to remain out of the spotlight and to let their love blossom in private.
But when it ended, seemingly rather messily, it was edging towards becoming a PR nightmare.
Matty, as he would say himself, isn’t squeaky clean and has one of Loose Women’s favourite fog-horns, Denise Welch, for a mum.
It doesn’t come as a shock then when Taylor bounced from the bad boy to archetypal American Travis.
Taylor and Travis’ relationship, whether it was intended to or not, has been cultivated for public consumption.
When you’re as rich and famous as Taylor is, you can spend most of your private life flying totally under the radar.
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Look at Adele and Beyonce, for example. Their bank balances and decision to live their public lives privately mean they are only photographed when they have to be.
They can move from chauffeured car to private jet to luxurious hotel all without ever being seen.
Instead, you simply only see what they want you to see.
Taylor knows about this level of control. In fact she’s a master of the art.
She re-recorded her first six albums to take back control of her craft.
And her Netflix documentary Miss Americana, as critics rightly said, didn’t give fans any kind of insight into Taylor because, ultimately, it was authorised and produced in its entirety by Taylor.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT
I speak from experience too, after getting a heavy handed legal letter from her team when I worked for a women’s magazine years back because I had incorrectly reported Taylor had one more bodyguard watching over than she actually did.
The mistake was mine and, of course, I was incredibly apologetic and corrected it immediately.
What struck me at the time though was how basic and inconsequential the error was. But it showed to me then the power of the publicity machine that is Taylor.
That how writing three, rather than two, in a throwaway line at the bottom of an article in a British women’s magazine could have caused such an almighty issue for Taylor.
And that, I have learned with time, is because she exerts total control over her image.
It is no bad thing. Hell, if I had that much money I’d make sure every single thing written about me was nailed down and if it wasn’t, I too would have it changed immediately.
And that is why I firmly believe these photographs of Taylor and Travis are all part of the publicity circus.
Timeline of Taylor and Joe’s Relationship
The couple had six years together, much of which they tried to keep a secret.
Here we take a look at the timeline of their romance:
- May 2016: Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn first meet at the Met Gala.
- October 2016: The pair first start dating but keep it a secret.
- May 2017: The Sun reveals the singer and actor are a couple.
- May 2018: Joe supports Taylor on the opening night of her Reputation Tour,
- August 2019: The singer says her relationship with Joe “isn’t up for discussion”.
- January 2020: Joe appears in Taylor’s Netflix documentary.
- November 2020: The singer confirms that Joe Alwyn was her co-writer on Folklore.
- March 2021: Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn win a Grammy Award for Folklore.
- April 20, 2022: Joe denies the rumours that he and Taylor are engaged.
- April 2023: The couple break up after six years together.
CALLING THE SHOTS
You only see what Taylor wants you to see. And if, by chance, the photographer who took these pictures was tipped off without them knowing – if Taylor wasn’t happy with them, they would have likely never seen the light of day.
Naturally Taylor’s romance with Travis was always going to be a gear change after her six year relationship with publicity adverse Joe.
His team the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl and he’s made it more than clear he’s happy to talk about Taylor.
He has even managed to start an acting career off the back of their romance, after getting his first big TV role in FX horror drama Grotesquerie.
Taylor too looks happier than ever too, no doubt in part due the fact they’re relationship is being written about, just as she’d like it to be, in every national newspaper, magazine and website.
But is this relationship just for show? Yes, I think it is.
As one of my colleagues put it this morning: ‘Travis is the kind of man who can hoist you up in the shower…Matty Healy would struggle to pick up a Yorkshire Terrier.’
Quite.
And I wouldn’t be surprised if this was something we all hear about on her next record.