Why Joe Alwyn Was the Right Guy for Taylor Swift’s Love Story

Of course, as with most things in Swift’s life, that required a fair bit of careful, deliberate planning. 

In the early months of their romance nearly six years ago, Swift and the London-based actor went into “lockdown” mode, a source told E! News, an approach that involved a series of private jets, U.K. customs officials willing to check her passport on the tarmac, blacked-out sedans and dates spent in private locales where, says the source, “they could really get to know each other without the pressure of being in a public relationship and people making judgment calls.”

Even after The Sun revealed “Taylor’s Secret Brit Love,” five years ago, on May 16, 2017, the couple maintained their cloak and dagger routine, rarely stepping out in public together and certainly never showing their faces. 

Swift had other strategies at the ready for when Alwyn crashed at her penthouses in Nashville and New York. Both homebodies, they often skipped what would certainly be heavily photographed dinners out in favor of cooking themselves or ordering in delivery, as they did for a get together she hosted in Nashville. Should they need to venture out, the crafty pair would rely on a solid trio of burly bodyguards, sleek sedans and bulky clothing to help them slip around unnoticed.