Despite reports that they are now “madly in love”, Matty Healy once said that dating Taylor Swift would be “emasculating” in an awkward resurfaced interview.
The 1975 frontman, 34, and Blank Space singer, 33, are believed to be an item following her recent split from boyfriend of six years, Joe Alwyn, 32.
It’s not the first time that they have been linked, however, as they are said to have dated briefly 10 years ago.
Fanning the flames, he was pictured wearing a Taylor Swift T-shirt and she later repayed the favour by sporting one featuring his band.
Healy, the son of Loose Women star Denise Welch, denied the claims at the time and later told Q how the idea of dating the Grammy Award-winning songstress was “emasculating”.
He said: “I don’t do anything else, right, so it doesn’t leave a lot of room for me going out, or s***ging someone.
“So the one time I did have a flirtation with a girl it ends up going everywhere… I mean, I got on E! News and people were like, ‘Who’s Matty Healy?’ so that was cool.”
“But I didn’t make a big deal out of it myself. It’s not really anything to talk about, because if she wasn’t Taylor Swift we wouldn’t be talking about her.
“She wasn’t a big impact on my life. It’s just interesting to me how interested the world is about Taylor Swift.”
When drawn on if he feared losing himself in a relationship, the London-born musician responded: “Yeah. Absolutely.
“And the reason I mention that is because if I had gone out with Taylor Swift I would’ve been, ‘F**king hell! I am NOT being Taylor Swift’s boyfriend.’ You know, ‘F**K. THAT.’
“That’s also a man thing, a de-masculinating, emasculating thing.”
The Robbers hit-maker later clarified his comments in a string of tweets, writing: “Now I may admit to being an idiot on occasion, but I am not a misogynist. This suggestion makes me really sad.
“I was for a very short time immersed in a celebrity world that I found confusing and scary.
“At that time, I had fears of being ‘somebody’s boyfriend’ (remember this is all speculation as we never dated!) before even being recognised for my music or presence as a person in my own right.
“Now I don’t pride myself on being more intelligent, or worldly, or wise, or progressive, or even regressive than the next man but I DO pride myself on being honest.
“I was being HONEST about all the thoughts, feelings, and situations that come along when people ASSUME you are dating the most famous woman on the planet.
“I am telling you from experience it’s an all-consuming whirlwind and something that for me elicited a lot of self-exploration.
“Now if you want to talk about Taylor Swift, that is easy…. Since she came to my show in December of 2014, I would say that 90 per cent of journalists that have interviewed me have asked about either her as a person or what our ‘interaction’ was like.
“I have said on countless occasions that I found her to be one of the most gracious, hard working, creatively gifted, and beautiful women that I have had the pleasure to meet.
“I personally have a lot of respect and admiration for her. Why would I not?”
He concluded: “I didn’t even date Taylor, but the media’s incessant and brutal obsession with her has meant that even a guy who DIDN’T DATE HER has been so battered by their never-ending questions that he’s inevitably said something that can be lifted and moulded into something that resembles ‘shade’. It’s really sad.”
