Sabrina Carpenter has addressed speculation surrounding her romance with Barry Keoghan.
The 25-year-old singer spoke candidly about dating in the spotlight in an interview with Rolling Stone published on June 17. Carpenter has been romantically linked to Keoghan since December 2023, with the Saltburn star even appearing in a recent music video for her new song, “Please Please Please,” in which he played her love interest.
In her interview with Rolling Stone, Carpenter was asked if Keoghan was her boyfriend, to which she responded: “How do I skirt around this question?”
Despite the ongoing publicity surrounding the pair, including their joint appearance at the 2024 Met Gala in May, Carpenter acknowledged that she likes to keep her relationships private. However, she still spoke about some of the joys of dating, which she often discusses in her songs.
“The [dating] pool is the pool, and when you meet people that feel authentic and are so brilliant and amazing in every way, that’s what you do,” she said. “Obviously, I write songs about exactly how I feel, so I guess I can’t be so surprised that people are interested in who and what those songs are about. That’s something that comes with the territory.”
The “Espresso” singer has previously opened up about her love life making headlines. During an interview with Cosmopolitan in March, Carpenter said she doesn’t pay attention to rumors surrounding her dating life, which she said can appear before she’s even defined her relationship with someone.
“I’m not really aware of that until I have someone random that I didn’t tell, ‘Oh, I’m dating this person,’ tell me: ‘Oh, you’re dating this person,’” the Disney Channel alum explained. “It’s a weird thing and it’s so funny because it might be someone that I talked to three times, and I haven’t even decided if I like them. But it’s like, if you’re two feet away from them, then you are together.”
However, she did share how her perspective on dating has changed over the years, as she believes there’s value in every relationship no matter how long it is.
“When I was younger, the one thing I always thought was, why would I date this person if I didn’t see myself marrying them? I just wouldn’t even put energy into it. But now I have a mentality that there are relationships that are meant to be in your life, even if it’s only for a couple of weeks,” she said.
While Carpenter wouldn’t call Keoghan her boyfriend during the Rolling Stone interview, fans have still spotted them together on multiple occasions – including at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in March, where the “Nonsense” singer was the opening act. Following her set in Singapore, Carpenter was captured leaving the stage and giving Keoghan a sweet hug.
They also attended Vanity Fair’s 2024 Oscars Party on March 10, where they took their first public photo together. While on the red carpet before the Beverly Hills event, Keoghan posed only mere steps away from Carpenter and was even seen looking over at his rumored girlfriend instead of paying attention to the camera in front of him.
As Keoghan’s head was turned to the side, photographers continued to call out his name in an apparent effort for him to look forward. He then acknowledged his lack of focus towards the paparazzi on the red carpet, saying: “Sorry, I’m distracted.”
In April, he supported Carpenter at the 2024 Coachella Music Festival and filmed her from the audience as she performed on stage. At one moment during the show, Keoghan stood close to the stage and he followed the “Feather” singer with the phone – fully embracing his role as cameraman.
Keoghan was also at Carpenter’s 25th birthday party in May. In a video of the event shared by TMZ, the pair exchanged a sweet kiss after the “Already Over” singer blew out her birthday candles.
