Longtimers will remember that in the summer of 2016, Taylor and Tom’s relationship was so unbelievably public right from the start that many people — including the most hardcore of Swifties — genuinely thought that they were filming a music video, and the whole thing was an elaborate piece of performance art. 

Suffice to say, that was decidedly not the case, and Taylor and Tom were genuinely just choosing to be this garishly public.

It’s worth noting that at this point in her career, Taylor had been run off social media due to the aforementioned Kimye beef, so while Tom didn’t appear on Taylor’s Instagram page in the way that Calvin did, their every move was still documented thanks to conveniently taken paparazzi photos and leaked source quotes.

They were pictured making out on a beach just two weeks after Taylor’s split from Calvin, and later that same month, she flew to England to meet Tom’s mom, Diana.

As with Travis’s mom, Donna Kelce, Taylor appeared to get along famously with Diana, and as also seen in her new relationship with Travis, source quotes about her and Tom that were attributed to Taylor’s camp were regularly being shared online. 

By July 2016, Tom was proudly wearing an “I [heart] T.S.” tank top as he frolicked in the sea with Taylor, and — of course — the paparazzi were on hand to capture photos of the PDA.

The pair then embarked on somewhat of a world tour as they were pictured going on dates in various different countries, before splitting in September 2016 as Taylor struggled to cope with the ongoing scrutiny from the Kimye incident.

That same month, she switched up tactics entirely and started dating Joe.