Joe Alwyn struggled with Taylor Swift’s level of fame which lead to their breakup

Joe Alwyn struggled with Taylor Swift’s level of fame which lead to their breakup, according to @People. (Read More Here).

The split news comes as Swift is traveling the country for her sold-out Eras tour, at which the actor hasn’t been spotted.

Entertainment Tonight was first to report the news.

Over the years, the famously private couple kept their cards close to the chest, with the English actor, 32, and Grammy winner, 33, deflecting about engagement rumors.

For his part, Alwyn, 32, told British Vogue in September 2018 that he’s keenly aware fans always want to be in the know when it came to his and Swift’s relationship. 

“I’m aware people want to know about that side of things,” he told the magazine in reference to Swift. “I think we have been successfully very private, and that has now sunk in for people.”

Her 2017 track “Gorgeous” off her Reputation album was also about Alwyn. Fans will recall a Swiftie revealed on Tumblr that, during a secret Reputation listening session, the songstress “made us all promise that if anyone made any accusations of who this song is about, we will tell them it is 100 percent about her angel boyfriend of one year. This isn’t a secret. She wanted us to tell people.”

Alwyn is also credited for the track “Sweet Nothing” on Midnights, but he’s listed on the album under the familiar pseudonym, William Bowery. Alwyn previously contributed to Swift’s 2020 albums, Folklore and Evermore, on the tracks “Exile,” “Betty,” “Champagne Problems,” “Coney Island” and “Evermore.”

“I mean, the truth is, if the answer was yes, I wouldn’t say, and if the answer was no, I wouldn’t say,” he added of whether he was set to walk down the aisle with the singer-songwriter.

Swift began dating the Boy Erased actor in 2016. A source previously told PEOPLE that Swift “is very happy” in their relationship. “He is her rock. Their relationship is mature and wonderful,” the source added.

The pair also began collaborating on music together over the pandemic, culminating in a Grammy Awards win. 2020 sister albums Folklore and Evermore each included collaborations with Alwyn, who wrote several songs under the pseudonym William Bowery. Folklore ended up taking home the 2021 Grammy for album of the year and Evermore was nominated for the same award at the 2022 ceremony.

When Swift dropped her album, ET meticulously broke down all the lyrics, including the opening track, “Lavender Haze,” which Swift confirmed was inspired by her and Alwyn’s romance, and the lengths they go to quiet the outside noise.

“I happened on the phrase ‘lavender haze’ when I was watching Mad Men, and I looked it up because I thought it sounded cool, and it turns out that it’s a common phrase used in the ’50s where they would just describe being in love,” she said at the time. “If you were in the lavender haze that meant you were in that all-encompassing love glow. I thought that was really beautiful.”

Reps for Swift and Alwyn have not commented on the breakup.

The “Lavender Haze” musician was first publicly linked to the British actor in May 2017, when it was revealed that the pair had been quietly dating for months. Though it’s not clear exactly when they met, fans have speculated that Swift and Alwyn first crossed paths at the 2016 Met Gala.

“They had plenty in common and fell in love in a safe bubble while she was retreating from the world during Reputation,” adds the source, referring to Swift’s 2017 studio album. “Then the pandemic hit, and they were locked down together and able to continue growing their relationship in this insulated way. But he didn’t really ‘know’ her yet outside of that bubble.”

The couple broke up a few weeks ago after six years of dating, and a source close to the Grammy winner and the Conversations with Friends actor tells PEOPLE the split was largely caused by “differences in their personalities.”

“They’ve had rough patches before and always worked things out, so friends thought they would take some time apart but eventually come back together,” says the source, noting that “ultimately” Swift, 33, and Alwyn, 32, “weren’t the right fit for one another.”