Sep 7, 2025 10:00 AM EDT<\/p>\n
If you listen to Gracie Abrams<\/strong>\u2019 music<\/a>, you know she\u2019s no stranger to heartbreak. (\u201cMade it out alive, but I think I lost it \/ Said that I was fine, said it from the coffin,\u201d she confesses on her most-streamed song, \u201cThat\u2019s So True.\u201d) But these days, more than a year into a relationship with her unconfirmed-but-obviously-official boyfriend<\/a> Paul Mescal<\/strong>, her love life<\/a> seems to be soaring.<\/p>\n \u201cI find I\u2019ve always learned so much through disappointing romantic<\/a> situations,\u201d the \u201cCool\u201d singer told Glamour UK<\/a> in August 2024, in support of her sophomore album, The Secret of Us. \u201cTo be heartbroken is totally necessary sometimes \u2026 So I am really grateful for every single instance that I\u2019ve been let down by a relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n Keep reading<\/a> to learn more about Abrams\u2019 romantic history, including who may have let her down in the past and why some fans think Mescal inspired The Secret of Us even though it was written before he and Abrams were even a couple.\u00a0<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfac<\/strong>\u00a0SIGN UP for Parade\u2019s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\ud83c\udfac<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes, Abrams is currently dating Irish actor Paul Mescal, with whom she\u2019s been linked since June 2024. Although the couple hasn\u2019t spoken publicly about their relationship, they haven\u2019t gone to any extraordinary lengths to keep it hidden, either. In November<\/a> 2024, they appeared comfortably loved-up at the after-party for the premiere of Mescal\u2019s film Gladiator 2, where they even posed for photos<\/a>. And a month later, they rushed hand-in-hand into an after-party for Saturday Night Live<\/a>, following Abrams\u2019 debut performance on the show.\u00a0<\/p>\n View directly on Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Cut to June 2025, around the one-year anniversary<\/a> of when they were first spotted out on a date (at BRAT Restaurant in London), and they were seen having a blast at the Glastonbury Festival in England. In one video, which Abrams shared on her Instagram Stories, she\u2019s seen singing to Olivia Rodrigo<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s cover of \u201cFriday<\/a> I\u2019m In Love\u201d from the safe perch of Mescal\u2019s (strong, broad) shoulders.<\/p>\n View directly on \ud835\udd4f<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n She also posted a sweet shot with her beau onto her main feed, although she tucked it into a carousel as if it wasn\u2019t meant to be the lead.<\/p>\n View directly on Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Still, don\u2019t expect Abrams or Mescal to start spilling intimate details about their relationship anytime soon. Realistically, Abrams is going to share something about their romance via her song lyrics eventually. But overall, Mescal \u2014 who previously dated Phoebe Bridgers <\/strong>\u2014 seems dead-set on keeping his private life private.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not comfortable inviting any access into that part of my life,\u201d he told GQ<\/a> in October 2024, the same month he attended the Eras Tour in support of his new girlfriend<\/a>. \u201cHow I am in my private life is so precious to me because I get very little of it, and it might be public interest, but it\u2019s not public-obligated information.\u201d<\/p>\n View directly on \ud835\udd4f<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n There\u2019s no reason to believe the couple has split; on the contrary, the artsy lovebirds seem to be thriving. In a February 2025 interview with Cosmopolitan UK<\/a>, Abrams said, \u201cWhat I love about a healthy relationship is that your life doesn\u2019t radically change. You just fit into each other in a way that feels positively challenging and deeply supportive \u2014 it\u2019s like a place to land.\u201d<\/p>\n She also shared that she\u2019s \u201cmore recently become proud of [her] sex life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe best I\u2019ve ever felt during sex is when I have been performing the least in the moment,\u201d she explained. \u201cI think that comes from being in relationships with people who see me for who I am and who respect, love, and cherish me. People who actually want to learn about me and my body. But this is newer for me, too.\u201d<\/p>\n Related: Gracie Abrams Has the Ultimate Compliment for Taylor Swift During Concert Tour<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The pair was first linked in June 2024, when TMZ published photos<\/a> of them dining out at a restaurant in London, but it\u2019s unclear whether that was a first date<\/a> or merely a first sighting. That said, a source told People in August that Mescal and Abrams were \u201cstill early stages<\/a>,\u201d so it would seem they weren\u2019t serious at any point that summer.<\/p>\n Where their timeline gets, shall we say, curious is with respect to Abrams\u2019 sophomore album, The Secret of Us, which some fans believe is about Mescal \u2014 despite the fact that it was written long before he and Abrams were a bonafide couple. Could it be, then, that they were entangled well before June 2024?\u00a0<\/p>\n There were rumors to that effect on gossip account Deuxmoi. In October 2023, a source wrote in<\/a>, \u201cI\u2019ve heard from two different people now that Paul Mescal and Gracie Abrams are hanging out\/dating, but I haven\u2019t seen it first hand.\u201d<\/p>\n Then in May 2024, another sleuth said<\/a>, \u201cWord on the street is that Paul broke Gracie\u2019s heart late last year. His fans think they met in London \u2026 This was around the time he was active on Raya and going on lots of dates.\u201d<\/p>\n In that case, it\u2019s possible that Mescal and Abrams go as far back as Fall 2023. (He and Bridgers called it quits in December<\/a> 2022.)\u00a0<\/p>\n Related: From Normal People to Funny People: All About Phoebe Bridgers\u2019 Dating History and Boyfriend Bo Burnham<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Abrams has not named a specific person or people as the inspiration behind her second studio album, The Secret of Us, which came out June 21, 2024. But she has revealed that it was born out of an \u201cinsatiable\u201d crush<\/a> she had while touring. (In addition to intermittently opening for Taylor Swift<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s Eras Tour starting in April 2023, Abrams was on her Good Riddance Tour in 2023\/2024).<\/p>\n \u201cI felt so insane about this person and I felt so all over the place with touring in a way that was kind of conducive to writing the album because of the chaos of living a very peripatetic life,\u201d she told Dazed magazine<\/a> of her inspiration.\u00a0<\/p>\n Similarly, in a conversation with Kaia Gerber <\/strong>for Interview magazine<\/a>, she said, \u201cThis whole album I had a big crush. I felt like it was unrequited. It was embarrassingly the first time in my life I ever had that feeling. It spun me out. I was like, \u2018What the f\u2013k is going on? I don\u2019t know myself. I\u2019m awkward everywhere. How do I function?\u2019 It made me nuts for a minute.\u201d<\/p>\n Some fans have speculated that her intense crush was on Mr. Mescal himself, and there\u2019s some compelling lyrical evidence to back up that theory. On the song \u201cNormal Thing,\u201d for instance, Abrams sings, \u201cIt\u2019s a normal thing to fall in love with movie stars.\u201d Not only is Mescal a movie star, he\u2019s also the star of the limited Hulu series Normal People.\u00a0<\/p>\n On the track \u201cRisk,\u201d Abrams writes, \u201cLook at me now \/ Said I wouldn\u2019t do it, but I hunted you down \/ Know you had a girl, but it didn\u2019t work out \/ Know you bought a house, but you had to move out.\u201d As many fans have pointed out, Mescal reportedly bought<\/a> a home with Bridgers in August 2022, just before their winter split.\u00a0<\/p>\n Overall, the theory supports the idea that Abrams was infatuated with Mescal but he was not yet over his ex. (\u201cWould it have killed you to explain \/ That you weren\u2019t ready?\u201d Abrams asks on \u201cGave You I Gave You I.\u201d) Still, there\u2019s reason to believe that at least some of the tracks are about someone else \u2014\u00a0like, say, Dylan O\u2019Brien <\/strong>(more on that in a sec) \u2014 or perhaps a composite of experiences.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rumors of a possible romance surfaced in April 2022, when the pair was spotted together in New York City, but\u00a0neither Abrams nor the Teen Wolf star, who also played the Jake Gyllenhaal<\/a> <\/strong>character in Swift\u2019s \u201cAll Too Well: The Short Film\u201d opposite Sadie Sink<\/strong>, acknowledged a relationship.\u00a0<\/p>\n View directly on \ud835\udd4f<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Abrams never confirmed as much, but it certainly seems to be: the lyrics reference several people (albeit by first name only) with whom O\u2019Brien has connections, including Sadie (Sink), Dev (Hynes)<\/strong> and Elle (Fanning)<\/strong>. If the song is, indeed, about O\u2019Brien, it would appear Abrams is no longer much of a fan. \u201cYou run your hands through your hair, phony superstar,\u201d she sings. \u201cThen say you miss me, you\u2019re sad, yeah, I bet you are.\u201d<\/p>\n Universally speaking, \u201cThat\u2019s So True\u201d is about the feeling you might get when an ex moves on with someone else. But some of the lyrics suggest that it could be about O\u2019Brien, who reportedly dated Sabrina Carpenter<\/a><\/strong> after he and Abrams parted ways. (He and the \u201cPlease Please Please\u201d singer were linked in September 2022.) The main tip-off is the lyric \u201clooking into big blue eyes \/ did it just to hurt me, make me cry,\u201d which seems to reference Carpenter\u2019s famously blue eyes. (Despite the, um, intensity of \u201cThat\u2019s So True,\u201d Abrams and Carpenter, who are both friends of Swift, appear to be friends with each other.) <\/p>\n Related: Inside Sabrina Carpenter\u2019s Dating History: A Complete Guide to Her High-Profile Relationships<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Abrams and composer\/producer Hayes Bradley<\/strong> were linked as of New Year\u2019s Eve 2022, when a photo of them surfaced on Instagram (it\u2019s since been deleted). Neither party has ever confirmed a relationship, so it\u2019s unclear whether they were ever really romantically involved and, if so, how serious they got.\u00a0<\/p>\n Abrams\u2019 longest relationship to date was with Blake Slatkin<\/strong>, whom she was with for five years, from 2017 to 2022, albeit with at least one break in between.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had broken up and I was writing these songs in response to our breakup, which we then made a project about,\u201d she told RIFF magazine<\/a> in 2021, referencing her debut EP, Minor. \u201cHe was obviously patient and very lovely and gracious, and not making it anything other than a super comforting professional space,\u201d she added. \u201cWe\u2019re together now, so I guess it worked out all right.\u201d<\/p>\n She chronicled their final breakup in her debut studio album, Good Riddance, which was released in 2023 and produced by Aaron Dessner <\/strong>of The National. Interestingly, the album got a lot of plays on TikTok<\/a>, over fan edits of TV shows like Normal People<\/a>.<\/p>\nIs Gracie Abrams in a relationship?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Are Gracie Abrams and Paul Mescal still together?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
When did Gracie Abrams and Paul Mescal start dating?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Who did Gracie Abrams write <\/strong>The Secret of Us <\/strong>about?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Did Gracie Abrams date Dylan O\u2019Brien?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Is Gracie Abrams\u2019 song \u2018Cool\u2019 about Dylan O\u2019Brien?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Who is the Gracie Abrams song \u2018That\u2019s So True\u2019 about?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
What happened with Gracie Abrams and Hayes Bradley?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Who is Gracie Abrams\u2019 ex-boyfriend Blake Slatkin?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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