Catch them if you can.
Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn continue to keep their new romance private—a contrast to two of her most recent previous celebrity relationships—while the singer also continues to avoid the spotlight, sometimes by taking extreme measures.
In recent months, the 27-year-old singer has been traveling back and forth between England, where he lives, and Nashville, where her family lives and where she has been recording her new album. In addition, the 26-year-old British film and theater actor has himself traveled to visit Swift in New York—twice—and the two have also kept their visits on the down-low, a source told E! News exclusively Thursday.
"Taylor doesn't even like her neighbors to know when she's at home," the source said.
E! News learned about Swift and Alwyn's relationship in May. It is one of the most secretive romances Swift has ever had with a fellow celebrity.
It comes months after a more public, highly scrutinized and short-lived relationship with actor Tom Hiddleston, which was exposed after the two were photographed kissing near her Rhode Island beachfront home and which came after a highly publicized one-year romance with Calvin Harris.
A second source told E! News that Swift has been in London over the past few weeks and has spent time with Alwyn. The source said they traveled together to head to the United States Thursday.
The two were driven in a chauffeured car with her bodyguards, the source said, adding, "They didn't want to be seen by anyone and were ducking down in the car and wearing hoodies."
It appears they will be traveling for a while, as the two had a "ton of luggage with them," the source said.
"Taylor has been doing her own thing and has not been in any exclusive relationship for some time since her last boyfriend," a third source told E! News exclusively. "She has been working on new music and spending quiet time with her family and friends. She met Joe last year but they haven't started dating till just recently. They are 'romantic' friends. It was her goal to keep it a secret even though it's all really light still. She barely told any of her friends."
"She got buried in media being on top of her life during the last relationship, so she tried everything in her power to not have that happen again," the source said. "She worked very closely with her security team and management to make sure her life going forward was private. All of that madness really affected her."
The source said she was reluctant to get involved with someone in the entertainment industry again.
"She is very protected and is trying to peddle slow with this," the source said.
In recent months, Swift has largely stayed away from the spotlight in general and even took a social media break. Last month, she returned to Instagram, sent flowers and a card to a fan for her college graduation, and was photographed in public for the first time in months, at her mother's house in Tennessee, just as news of her new romance with Alwyn made headlines.
The two met through mutual friends, E! News had learned. The first source told E! News that when news of Swift and Alwyn's relationship was made public, "it was a surprise even to some of her inner work circle."
"She doesn't want the photos, the hysteria, the speculation," the source added. "When she's ready, she'll talk about it. Don't expect this to play out like her other relationships. She's taking it seriously and keeping her private life separate."
"Taylor went to great lengths to keep their relationship private and out of the spotlight while [she and Alwyn] have been getting to know one another," another insider had told E! News last month. "She has made several trips to see him, but always flies in and out on a private jet with lots of security and has been flying into very small and remote airports."
"Taylor and Joe have really tried to be on lockdown and have spent most of their time together in private locations where they could get to know each other without the pressure of a public relationship and people making judgment calls," the source added.
The first source said Swift has been "cutting a lot of negative friends out of her life and distancing herself from a lot of the staff around her."
"Taylor's very happy at the moment," the source said. "She's happy, smiling, humming to herself, writing music. Joe's definitely brought out a calmer, more private side to her. It's nice to see."