Taylor Swift Brought Joe Alwyn to the Cats Premiere But Stopped Short of Red Carpet Debut

Taylor Swift attended the New York premiere of Tom Hooper’s highly memed, yet highly-anticipated Cats adaptation on Monday night, wearing an ornate brocade Oscar de la Renta gown. Swift stars as “Bombalurina” in the film, a confident and flirtatious cat. She has also starred in countless memes made since the first Cats trailer broke the internet in July. She plays a cat with human breasts, after all.

Swift’s boyfriend Joe Alwyn joined her for the premiere. The couple likes to stay low-key, and so Alwyn didn’t join Swift for the red carpet. But they were paparazzi’d together, holding hands while huddled under an umbrella after exiting the theater, and fans eagerly took to Twitter to report their sightings of the couple. Alwyn reportedly sat next to Swift, and walked her in and out of the event. Swift wore a red Oscar De La Renta gown for the event, while Alywn festively contrasted in a snazzy green suit.

Both Swift and Alwyn have spoken about their need to keep their relationship private. In January, Alwyn told Mr. Porter’s The Look magazine that he feels no need to divulge anything to the public about his relationship with Swift. “I don’t think anyone you meet on the streets would just spill their guts out to you, therefore why should I?” he said. “And then that is defined as being ‘strangely private.’ Fine. But I don’t think it is. I think it’s normal.”

And in a candid August interview with The Guardian, Swift spoke about her relationship in Alwyn in comparison to previous, more public relationships. “I’ve learned that if I [talk about my personal life], people think it’s up for discussion, and our relationship isn’t up for discussion. If you and I were having a glass of wine right now, we’d be talking about it – but it’s just that it goes out into the world,” she said. “That’s where the boundary is, and that’s where my life has become manageable. I really want to keep it feeling manageable.”

Swift and Alwyn may like to stay low-key, but we’re eager to find out how the flirtation between Swift’s Bombalurina and Jason Derulo’s Rum Tum Tugger plays out on onscreen. December 20th can’t come soon enough.