Any time a high profile celebrity couple splits there is a fair amount of Monday morning quarterbacking about what went wrong.
The phenomenon that was Hiddleswift is no exception. The earliest explanation, clearly floated by someone in Taylor’s camp, which gained immediate and international traction, was that Taylor was uncomfortable with the spotlight and attention Tom was courting preferring instead a less public romance. Apparently, she was particularly affronted that he had the nerve to invite her to join him at Sunday night’s Emmy Awards. Um, right.
This from the same woman who has over shared each and every moment of her colorful love life through her song lyrics, music videos, Instagram feeds, and candid interviews.
Not to mention paparazzi primed moments such as ‘the kiss on the beach’ which proclaimed Hiddleswift to the world in which a photographer with a high‐quality, telescopic lens just happened to be lurking behind a sand dune in the right place at the right time on a Rhode Island beach.
No, I’m not buying that one at all — and anyone who does ought to be sent back for remedial showbiz 101.
So..what did go wrong for this seemingly loved up pair? Here are my top theories:
1) A Culture Clash
Tom is a posh boy through and through. Eton and Cambridge educated, this is a guy who lives in a very different world, with a very different mindset than the girl who grew up on a Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania.
In a nutshell, Tom is looking for someone who understands sarcasm, knows what a dinner jacket is, drinks gin and tonic and can make a reasonably decent cup of tea.
Truth Rating: 5/10 I think Tom found Taylor’s Southern Charm endearing and she loved everything about his British accent. She can learn to properly make tea.
Tom Hiddleston – Eton College, Cambridge University, RADA.. Did it all have to end like this? pic.twitter.com/kBcIu7BwCN
— Beard Club (@Beard_Club) July 5, 2016
2) The Age Difference
Not insubstantial. Tom is a 35‐year‐old man most likely looking towards having a child and Taylor a 26‐year‐old girl who spends most of her downtime on inflatable water slides and writing songs about break‐ups. Tom found Taylor a bit immature — a difference highlighted by distance (he in Australia, her in Nashville or New York) in which there may have been more neediness on her part than he wanted to deal with.
Truth Rating: 8/10 Yeah, it makes a bit of sense.
3) Differing Fame Levels
Ah, this old chestnut. Anyone who knows anything about celebrities knows that this is very true. For celebrity couples, when both are famous but one is substantially more so than the other — it’s a formula for complete disaster. That’s why Brad and Angelina make so much sense and why the list of splits where one person’s spotlight dramatically outshines the other’s is seemingly endless. Men seem to struggle with this one. It was Taylor’s private jet Tom was riding around in, Taylor’s Instagram he was starring in, and Taylor’s fanbase approaching him for photos. He was quickly becoming, not the guy up for James Bond but Taylor Swift’s new boyfriend. Not a good look.
Truth Rating: 9/10 It almost certainly played a significant part.
4) The Insane Intensity
Even in the very initial stages, Hiddleswift didn’t believe in taking things slow. From their very first dance at the Met Ball to their international tour of love — each and every moment of this lovefest was chronicled and sometimes ridiculed by the world’s media. Going from zero to 60 in such a public way would spell doom for almost any couple it sets a standard that’s impossible to maintain, and as soon as there was an enforced slow down, (filming demands meant he had to stay in Australia) they lost momentum, crashed and burned.
Truth Rating: 8/10 Burn‐out is all too real a thing.
5) It Was All Completely Fake to Begin With
There is no denying the intriguing nature of such a vast, gossip fueled conspiracy to put one over on the rest of us by getting us to buy into something solely designed to advance careers (or disguise homosexuality). For him, he wanted to raise his profile as a Hollywood name and for her, it offered a chance to bounce back after her disastrous Calvin Harris break‐up which was quickly turning ugly. The problem with this theory? It did nothing to benefit either of them. They both came out of this looking horrendous. She was accused of cheating, bad judgment, and downright silliness and he came off looking like a complete idiot. (I Heart T.S!)
Truth Rating: 3/10 Nope. Not buying this one.
As they say: It’s better to have fake-loved Tom Hiddleston and lost, then to never have loved Tom Hiddleston at all.
— Kevin Fallon (@kpfallon) September 6, 2016
6)Tom was Using Her For Her Fame
This is a guy who has never talked in detail about any previous relationships. He keeps his liaisons on the down low. Taylor on the other hand, does not. And while it’s undeniable that Tom clearly loves the trappings of fame — after he all wore the tank top in the photos, posed on Instagram, and consented to all the pap shots of
their love tour. And let’s face it, they were only together for 5 minutes before he was jetting around the world on her private plane, accompanied by her security.
So he clearly loves the fame, but was he with her solely for publicity? Based on his history, no.
Truth Rating: 7/10 There is an undeniable ring of something true to this but it’s not enough on its own.
7) The Toxic Bachelor
Shortly after the break up stories began to emerge (exclusively on Heat Street) about how Tom has a three‐month rule with relationships and gets bored easily. Thus he had dumped Taylor to play the field. This one resonates with me. Here’s why. There is a long list of celebrity males who at one time were NOT considered hot and faced a fair amount of rejection by the gorgeous, out of their league women they fancied — and when finally achieving hotness/desirability, spend the next decade punishing all women everywhere. I’m looking straight at you John Mayer. Tom Hiddleston strikes me as a guy who was always a bit nerdy, book‐ish, weedy and effete who, after lifting some weights and starring in The Night Manager, suddenly became HOT. He will now make women suffer worldwide by breaking their hearts, because of not being able to bang supermodels in his 20’s.
Truth Rating: 9/10 All too Plausible
8) The Idris Effect
Think about it. Tom has just spent weeks with the King of the Bachelors and quite possibly the coolest man alive, Idris Elba. The pair, currently filming Thor, has by all accounts developed a close friendship and camaraderie. Idris, who may or may not still be back together with his ex girlfriend Naiyana Garth, and who is by far the
People’s (read women of a certain age’s) Choice for James Bond, is definitely the
kind of guy that would lure anyone into a bromance.
Spending that much time with someone that attracts that many women would make any man want to be single, if only to pick up pointers on how to be more like him with the ladies. Being ‘Idris-ized’ has almost certainly inspired Tom to flex
his own bachelor status a bit more.
Truth Rating: 10/10 Spending time on the Island of Elba was ill-fated for Hiddleswift.
When Tom Hiddleston wins an award, Idris Elba and Chris Hemsworth REALLY win. https://t.co/qsVRoqANOS pic.twitter.com/iqiSdngL1k
— E! News (@enews) September 7, 2016
