Taylor Swift fans convinced Patient Zero is about Joe Alwyn as singer releases new song about a toxic relationship

She's famed for documenting her romantic woes through her music. 

And while this year may have been the one that Taylor Swift finally settled down and tied the knot with Travis Kelce, fans are convinced that she was reminiscing about a past relationship in her latest single. 

The billionaire popstar, 36, dropped four new songs on Friday with the release of The Life Of A Showgirl: The Encore, an extended edition of her 2025 album.

Four new songs are included in the release - Patient Zero, Pink Clouding, Babylon and Cleveland! - with the final song seemingly a reference to her new husband's hometown of Ohio. 

However, fans are convinced that Patient Zero - a single about a toxic former relationship - is about her romance with Joe Alwyn. 

The couple dated for six years from 2017 until early 2023, in what was Taylor's longest, and arguably most low-key, relationship to date. There were rumours of an engagement, but neither Joe nor Taylor publicly confirmed the reports. 

Now fans believe she's documented their romance in Patient Zero which saw Taylor seemingly sing about a social-climbing ex.

The single has similarities to her 2022 track, You’re Losing Me - widely believed to be about Joe - which referenced medical terminology, while Patient Zero has a pulse sound in the background. 

You're Losing Me has the lyrics 'Stop (Stop, stop), you’re losing me / I can’t find a pulse, my heart won’t start anymore', which echo Patient Zero's 'When the toxins take their hold / You’d rather die than let it go.'

Patient Zero also has similarities to another track believed to be about Joe - 2019's Cruel Summer - in which she referred to him as 'grinnin’ like a devil.' 

In Patient Zero, she sings about 'the devil on his shoulder under his halo.'

Other lyrics from her new single reference an ex stepping into the spotlight after dating her - with English actor Joe relatively unknown outside the UK before their romance. 

She sings: 'I bet he burst into your life like fireworks/I bet he even said "I love you" first/And when you saw another woman coming out of his place/I bet he kissed the rain of your face.

'I know he charmed your family and friends/And you thought it's 'cause he loves you/But it's 'cause he loves how everybody loves him.

'I know it seems like he shines bright/But he's bathing in your reflected light/On a free social climb.'

The music video for Patient Zero stars Irish actor Colin Farrell, with actress Dakota Johnson, with Ireland having links to her Joe relationship because the couple stayed in Dublin while Joe filmed the series, Conversations With Friends. 

They are also said to have spent £50,000 renting Glin Castle in County Limerick for a romantic Christmas getaway over six days in 2018. 

Taking to X/Twitter after the single's release, fans speculated the single is about Joe, who is now rumoured to be dating Love Story actress, Sarah Pidgeon. 

Fans penned: 'patient zero straight up dissing Joe Alwyn'; 

'Taylor calling Joe Alwyn a devil disguised as an angel, an emotional parasite who uses women's shine to climb socially. And yet she presents herself as patient zero, the first victim of that disease. Patient zero got emotional'; 

'Patient zero is f***ing Joe Alwyn shade I’m SHOOK'. 

'Streets saying patient zero is a basically a diss track that ‘warns’ Sarah Pidgeon about Joe Alwyn'.

Back in 2024, Joe - who is notoriously private about his personal life - broke his silence about his split from Taylor, describing his time with the pop star as 'long, loving' and 'fully committed.'

When asked if he listened to her album, The Tortured Poets Department, which was rumoured to be about their breakup, Joe said: 'In thinking on what I was going to say, I would think and hope that anyone and everyone can empathize. 

'This isn’t a direct answer to your question, but just thinking about what I want to talk about.

'I would hope that anyone and everyone can empathise and understand the difficulties that come with the end of a long, loving, fully committed relationship of over six and a half years.'

Patient Zero, which will have its official premiere at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, September 27.

Fans were first sent into a frenzy on Thursday, when Taylor debuted the cover work for the single, which showed her wearing a new engagement ring. 

Her original engagement ring was an old mine brilliant-cut vintage diamond in a bezel setting on an 18k yellow gold band from Kindred Lubeck at Artifex Fine Jewelry.

Yet the new picture appeared to show a solitaire-cut ring in a silver band.

They have also been dissecting other songs from her extended album.  

In Cleveland! the songstress appeared to directly call her husband Travis the 'love of my life' in the lyrics.

One penned on X, 'why is cleveland! making me sob like...she found the love of her life guys,' and another typed, 'cleveland is so a cute sweet song and I'm so happy for her.'

'Cleveland is for Travis, she found her true love,' a Swiftie wrote, and one added the lyrics, '"Now I'm wearing white so hate all you like" YES TAYLOR YES.'

Another commented, 'I'm loving every second. Thank Taylor for loving us and loving your job.'

Other lyrics from Cleveland! include: 'But my baby likes what he likes/He already took me to Cleveland/and showed me The Heights,' which seemingly was a subtle reference to Kelce's New Heights podcast.

Taylor also released Pink Clouding on the extended edition album which seemingly shows the star saying sorry to an ex in the lyrics.

The award-winning performer sang, 'I hope you realized my kind of trouble wasn’t worth it/And the way I treated you, you never deserved it/And I swear to God, to this day/I wake up scared that I left scars on a good person.'

Other lyrics from the song include, 'Met the magenta sunrise/Fuchsia forever intertwined/Threw the rosewood on the fire/Neither of us knew at the time that I was a liar.'

A fan called the track a 'true masterpiece' while one added, 'oh taylor pink clouding should've been the single... THIS HAS ME MOVING.'

Another penned: 'Pink Clouding is giving 1989 omg I'm gonna cry,' referring to Swift's 2014 album.

'Hear me out is she referring to a like one night stand type thing?' an X user questioned, and account Taylor Nation commented, '"So I left you up there... On a pink cloud"... please give us 1-3 business days to recover.'

Babylon is the fourth track on the extended edition of Life Of A Showgirl.

Taylor appears to be singing about someone who had left her life before realising it was who she always wanted.

'You hate this song, but you wake up on the train with your headphones gone/Then that melody is all you want/You never knew that it was Babylon 'til it was gone,' the star sings.

Other lyrics are, 'You're using nostalgia as a weapon to hurt yourself/But darling you end up hurting everybody else.'

A Swiftie typed, 'Babylon is the most Taylor Swift song there ever was,' and one wrote, 'babylon is so classic taylor i love it so much.'

'I have no idea what Taylor Swift is singing about in Babylon,' one admitted, before adding, 'but it's my favorite movie of the year. I don't know what to tell you.'

Another shared, 'taylor swift you are so right NOSTALGIA HURTS but there's still so much to appreciate in the here and now!!! BABYLON OH HOW I ADORE YOU.'

'About a year ago, you guys did a truly unfathomable thing,' the star wrote on Instagram on Wednesday.

'Something that completely blew my mind… You gave The Life of a Showgirl the biggest first week for an album in history.'