Paul Mescal fuels romance rumours after ‘date’ with Taylor Swift’s pal

The Normal People star previously dated singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers.

Kildare man Paul was photographed in recent months socialising with A-lister Natalie Portman and other pals.

However, according to TMZ, Gracie and Paul could be more than friends as they were spotted enjoying a meal together in London restaurant BRAT.

During the lunch, Paul was seen reaching across the table to touch the singer’s face.

Singer Gracie Abrams, the daughter of Star Wars director JJ Abrams, has been making waves in the music world, opening for Taylor Swift during the US leg of her tour.

The brunette beauty recently released her second album The Secret of Us which features a collaboration with Swift.

And last week the Californian singer was overjoyed when the album went to number one in the UK charts.

The singer performed a duet of her song Us with Swift at Wembley Stadium last month, the first time the song had been performed live.

Introducing the rising star to the stage, Swift told the Eras tour audience: “If you know the words to this one, you get extra credit points ’cause it’s only been out for like two days. It’s my friend Gracie’s.”

While writing the song, the pair accidentally started a small fire in Swift’s New York apartment by knocking over a candle.

Speaking about her album going to number one, Abrams said: “I can’t wrap my head around that. This is the first time that anything I’ve ever done, ever, anywhere has gone number one. Thank you for believing in the album, thank you for listening to it and thank you for letting it into your lives.”

Paul’s career meanwhile has been going from strength to strength and later this year he will be seen in the new Gladiator movie where he plays the lead Lucius in Ridley Scott’s long-awaited sequel.

The actor spent the weekend at the Glastonbury festival where he partied with pals, including Normal People co-star Daisy Edgar Jones and fellow Irish stars Saoirse Ronan and Andrew Scott.

Paul dated indie singer Phoebe Bridgers for around 18 months after she first tweeted about her love for Normal People which saw the actor shoot to fame for his portrayal of shy Connell in the hit show.

Mescal and Bridgers later got together and dated for around 18 months.

During that time, rumours circulated that the pair had been engage.

In a previous interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Mescal spoke about fan comments on his personal life, saying that “it’s nobody else’s business because it’s indecent”.

“And it’s unkind,” he said. “Honest answer, it makes me angry… It’s the entitlement to the information that people expect that just drives me mad.”