How Taylor Swift’s new flame Matty Healy went from delivering Chinese takeaways to £12m fortune & private jets to Ibiza
WHEN you fly a private jet home from a trip to Ibiza because you’re “tired”, you know you’ve made it in life.
The 1975 frontman Matty Healy has certainly come a long way since his days working as a Chinese takeaway delivery driver.
Last night we revealed the 34-year-old is now dating megastar Taylor Swift, 33 – less than a month after it was revealed she’d broken up with fellow Brit Joe Alwyn.
Matty previously called the songstress – who is the world’s highest paid female entertainer – one of the “most beautiful” women he’d ever met.
Now the couple are reportedly “madly in love” – with Taylor having already met Matty’s Loose Women star mum Denise Welch.
Growing up with famous parents – his dad is Benidorm actor Tim Healy – it could be argued Matty had a head start on his road to stardom, but it hasn’t all been smooth-sailing.
In 2017 he told The Times how The 1975 spent ten years in his dad’s garage with “no one caring”.
“I’m not from the BRIT [Awards]’ world,” he said, faced with the prospect of winning an award.
“I shouldn’t be there and everyone needs to know that. I couldn’t get arrested until I was 23.
“Actually, I did get arrested when I was 23, but you know what I mean. I suffer massively from impostor syndrome… I would be selling flowers on Brent Cross roundabout if it weren’t for The 1975.”
Here we reveal how Matty went from being sacked from Caffe Nero to owning “cool cars” and living in a £1.25million London pad with an enviable net worth of £11.9m.
£1.25m home
Matty grew up in Newcastle upon Tyne before moving to Cheshire when he was nine, where he met his bandmates.
He’s previously described his family home as a “party house”, and his first job was working in a Caffe Nero – though it didn’t last long.
He told NME: “I’Il be honest, I didn’t work that much; I did odd jobs, I would get sacked so quickly.”
His mum revealed he lasted a week at the coffee chain before he got the boot, but then pretended to work there for another month after.
Matty left school with just three GCSEs and went to music college, where he lasted three months. While his bandmates studied at uni, he wrote songs and worked in a Chinese restaurant, The Flame and Wok.
After The 1975 took off – their breakthrough hit Chocolate spent 35 weeks inside the Top 100 in 2013 – Matty bought a £1.25m three-bedroom house in north London.
The swish pad was reportedly designed by Takero Shimazaki Architects, and its neutral, minimalist interior reportedly makes it look like something you’d see in a magazine.
The lavish property is said to feature arched doorways leading out onto a pebbled courtyard, chic glass flooring, smooth grey concrete walls and brass fixtures and fittings.
According to the architects, it offers “an immediate sense of almost monastic calm” – a contrast to Matty’s whirlwind touring lifestyle.
Private jets
Matty previously described himself as “a snot-nosed teenager from Wilmslow” who “only like cheap things” – but he’s been tempted to indulge in living the high life at times.
Back in 2014 he revealed he and his bandmates treated themselves to a private jet for a flight to Northern Ireland from Ibiza – calling it a “highlight” of their hectic tour schedule.
Speaking to Gigwise at Bushmills Live Festival, he said: “We stayed in the Club Tropicana hotel in Ibiza and we decided we were too tired and we weren’t spending enough money on just ourselves, enjoying ourselves.
“So we got a f*****g private jet to Ireland like a bunch of w****rs, it was amazing.”
He added: “It was really funny, it was so cool, you realise that it’s an amazing way to get around.
“Don’t worry we’re not going to start living on private jets or anything, that’s only a special occasion. It was fun, it was just how decadent it’s become.”
£100k Audi
When it comes to cars, his taste is not exactly ‘cheap’ either.
He’s previously revealed he has three motors, but tends to drive his silver Audi E-Tron – which range in price from £61,275 to £104,935 – the most because it’s electric and eco-friendly.
Matty claimed it’s the least flashy car he owns, telling BeatRoute: “It’s not a cool car. I mean, I do have two cool cars but I try not to drive them very much because they’re old and I don’t want to be part of the problem.
“I’m hyper-aware of all that s**t now. I don’t want to be a champagne socialist.
“I kinda can’t help it to a certain extent though, so I always try and check myself.”
Famous pals
Being lead singer of a band, it’s unsurprising Matty has some famous pals, including artist Grayson Perry, actor Paul Mescal and Phoebe Bridgers.
When Paul and Phoebe were engaged before their split, the three would often hang out together.
Matty was pictured with Paul at some of Phoebe’s shows while she was on tour, and Phoebe also featured in The 1975’s music video for I’m In Love With You.
Matty even inadvertently announced Phoebe and Paul were engaged a whole month before it was reported as official when he tweeted: “I want to be Phoebe Bridgers. Imagine being such a lesbian icon that you just get engaged to the sexiest straight man on earth. Truly a based god.”
Matty has also been snapped with Ellie Goulding, Nick Grimshaw and new flame Taylor – whose world he once described as “mental”.
In 2016 he likened the prospect of dating her to “going out with Barack Obama”, and even suggested it would be “de-masculinating”.
Now he’s a megastar in his own right, it seems he’s changed his mind…