Are Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello Back Together?

Why ride a rollercoaster when you can read about the relationship status of Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello, with all of its twists and turns? 

In case you are uninformed, Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello are both famous singers.

Mendes is a 25-year-old who was born in Canada. Despite his young age, he became a big name before he ever turned 18. Mendes accomplished a rare feat in recording history, which only four other artists have accomplished, to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 before reaching the age of 18. He continues to accrue accolades, among which are his impressive ten MTV Europe Music Awards. He has also been nominated three times for a Grammy.

Cabello, an American, also has an impressive resume. She rose to fame as a member of a girl group called Fifth Harmony, which is one of the best-selling groups of all time. As part of a dramatic series of interactions with her girl group, she became a solo artist in 2016.

This is where Mendes comes into play, because the 27-year-old’s decision to go solo was influenced by her successful collaboration with Mendes.

Strong Feelings and Collaboration

The first record of Mendes and Cabello meeting dates to August 2015, while Cabello was still with her girl group, when they were photographed together at the Video Music Awards in Los Angeles.

Mendes and Cabello were quick to decide that they liked each other. They found feelings for each other that, despite the roller-coaster nature of their relationship, never appeared to have left them.

Soon after meeting, came the dressing-room visits. Cabello gladly visited Mendes in what is a very personal space for performing artists. In this space, they took to writing songs with each other, ultimately leading to their collaboration as performers.

We see here the intertwinement of the personal and the professional. Cabello’s decision to leave her girl group was in a way a decision to get closer with Mendes – in both professional and personal senses.

In June 2016, they won an award for a song that they performed together. They accepted the award on stage.

Their collaborations continued, and they also grew more intimate in their private lives. They could be seen together acting very much in the way that couples act. The pair held hands and made out even in public.

The couple first let the public know that they were a couple in July of 2019.

On and Off

Mendes and Cabello’s relationship history can best be described as on and off. After beginning to date each other in 2019, the couple broke up in 2021. The pair recommenced their romantic relationship in the Spring of 2023, but this relationship did not remain intact after the end of the year.

However, they were recently spotted together at the Copa America final in July of this year. As far as people observed them, they did not act too much like a couple. They were not very intimate with each other, certainly not in the physical sense that one associates with couples. They looked like friends.

CAMILA CABELLO AND SHAWN MENDES SITTING TOGETHER AT THE COPA AMERICA FINAL OMG pic.twitter.com/AZ0TsVjT6z

— sar loves camila (@bippitycabello) July 15, 2024

Neither has said anything to suggest that they are anything but friends. Sources say that they are, indeed, not dating.

This, of course, is not rock-solid evidence that they are not dating. Maybe they are reexploring the romantic terrain that couples, especially couples who are unsure of themselves romantically, want to traverse privately so that they can figure things out by themselves apart from the intrusive public eye.

It’s a Tough Decision

How are some people not able to decide to be together? Mendes and Cabello clearly do care about each other and enjoy each other’s presence, but this doesn’t suffice for a relationship. If it did, then dogs would be in relationships with their owners.

For a relationship to work, there has to be more than just certain levels of fun and emotion. This being said, there is clearly a conflict in play. Mendes and Cabello have the makings of a romantic couple – they are physically attracted to each other and have strong feelings for each other – but they have also broken up twice.

They’ve said before that being in a relationship does not feel right to them. But to call them friends feels like an understatement.

We see a lot of interesting things in play: one, not all breakups are toxic. They were able to break up and remain close. They got back together again, split up, and still hang out with each other.

The lack of toxicity in their breakup shows that, two, not all relationships (in the broad sense of the word) are easily defined. This couple is able to transition smoothly between friendship and romance because the two are, in their case, so intertwined.

They seem to be trying to figure out which label, friend or couple, suits them the most.