There’s a lot of Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes to cover. And not a lot of time. Quickly then…

Camila has just released two new singles, “Shameless” and “Liar”. She also covers the new issue of ELLE, posted online this morning. Camila’s been a big deal on her own for a couple of years now after the smash hit success of “Havana”. “Señorita” is one of the biggest hits of the year so this is meant to continue the momentum and build towards the album release. She has a great voice, sultry and raspy, and I like the way she puts a little extra into certain lyrics, like on the “Señorita” line “cause you know it’s been a long time comin’” – it’s sexy to hear her feel her way through a song. 

Camila also uses her voice in other ways, speaking openly about her mental health challenges, her anxiety, how she struggles with OCD. The young artists of this generation are continuing to remove the shame from the conversation around mental health and I’ve seen the effects of this firsthand with the young people in my life who, through the encouragement of their friends, are able to share with each other their own struggles. Much of it has to do with how they’re seeing this modelled by the pop culture figures who show up in their feeds. That’s not to say there isn’t a lot of f-cksh-t in their feeds, because there is. But it’s not all bad. 

And then, of course, there’s the romance. Camila says her new album is much more personal because “this past year and a half was the first time I really experienced falling in love with another person”. 

If we’re covering that time frame, well, there are two people she could be talking about: Matthew Hussey, her ex-boyfriend, or Shawn Mendes. When asked directly about Shawn and the rumours (really? Is it still rumours now?) that they’re together:

“I don’t know; people can say whatever they want to say. They can speculate, but at the same time, we are going to live our own lives, enjoy it, and fall for each other like nobody is watching. That is how I want to live. I never want to open the door for people to feel like they are involved. Like I said, I want it to be mine and [his]. That’s why I’m so tight-lipped about it: because I want to protect it.”

“Fall for each other like nobody is watching” is super corny but isn’t that also a confirmation?!

Here’s what she said about working with Shawn, particularly on “Señorita”:

“I mean, I love him. We have always connected; we have the best time together. Shawn texted me the idea for the chorus for “Señorita.” He was like, “Hey, what if we work on this and do it together?” I was on the Taylor Swift tour and hadn’t been in the studio for a while. I didn’t want to do it, and then a few months later, I couldn’t get the song out of my head. I [ finally] told him, “I think we should do this.” He was like, “I don’t want to do it anymore.” It went back and forth for, like, eight months. Then we finally went into the studio and reworked it so we both felt good about it, without any pressure. I love working with him so much.”

Did you zoom in on what I zoomed in on? 

So he sent it to her and asked her to work on the song together. She was busy and didn’t want to at first. But then she couldn’t get it out of her head and reached out to him, but it was his turn to be like, nah, I don’t want to… 

And that went on for eight months so, like, around the time she was with Matthew? Is this about the song now, or is it about their relationship? Is this a subtle way of describing how they finally came together in the studio and… outside the studio? 

Whatever it is, they’ve barely been apart ever since. Shawn’s spent the summer on tour and she’s joined him every chance she’s had. His last tour stop was on August 31 and his next show is in Toronto tomorrow. So they’ve had a week off for him to come home and … make out all over the city. 

Seriously, I’ve gotten messages every day for the last few days with people sighting them around town. For example, they were at a restaurant called Gusto earlier this week kissing the whole time. For the first couple of days they were seen everywhere but not papped. Finally the paps caught up with them yesterday: 

At this point it’s starting to feel like the only place in Toronto that they haven’t taken their PDA is the TIFF red carpet. Tonight is the opening gala. It’s unlikely but I hope they show up for their first official premiere hand in hand in his hometown. People in the city are already jacked up about the festival and all the celebrities expected over the next 10 days. This would make our heads pop off. 

Click here to read more from Camila in ELLE.