It’s the end of a much belaboured era. Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello have called it quits after over two years together. Showmance or not, this couple far surpassed all my expectations. They announced the split in a joint statement posted to both their Instagram stories and instantly triggering some hilarious commentary.

 

“Hey guys, we’ve decided to end out romantic relationship but our love for one another as humans is stronger than ever. [heart emoji] We started our relationship as best friends and will continue to be best friends. We so appreciate your support from the beginning and moving forward [heart emoji x3]” - Camila and Shawn

First, let’s talk about how the statement arrives just a day after DeuxMoi reported that Camila was overheard on a flight from Miami to LA asking her friend if it’s better to watch happy things or sad things after a breakup, while chasing her inflight movie. Following her friend’s advice, Camila agreed to happy things, so she wouldn’t start sobbing on the plane. Shawmila chose to get ahead of that rumour spreading with a late-in-the-evening statement. If I was a celebrity, I would not want to be putting out a press release about the end of my relationship. I’d just leak it to an outlet and let the dominoes fall. But I can understand Shawn and Camila wanting their fans to hear it from a source they don’t have to second guess. 

 

As for the “we were friends before and we’ll be friends after” stuff… what’s the point of putting out your own statement if you’re not going to give us some semblance of honesty about the downfall of your relationship? You grew apart? You’re focusing on work? What was the reason? 

The news comes as a bit of a surprise. Over the summer, Shawn released “Summer of Love”, inspired by the first few months of COVID lockdown he spent with Camila in Miami. They attended the Met Gala together in September and last month the couple spent Halloween together. But maybe some of their recent sightings were examples of their relationship continuing as best friends. To be honest, it’s hard to tell with them. Their energy has always read like “friends” (see their Met Gala moment below for an example) but that’s a whole other conversation. 

 

I’m interested in what’s next for these two. This relationship stretched across multiple eras in their careers, so what do their next eras look like as single people? No more awards show duets. An anon submitted an item to DeuxMoi mentioning that Camila’s working on what sounds like a breakup song. Meanwhile, internet gays aren’t hiding their happiness over the news.