Harry Styles seemingly referenced his ex-girlfriend Olivia Wilde on his newly released album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.
When Styles, 32, dropped his record on Friday, March 6, fans quickly suspected some of the lyrics on the heartfelt ballad “Paint by Numbers” could have been inspired by his relationship with Wilde, 41.
Styles reflects on navigating fame and the impact of his superstar status on those around him. “Oh, what a gift it is to be noticed / But it’s nothing to do with me,” he sings in the opening verse.
The chorus is simple, with Styles singing, “It’s a lifetime of learning to paint by numbers / And watching the colors run.”
Fans have theorized the second verse includes references to Wilde. “Holding the weight of the American children whose hearts you break / Was it a tragedy when you told her / I’m not even 33,” the lyrics read.
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The pop star opened up about his writing process in an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe shortly before his fourth album was released.
“I think it was about meeting some people, whatever level of trust to just spend time with someone and saying yes to things,” Styles said on Wednesday, March 4. “I remember someone saying, like, ‘Do you want to come with us?’ I was like, ‘Yeah!’ … I think [it’s about] trusting people and being rewarded for that by meeting some great people and learning a lot through them.”
He continued, “Everything you imagine about friendship and relationships and honesty and being around friends who are really dedicated to honesty in a way that is terrifying if you’re not. Being in friendships and watching people be in relationship to each other and people be like, ‘This is the most honest version of who I am. Is that OK?’ And being like, ‘Yeah, it is. All right, so why wouldn’t it be OK for you to be that version of yourself?’”
According to Styles, trying various experiences led him to “so many wonderful things” in life.
“It just has changed the way that I’m experiencing the life I’m living in such a grand way,” the former One Direction singer said. “This album is such a wonderful byproduct of that because I was recording while all this was happening and I was exploring all that.”
Styles notably dated Wilde from 2021 to 2022 after meeting on the set of the actress’ directorial feature Don’t Worry Darling. Their relationship started shortly after Wilde and ex-fiancé Jason Sudeikis, who share two children, called off their engagement.
“The complete horses*** idea that I left Jason for Harry is completely inaccurate,” Wilde told Vanity Fair in September 2022, denying rumors about the origins of the then-pair’s relationship. “Our relationship was over long before I met Harry. Like any relationship that ends, it doesn’t end overnight.”
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According to Wilde, her relationship with the Ted Lasso star, now 50, “had a very bumpy road” before they broke up at the beginning of 2020’s coronavirus pandemic.
“We were raising two kids during lockdown, so we coparented through that time,” Wilde recalled at the time. “Once it became clear that cohabitating was no longer beneficial for the children, it became the responsible thing to not, because we could be better parents as friends who live in different houses.”
Amid her breakup, Wilde was eager to cast Styles in Don’t Worry Darling.
“I have that piece of notebook paper where I had written my top three ideas. Harry was the first one and it was circled a bunch of times,” she said. “My thing with Harry was that I knew he was fearless. I’d rather work with a non-actor who’s fearless than a trained actor who is full of hang-ups and baggage and judgment.”
Styles later moved on with Taylor Russell from 2023 to 2024. He’s since been linked to Zoë Kravitz.
