Everything Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello Have Said About Their Split: There’s a Lot of ‘S—t That Comes’ After a Breakup

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Everything Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello Have Said About Their Split: There’s a Lot of ‘S—t That Comes’ After a Breakup

Working through it. Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello have slowly opened up about their split after calling it quits in the fall of 2021. The “Stitches” crooner and the former Fifth Harmony singer started out as friends in 2014 after they both opened up for Austin Mahone’s tour. They collaborated on 2017’s “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and later sparked romance speculation when they released their 2019 duet, “Señorita.” The pair seemingly confirmed that they were more than just friends in July 2019 after they were spotted making out in the ocean in Miami. More than one year later, the twosome adopted a puppy while living together during the coronavirus pandemic. However, things fizzled out between the pair the following year. The longtime friends announced their split in November 2021 via a joint statement, in which they explained that their “love for one another as humans is stronger than ever.” A source exclusively told Us Weekly later that month that the musicians “still have a ton of love and respect for each other” after parting ways. “At this point they’ve decided they need a break from each other to evaluate where each of them are at. They’re not saying never, just not now,” the insider said at the time. “It does hurt, but they’re both certain this is for the best.” [jwplayer a43L99Rd-zhNYySv2] The source noted that the attention “became overwhelming” for the duo, especially when they were “getting grilled on how serious they were and whether or not they were going to get engaged.” The “Summer of Love” crooner and the former X Factor contestant each released songs that appeared to address the split in the months that followed. It wasn’t until March 2022, however, that either artist directly spoke out about the breakup. “I honestly don’t care,” Mendes told Billboard in an interview published on March 14 when asked about his feelings regarding the intense scrutiny he and Cabello faced during their two-year romance. He later admitted during a studio session that it took him a while before the breakup really hit him. “It’s like, ‘Oh, I’m on my own now,’” Mendes said via a Twitter video posted on March 18 when explaining the inspiration behind his new music. “You don’t realize all the s--t that comes after [the initial split].” Scroll down to see everything Mendes and Cabello have said since parting ways: [podcast_block]

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A United Front

“Hey guys, we’ve decided to end our romantic relationship but our love for one another as humans is stronger than ever,” the pair wrote via a joint statement shared to their respective Instagram Stories in November 2021. “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. Camila and Shawn.”

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‘It’ll Be Okay’

Mendes seemingly commented on his recent split in his first single post-breakup, “It’ll Be Okay,” which he released in December 2021. “Are we gonna make it? / Is this gonna hurt?” he asked in the melancholy track. “We can try to sedate it / but that never works.”

The Grammy nominee continued, “If you tell me you’re leaving / I’ll make it easy / It’ll be okay / If we can’t stop the bleeding / We don’t have to fix it / We don’t have to stay / I will love you either way.” Mendes added that “the future [they] dreamed of is fading to black,” and there was “nothing more painful.”

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Nothing But Love

“As I get older, the priorities shift,” the “Havana” songstress said during a March 2022 interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “And I feel like that was that way for both of us. Because we both started so young too, it’s like we’re really learning how to be healthy adults.”

She continued: “My priorities have fluctuated and my focus has changed throughout my life. Those years that we were dating … even while I was writing this album, [Familia], and even still now, I guess my focus is really on, ‘How can I be a well-rounded person?'”

Cabello added, “For me, I love Shawn and I feel like there is literally nothing but love for him.”

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‘Bam Bam’

Cabello released her own fresh track in March 2022 called “Bam Bam.” When speaking about her Ed Sheeran collaboration, the Cuban singer seemed to confirm that the song was about her past with Mendes.

“This song is mostly just about like, ‘OK, how do I make a song that shows the cycles of love and life and … hopefully this can make you kinda be like, ‘It is that way now, but things are always taking, you know, crazy turns,’” she told Apple Music host Lowe that month.

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Things You Don’t Realize

“A lot of the thing[s] that [are] also resonating in the lyric for me is like, ‘Oh f–k,’ you don’t realize … When you’re, like, breaking up with someone and you think it’s the right thing. You don’t realize all the s--t that comes after it,” Mendes said in March 2022 via a social media clip from his studio sessions, referring to the new music he penned after his split from Cabello.

The Canadian crooner continued: “Which is like, ‘Who do I call when I’m in a panic attack? Who do I call when I’m f–king on the edge?’ And I think that’s the reality that kind of hit. It’s like, ‘Oh, I’m on my own now.’ Now I feel like, finally, I’m actually on my own and I hate that, you know? That’s my reality.”

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The Inspiration

"I wrote this song about a month after Camila and I broke up," Mendes told Extra of his single "When You're Gone," which dropped in April 2022. "A month later, you kind of start having all the memories of things that happened, and all the memories of so many amazing things. ... And I was writing about that."

Mendes said he wanted to be as "open and candid" as possible with his fans. "I'm really glad I did," he added. "Because I think that's the only way that you get to you get to connect with people. There's only one way you can connect with actual people in a real way. And that's by being truthful and being vulnerable. ... If you can kind of reel people in with the sonic of the song, then they'll be listening on their own time, maybe. And then the lyrics will maybe head a little deeper."

Cabello even got a heads-up about the track. "Camila and I have always been writers for as long as we've known each other, so we understand what that means," Mendes said. "And we respect what that means. And there'll always be transparency between us."

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Giving Grace

In April 2022, the Canadian singer spoke about giving himself "grace" as he copes with his breakup. "I think a big one for me was realizing that there's so many people in my life that I can rely on," he said on Sirius XM's The Morning Mash Up, adding that he doesn't want to be "too hard" on himself post-split. "I don't just have to put all of my, you know, hardship onto one person."

Mendes also confessed that meditation has been a big help for him, noting, "I think the thing that I don't touch on enough is how extreme my anxiety was at one point in my life and my anxiety was completely controlling my life. ... Truly the one thing that changed my life and changed the trajectory of my life was meditation."

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A Heads Up

“Camila heard this song months ago, so we have a really honest relationship,” Mendes said of his "When You're Gone" song during an April 2022 appearance on E! News’ Daily Pop. “I would never really put a song out about her before she would hear it. She knows me and I know her, and ultimately, we both are writers and we both know what it is to make music and what the bigger picture of making art is, we’re supportive of that, always.”

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The Future

During an interview in April 2022, Mendes noted that he wouldn't rule out appearing in a future performance with his ex-girlfriend.

"I wouldn't be surprised. I wouldn't put it past us," he told Ryan Seacrest about the former couple's plans to make cameos during each other's sets at iHeartRadio's upcoming Wango Tango concert. "I've loved Camila for so many years, and that's never going to change."

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So in Love for 'So Many Years'

"I loved Camila first for so many years and that’s never gonna change," Mendes told Ryan Seacrest in April 2022, noting that he and the "Havana" singer are still "so friendly."

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'Cathartic' Breakup Songs

The "Mercy" singer also old Seacrest that his new track, "When You're Gone," has helped him heal from his breakup with Cabello. “I think it’s really just the processing and ... the complexities of knowing something is better and still wanting to hold on and all the reasons why,” he explained. “I’m really glad to be able to just be real and authentic with my music because it’s cathartic for me too, to be able to write about these things.”

For her part, the "Crying in the Club" singer made similar comments about how songwriting is healing for her, telling Entertainment Tonight: "For me, my process is really cathartic. It’s me kind of singing anything that I think about and feel into a microphone ... I do that for like 25 minutes, and then me and my collaborators talk about it. ... We brainstorm, we fill it in and then that becomes a song.”

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Advice From Mom

"I started writing ['Bam Bam'] with my collaborators a few months back and we had this chorus idea about what it's been like in my late teens and early 20s falling in and out of love and ups and downs of that,” Cabello told ET in April 2022. “Also reminding myself, as my mom has told me many times, 'That's life.’ You're on the ground crying on the bathroom floor and then you'll have feelings for another person again, and you'll be crying on the bathroom floor again. And that is the cycle of change. Things just change, you never know what's around the corner."

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No 'Pressure'

When asked about dating during a July 2022 interview, Cabello told Cosmopolitan UK, "I don't put a lot of focus on it. I just really want to hang out with people, I want to make friends, and I've made a lot of great friends over the past year. ... If something happens, then that's really fun, but I don't put any pressure on it."

She continued, "Before I used to be like, 'Yes, love, Oh, my God, love,' and now I'm just trying to have a good time. I just want to live my life and have great friendships. If something comes out of [them] that's something more, then that's great."