Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello are setting the example of what it means to be friendly exes in Hollywood.
“We’ve been [in the public eye] since we’re very young, so I think at this point, we’re just like, we hopefully just have a deep, great respect,” Mendes, 26, said of his ex-girlfriend on the Monday, September 30, episode of the “On Purpose with Jay Shetty” podcast. “I don’t think either of us would ever cross a line. We deeply respect each other.”
Mendes went on to gush: “I’m just lucky she’s an amazing human being, and she’s incredibly understanding and thoughtful and caring. So, communicating with her is not difficult, and I think that’s probably a huge part of it.”
The famous friends-to-lovers dated for two years before initially calling it quits in November 2021. “Hey guys, we’ve decided to end our romantic relationship but our love for one another as humans is stronger than ever,” they wrote in a joint Instagram statement. “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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The duo reunited in 2023 and were spotted kissing at Coachella that April but ended things for good that June. “It felt really nostalgic and all those initial feelings they had for each other when they first started dating came flooding back … but after a few months, they remembered why they split in the first place,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly at the time.
Calling dating in the public eye “brutal,” Mendes told podcast host Jay Shetty that he and Cabello have “done the best job at preserving our private little fire of love for each other.” He added: “No matter how strong mentally you are, when there are millions of people commenting on it, it’s so hard not to be affected by it and to be swayed by it and to be inspired by it, and to desire it because people desire it or to hate it ‘cause people hate it, and it’s just human. And I feel like her and I have just worked extremely hard to protect each other and protect that love.”
Staying off of social media has also helped Mendes block out people’s comments on his romantic relationships. “We’re not in a movie. … This is real life,” he said. “This is real love, and love is confusing and hard and goes through dips, goes through pauses, goes through breaks, goes through so much. And so, I really feel for everyone who goes through that. I just feel like as a celebrity, I just want to come at it and be really truthful from the place of, ‘This is what love is like for me.’”
Another thing that has helped Mendes and Cabello maintain their friendly relationship is having “overcommunication” with each other, especially when it comes to talking about each other in public. “It just immediately cuts through any type of assumption that I could make or she could make from anything. We’re both amazing at that,” he shared. “I’ll be the first to text her. She’ll be the first to text me. As long as we’re good, all the noise is just noise, and that’s been a huge part of it.”
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The two both attended and performed at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards earlier this month, during which they each sang songs speculated to be about the other person. Drawing upon their real-life experiences in their music is something Mendes said is just a part of his and Cabello’s jobs.
“I think it’s also just a part of understanding the situation we’re in, not only as celebrities but [as] artists, you know, being two people that make music and tell the story of the hard,” he explained on Monday’s podcast. “And that’s just a big part of it, and we both are very aware of that. So, just having respect for the fact that we’re storytellers.”
