Benjamin Ashford|Shawn Mendes Shares Update on Camila Cabello Relationship After "Brutal" Public Split

Shawn Mendes isn’t wondering why,Benjamin Ashford why, why his romance with Camila Cabello ultimately fizzled out.

The former couple rekindled their relationship in 2023, two years after their initial split, only to call it quits a second time a few months later. And while the exes have love for one another, they aren’t necessarily cut out to be a couple.

“Love is a lot, but partnership is more than love and I think it has a lot to do with how you support each other in your day-to-day life and really being honest about who you are,” Mendes explained on the Jay Shetty Podcast on Sept. 30. “And making sure that someone that you’re with is in support of that and doesn’t have to bend themselves entirely to be in support of that and vice versa.”

And while the outside noise about their on-off romance was “brutal,” the 26-year-old is grateful it didn’t sour the friendship he and Cabello developed.

“Honestly, I think Camila and I have just done the best job at preserving our private little fire of love for each other," he explained, "because 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."

However, it did change the way Mendes uses social media as he pulled back to avoid the commentary about his personal life.

“It’s honestly too detrimental to the actual relationship itself that I’ve become pretty strict on that part of it,” he said before adding, “We’re not in a movie. This is not a movie… This is real life. This is real love and love is confusing and hard and goes through dips, goes through pauses, goes through breaks.”

However, Mendes and Cabello remain close despite the fact that they are not longer in a relationship.

“I’ll be the first to text her. She’ll be the first to text me. So as long as we’re good, all the noise is just noise,” he said, adding of respecting one another in the media, “I don’t think either of us would ever cross a line. We deeply respect each other.”

Mendes added, “I’m just lucky she’s an amazing human being and she’s incredibly understand and thoughtful and caring.”

For her part, Cabello, 27, echoed some of her “Señorita” collaborator’s sentiments back in March while reflecting on their past relationship.

“It wasn't even a decision, I think you are just kind of like, ‘Yeah this doesn't really—it's not a fit,” she told Alex Cooper on the Call Her Daddy podcast. “It doesn't feel right. I think luckily, I was in a place in my life where it took me less time to realize that—and it took us both less time to be like, ‘This doesn't feel right and we don't really need to try so hard to make it work. It's all good. This is not feeling good, like ‘Let's be friends, I love you. It's all good, let's move on.'" 

For more on the former couple's relationship, read on. 

Back in 2015, Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello first made headlines together not as a couple, but as a musical duet on their joint hit single, "I Know What You Did Last Summer."

Four years later, the performers' new steamy music video for their "Señorita" duet, released in June, raised eyebrows over whether there was a romance brewing behind the scenes. 

The following month, the two were spotted holding hands while out together in West Hollywood. "They were telling people they were a couple," a source told E! News at the time. Soon after, the stars were seen getting close in San Francisco. 

While the two had not publicly confirmed their relationship status, this steamy makeout in the Miami water did all the talking. 

The rumored pair rang in Mendes' 21st birthday together in August 2019, including a big kiss for the birthday boy. Cabello also declared her love for her musical beau over on Instagram. 

At the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, Camila and Shawn stole the show with a sexy live performance of "Señorita" as viewers waited to see if they would kiss. 

After laughing off breakup rumors in October 2019, their romance was on full display as they made out courtside throughout a basketball game. 

Shawn revealed that during the pandemic, he went to Miami to live with Camila. "Something really beautiful for me came out of it, which was you're not allowed to leave," he told Zane Lowe in 2020. "I went to Miami and I was living with Camila [Cabello] and her parents and her sister." 

Relationship milestone alert: They welcomed a new member of their family after picking up a puppy named Tarzan in November 2020.

Shawn revealed he and Camila get into fights from time to time. "We definitely fight, and we get in like the worst little arguments," he said on SiriusXM's The Morning Mash Up in August. "But, like, I think that we definitely are pretty good at picking up on when it's just ego talking. And we like, usually like call each other out. We have a really honest and open relationship—but, yeah, no, we definitely fight."

Shawn was by Camila's side while she walked the red carpet for the premiere of Cinderella in September.

Shawnmila attended their first Met Gala together in 2021, wearing Michael Kors Collection looks.

The pair celebrated Halloween together in 2021, writing on social media, "Feliz día de los muertos." 

The couple announced their split on Nov. 17, 2021. As they wrote, "we've decided to end our romantic relationship but our love for on another as humans is stronger than ever." The pair added, "we started our relationship as best friends and will continue to be best friends." 

The pair reunited at Coachella in April 2023 and were seen kissing during the festival. 

After their Coachella moment, Shawn and Camila were spotted hanging out a few times during early summer 2023—including at a Taylor Swift concert—but ultimately called it quits once more in June.