Once upon a time, Sam Smith and 13 Reasons Why actor Brandon Flynn were in a hot and heavy romance. The two celebrities, who are both out in the LGBTQ community, were caught locking lips in New York City in October 2017. Based on the looks of their PDA, it was safe to say they were totally head over heels. They they became Instagram official and even attended the 2018 Grammy Awards back in January together.

In June, after eight months together, the couple split. Now, the 26-year-old singer is opening up about the breakup. Sam is getting super honest and admitting they ended on good terms, but it’s still something he’s processing.

Speaking to The Times UK, Sam said, “Brandon was wonderful. I’m still trying to figure out what I took from that relationship and what it meant to me. It’s still quite raw. All my relationships have ended in a nice way, never nasty.”

So while Sam and the 24-year-old actor’s relationship didn’t last, they both seem to have solid memories to look back on. 

How did Sam and Brandon start dating?

It’s unclear exactly how they got together since they’ve kept most of the personal details about their relationship to themselves, but fans did take note of the guys leaving comments to each other on Instagram in September of 2017. Brandon has been super vocal about standing up for LGBTQ rights, and Sam had commented on one of his powerful posts.

View this post on Instagram

Just saw the "vote no" message in the sky, looming over Sydney. Thank you for raising money and hiring on a plane to write your lack of support amongst the clouds. I hope your hate and lack of understanding fades, just like those words will. Too many of my friends have been kicked out of their homes, kept in the closet, beat up, killed, ridiculed by church and state, institutionalized… and you are scared that if we vote YES, you won't be able to show your hate for Us. Fuck that. We've been scared shitless our whole lives thanks to all the stigmas that surround Us, stigmas that were set in place by the same kind of people who flew that plane over Sydney. We've fought, we've come out bravely even in our fear, and you wrote a message in the sky because you're scared. Equality takes courage, it worries me that too many people in this world lack the balls to stand up for what is right. #fuckhate

A post shared by Brandon Flynn (@flynnagin11) on

“Just saw the ‘vote no’ message in the sky, looming over Sydney. Thank you for raising money and hiring on a plane to write your lack of support amongst the clouds. I hope your hate and lack of understanding fades, just like those words will. Too many of my friends have been kicked out of their homes, kept in the closet, beat up, killed, ridiculed by church and state, institutionalized… and you are scared that if we vote YES, you won’t be able to show your hate for Us. F*ck that. We’ve been scared shitless our whole lives thanks to all the stigmas that surround Us, stigmas that were set in place by the same kind of people who flew that plane over Sydney. We’ve fought, we’ve come out bravely even in our fear, and you wrote a message in the sky because you’re scared. Equality takes courage, it worries me that too many people in this world lack the balls to stand up for what is right,” Brandon wrote.

Sam commented an “x,” which is the universal sign for a kiss.

sam smith comment

Then there was the whole slipper conversation they had on Instagram that was super cute.

View this post on Instagram

Stay humble folks

A post shared by Sam Smith (@samsmith) on

“You need slippers,” Brandon said – to which Sam replied, “I’m open to slippers.”

sam smith brandon flynn

So this was how fans started to take note that something was going on between these two. Then, weeks after the initial PDA photos surfaced, Sam revealed while paying a visit to the Ellen DeGeneres Show that he was off the market. Ellen asked, “You’re not single right now anymore, right?” And Sam answered, “No, I’m not, which is crazy. It’s weird bringing out an album and not being single. Cause when I brought In the Lonely Hour I was so lonely. But now I’m singing songs about another guy, I’m quite happy, so it’s quite weird.” 

It took an interview with Dan Wooten on the Bizarre Life to get Sam to really open up about Brandon, though. He admitted that he had no idea the pair were being photographed when the paparazzi caught them kissing and holding hands in New York City.  

“I didn’t know that we were being pictured and it’s such a weird thing to get your head around. I can’t explain it, you know and no one else can relate to you. You can’t turn to your girlfriends and be like, ‘What do you do in this situation?'” he said. “But I’m really happy for once. All I know is I’m happy and I’m trying to see how it goes. Right now what I’m experiencing is very early days. But it’s nice to be with someone who kind of gets it. My job has got in the way of my relationships in the past because it’s just hard to relate to. And people don’t want to be apart of what I’ve got going on in my life.” 

It’s clear this relationship was special to Sam and Brandon and who knows, maybe they’ll be able to find their way back to each other one day. Before he dated Sam, Brandon was actually linked to his 13 Reasons Why co-star Miles Heizer. Despite the fact that some fans were totally convinced they were more than friends, Brandon shut down the rumors once and for all.

“You just let it be. People want to talk about what they want to talk about. I like to kind of remain a mystery. That way people can see me do more stuff and believe me doing more stuff because that’s all I want to do – is tell stories for everyone,” Brandon said in an interview.

Now, he and Sam are both single again. Sam is known for his emotional music and while he was happyily dating Brandon, he had opened up to NME about how he didn’t think he would ever be able to get that personal in his music again since he was in a much happier state than he was recording his sophomore album, The Thrill of It All

“I don’t know if I’m ever gonna be as personal again in music, because I really had to go to a weird place to get the music out. I was in a bit of a dark place. I just didn’t really like myself that much when I was making this record. But I’m starting to be happier now,” he said.

Heartbreak tends to breed inspiration for artists so perhaps we’ll just have to wait for his next album to hear if there’s any sign of heartbreak. 

Love J-14? Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for fun, exclusive videos with your favorite stars.