I really do believe that Sabrina Carpenter‘s love life deserves better, and I’m not the only fan of Sabrina who thinks so.

Sabrina‘s got almost 50 million followers on Instagram who are supportive of her and I’ve seen countless social media threads about her from people who just have a lot of respect for who she is as a person.

Especially when it comes to how outspoken she is about human rights, her willingness to push the boundaries with her edgy lyrics and music, videos, and the fact that she is always unapologetically herself, regardless of criticism she might receive.

When I reflect on some of her past romantic relationships and rumored connections, I genuinely start to feel like her love life deserves a lot better.

I spent seven years writing and researching entertainment articles for iHeartRadio, RapTV, and official Netflix synopsis.

Now, I’m an independent journalist, and I can kind of speak my mind about whatever random thoughts I have.

And right now, I want to talk about Sabrina‘s love life. Especially amid the current rumors that she might start dating Joe Keery.

I really love Joe, and you probably know him too from his time starring on Stranger Things on Netflix and the fact that he sings the song end of beginning as Djo.

I actually saw Sabrina and Djo both perform at Coachella live in 2024. That was a great year for Coachella by the way.

But anyway, Joe and Sabrina have been sparking dating rumors ever since she fake arrested him on stage when he was in the audience at one of her shows and most recently, according to The Sun, they were spotted together at a Saturday Night Live after party in New York City.

One thing I really love about Joe Keery is that he’s just as outspoken about politics as Sabrina and they are both on the side of the aisle that cares about human rights.

So I feel that they genuinely would be a good pair if they decide to date. As of this video publication, nothing there is official, but obviously that might change after I publish this. Who knows.

But for now, I wanna dive into the details of some of Sabrina’s past relationships that have given me the perspective that I really do believe her love life deserves better.

And I would actually be excited for her if she chose to date Joe Keery, or someone else who has the same morals and ethics as him.

The Barry Keoghan chapter

So let’s start with the Barry Keoghan chapter since this was her most recent relationship.

Rumors about a relationship blossoming between them started in 2023, but they didn’t really start making headlines as a couple until 2024.

By the end of 2024, their relationship was over.

But not before they pulled in tons of public attention, mostly because Sabrina invited him to star in her music video for Please Please Please.

He played a bad boy in the music video, which had some fence questioning if that’s how he really acted in real life.

The reason some fans were questioning if he was actually a good romantic partner for Sabrina is that he welcomed his firstborn child into the world with his ex-girlfriend Alison Sandro in 2022 before they broke up in the middle of 2023.

So when fans saw Barry gallivanting around with Sabrina, traveling with her a lot, and just really hyper focused on his relationship, they started questioning if he was also showing up for his child.

Some fans on social media said they got the ick from Barry because they didn’t know if he was spending enough time with his child.

Barry did a couple of interviews just shut down the narrative explaining that he was never a “deadbeat dad,” even though fans tried to vilify him that way.

So at the end of the day, the deadbeat dad narrative might’ve never fit the bill for Barry, but there are other reasons why Sabrina simply deserved better than whatever this relationship had to offer.

And it really revolves around their break up. The PR reason a source gave People Magazine for their split was that, “They are both young and career focused, so they’ve decided to take a break.”

But we later learned from Sabrina‘s social media behavior that the split might not have been not amicable.

She reposted a TikTok from a girl who wrote, “When I had to convince myself he was attractive, but he ended up breaking up with me.”

The fact that Sabrina reposted that speaks volumes about her real thoughts about Barry’s attractiveness.

If Sabrina felt she had to convince herself, he was attractive to be with him, then that relationship obviously wasn’t the right fit for her in the first place.

The Joshua Bassett chapter

Let’s move onto the Joshua Bassett chapter because we all know how chaotic and toxic this one was.

It’s what ultimately led Olivia Rodrigo down the path of releasing the Drivers License.

Olivia also released the song Traitor, which hinted that although Joshua didn’t cheat on her with Sabrina, the time between breaking up with Olivia and starting his new relationship with Sabrina was so short that she still felt betrayed anyway.

Drivers License was a pop culture phenomenon, and it brought a lot of negative attention Sabrina‘s way.

And none of that would’ve happened to her if she didn’t start dating Joshua.

In Sabrina‘s song Because I Liked a Boy, she laid it all out on the line to explain how detrimental her relationship with Joshua really was in light of the Drivers License drama.

She said, “Now I’m a homewrecker, I’m a slut, I got death threats, filling up semi trucks. Tell me who I am, guess I don’t have a choice. All because I liked a boy.”

Sabrina literally revealed that she received death threats over her decision to date Joshua in that song, and we all know that her relationship with Joshua didn’t even last.

The Shawn Mendes chapter

Let’s dive into the Shawn Mendes chapter of Sabrina‘s dating history.

Sabrina and Shawn had a brief romantic fling at the beginning of 2023 in the middle of one of his off-season from dating Camila Cabello.

Shawn and Camilla met in 2014 and started dating publicly in 2019.

They broke up in 2021, which left the door open for him to seek out something romantic with Sabrina at the beginning of 2023.

He ended up reconciling with Camila after they saw each other at Coachella in April of that year before ultimately breaking up again for real.

But his temporary fling with Sabrina was enough to cause a lot of chaos and create a lot of headlines.

It was classified as a full-fledged love triangle, and it even lead to some disc tracks being dropped.

It’s widely believed that Camilla’s song June gloom was written with Sabrina in mind with lyrics like, “If she’s so amazing why are you on this side of town? If you like her so much, what are you here trying to find out? Does she get this wet for you baby? Talk to you in poems and songs baby?”

It was definitely a song of comparisons. And it’s widely believed Sabrina‘s songs Coincidence, Dumb & Poetic, and Taste were written with Camila Cabello in mind.

In taste, Sabrina sings, “I heard you’re back together and if that’s true, you’ll just have to taste me when he’s kissing you.”

In another part of the song, Sabrina sings, “Every time you close your eyes and feel his lips you’re feeling mine. And every time you breathe his air, just know I was already there. You can have them if you like, I’ve been there done that once or twice.”

So we definitely got some bangers out of this love triangle drama, but it still wasn’t the best romantic situation for Sabrina to be in, which is why I argue for the fact that her love life deserves better and has deserved better for a while.

The Bradley Steven Perry chapter

Let’s dive into the Bradley Steven Perry chapter, since he was the first guy she publicly dated.

They dated as teenagers from 2014 until 2015 after meeting through their Disney Channel shows back in the day.

He was starred on Good Luck Charlie and she starred on Girl Meets World. They were considered a popular Disney couple at the time.

Since they split up, Bradley has only had positive things to say about Sabrina‘s success and the fact that she’s blown up in such an incredible way.

On his podcast, he said, “My first girlfriend is doing way better than mostly anyone in the world I would say. She’s way too good for this podcast.”

So although there was never any bad blood or negative energy between them, the relationship wasn’t built to last beyond their high school sweetheart era.

In my opinion, what he said on his podcast was his way of expressing the fact that Sabrina has elevated beyond who she was when she agreed to be in a relationship with him as a kid.

In other words, the Sabrina/Bradley chapter is closed, and likely will be closed forever.

No bad blood. Just no longer in alignment with each other.

The Dylan O’Brien chapter

Rumors about Sabrina dating Dylan O’Brien sparked in 2022, but keep in mind that nothing was ever actually confirmed.

But she really had as convinced they at least had a temporary fling when she released her song Go Go Juice in 2025.

In the lyrics, she sings, “The one that rhymes with villain,” which had fans guessing that she was talking about Dylan.

But Dylan playfully denied that the song could be about him when he was asked about it on Watch What Happens Live because at another point in the song, she sings about drunk dialing the guy.

Dylan claimed that Sabrina never drunk dialed him.

So who really knows what the deal was between Sabrina and Dylan or if they’re ever even was a deal between them.

But regardless, nothing ever amounted from it.

What Sabrina has said about love & dating

So what all has Sabrina herself said about love and dating? In my opinion, I really do feel that her love life deserves better, which is why I’m posting this in the first place.

Interestingly enough, Sabrina has had a lot to say regarding her perspective of romance.

In 2024, she told Cosmopolitan, “The relationships that I actually want to put my energy into have to be so interesting or invigorating because they take me away from the other things I love.”

When I read that, it made me realize how much Sabrina really prioritizes her individuality, her self-interest, her hobbies, and the things that bring her joy.

She isn’t willing to just drop anything and everything for a guy who comes along. He has to be really special. He has to be someone who stands out and makes a difference in her life.

She went on to say, “The one thing I always thought was, why would I date this person if I didn’t see myself marrying them? I just wouldn’t even put energy into it. But now, I have a mentality that there are relationship relationships that are meant to be in your life, even if it’s only for a couple of weeks.”

That perspective from her truly helped me better understand her opinions on relationships, love, and dating.

For her, having fun, experiencing casual flings, and dating someone without the super serious intention of marrying them is perfectly fine.

Once upon a time, she did really take dating seriously, and only gave her time and attention to men who she saw future with, but as she has gotten older, her mind has changed.

She described her approach to dating as “messy and fun.”

In a separate interview with Time, she spoke further about her love life, revealing that she is fine with using her relationships as inspiration for her lyrics.

She spoke of her Short n’ Sweet album, saying, “It has been a really therapeutic album to be able to just say what I’m thinking.”

So might say if she took a page from Taylor’s book with that one since we know Taylor swift is all about using her real life relationship dynamics to inspire the lyrics of her songs.

And Sabrina did spend quite a bit of time in Taylor’s presence as Taylor’s opener for the era tour in 2024.

In another interview with Rolling Stone, Sabrina talked about dating saying, “The dating pool is the pool and when you meet people that feel authentic and are so brilliant and amazing in every way, that’s what you do. Obviously, I write songs about exactly how I feel so I guess I can’t be so surprised that people are interested in who and what those songs are about. That’s something that comes with the territory.”

She also talked about love with Interview Magazine, saying, “I think love is the most beautiful thing in the world, and the most painful thing in the world at the same time. But the beauty outweigh the pain.”

And she added, “I would hope that whoever I marry is a fan and I hope that I’m the biggest fan of the person that I marry.“

Sabrina‘s thoughts on love, dating, and marriage make a lot of sense, especially when you take her career trajectory into account and the fact that she is 26 years old as of this publication.

We’ll see what comes next for Sabrina in her love life, but I’m rooting for her and hoping that she attracts the love life she deserves if that’s what she wants for herself.