As this year’s Cosmopolitan Love Issue's very candid cover girl, Gracie Abrams sat down with the outlet to share some of her previous Valentine’s Day shenanigans, her V-Day plans for this year, chat about what makes a healthy relationship, and how Taylor Swift once helped her through breakup, plus a whole lot more.
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As she scrolled through her photos, chronologically sorted to Valentine’s Days, Abrams reminisced about the one with her first boyfriend, the one she spent with her roommates, the one where she “made out with this cute boy at a bar after one of my New York shows,” and all the others she chose to just spend working on her music. Gracie expressed her stance on what the holiday stands for, claiming she isn’t “a hater at all,” about the idea of collectively celebrating some form of romantic ideal.
“What I love about a healthy relationship is that your life doesn’t radically change,” she went on to add. “You just fit into each other in a way that feels positively challenging and deeply supportive—it’s like a place to land.” While Gracie did not specify if anyone in particular inspired this outlook, real stans can probably deduce she’s most likely referring to her romance with Paul Mescal. Whom — based off of timing alone, as well as the whole secure attachment style thing — is clearly not the person of interest behind “That’s So True,” Gracie’s brutal ballad about an illusive ex-lover, that earned Abrams her first-ever Top 10 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
As Cosmo’s Love Issue cover girl, Gracie also went on to answer some Valentine’s Day and love themed questions like — What does love feel like for you right now? What is sexy to you? Can you tell me about the first time you fell in love? Do you have any sex advice to share? And more.
They also asked about her ab workout routine, therapy, and her plans are this Valentine’s Day, which Gracie revealed will occur while she’s “touring in Germany.” Noting, “but I actually have a few days off. My plan right now is to fly to Paris and hopefully my producer Aaron Dessner and I will write a song we love in his studio in France. All of my songs are love letters in one way or another, so that’s my Valentine.”
While commending Gracie’s comfortability with speaking so candidly about sex, Cosmo pointed out how, “Taylor Swift or your other peers" would not be equally as open. Praising their individual distinctions, Gracie expressed, “I couldn’t be more different from Taylor, We are different in all the ways that my friends and I are different or that you and I are different.”
She continued, “Taylor is an athlete, a brilliant businessperson, and a genius writer. She’s a grounded human being who makes time for everyone in her life. It’s been really cool to be in the orbit of a person like her. There’s also nothing that comes close to what she has done. People will still gaslight her and her capabilities and all this shit. But please point me to one man who has come close to defining pop culture in this way. There is nothing! But people are not ready for that conversation."
Cosmo was also curious if Gracie has introduced anyone she’s dated to Taylor, which Gracie admitted she has. “And last year when I was breaking up with my then-boyfriend, after talking to Taylor, I felt very backed by my decision. I felt deep support. Talking to her helped me maintain my stance in the breakup. And, of course, her songs help me through any breakup. They’re all one big love poem.”
Additionally, as part of Cosmo’s Love Issue, Gracie also sat down with a stack of real-life Cosmo Confessays in hand, reacting to each and sharing how she’d personally handle them. Dishing out advice about finding a partner’s secret spam account, getting “WYD” texts at 2 A.M. only on weekends, and sharing phone passwords. As well as why focusing on yourself is always better than dealing with any sad, sad boys, plus more. Check it out below.