None of Bassett, Rodrigo, or Carpenter have ever come out and said whether or not the rumours about their love triangle were true. However, it seems that the release of “Drivers License” was just the beginning of the convoluted relationship drama between the three. Since then, both Bassett and Carpenter have released songs that may have hinted at the issue, but now Bassett is giving his side of the story with three new singles titled “Crisis,” “Secret,” and “Set Me Free.
” Bassett reportedly told GQ that he wasn’t in the mood to release the songs even though he wrote them roughly six months ago. He admitted, “I got the nerve to stand up for myself.” Fans are already hard at work trying to decipher the words of Bassett’s new songs and figure out what really transpired now that they can be heard by everyone. But first, let’s get down to brass tacks and look into Bassett and Rodrigo’s past together. The rumours about their romance supposedly started during one of their TV shows.
November 2019: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Debuts
It was clear from the first screening of HSMTMSM at the year’s end that Bassett and Rodrigo have great chemistry off-screen. The chemistry between them was so strong that Bassett made up a sequence in which his character, Ricky, confessed his love to Rodrigo’s character, Nini. When you don’t have to think and it simply pours through you, “it is the most powerful feeling in the world,” the 20-year-old actress told the Los Angeles Times.
In a sentence: “That was a truly magical moment.” Fans who saw the scene speculated that Rodrigo and Bassett might be more than just pals in real life. Unfortunately, neither Bassett nor Rodrigo ever admitted they were dating. In any case, it’s worth noting that the two frequently showed up on each other’s Instagram pages, adding fuel to the fire of rumours that they were more than just friends and co-stars, but a real life romance.
January 2020: Olivia Calls Joshua Her “Best Friend”
How often do we hear purported celebrity couples describe each other as “best friends” instead of a love partner? To be fair, Rodrigo may have said as much in an interview with the LA Times in the new year. She gushed over her HSMTMTS co-star, saying, “I love him so much.” The acting seemed natural and honest because he is my best buddy. I felt like I wasn’t even in on the act. That doesn’t mean she definitely wasn’t.
July 2020: Joshua Is Spotted Out With Sabrina Carpenter
Bassett released a song titled “Anyone Else” in July 2020 that fans believed was about Rodrigo, a full year before the globe tuned in to 2021’s greatest love triangle (supposedly). I can’t even wrap my brain around this, how am I supposed to consider anything else? He cries out, “How am I to carry on keeping this to myself?” on the heartfelt track. I’m through acting like I don’t want anyone else.
To this day, Bassett has not confirmed that Rodrigo was his inspiration, but he did admit that the song was about crushing on a friend who “was in a relationship with someone else.” When Bassett was seen with Carpenter at a Black Lives Matter protest the following month, speculation began that he had broken up with Rodrigo.
A witness claims that Bassett kissed the Girl Meets World actress on the forehead during the demonstration. The couple was seen having dinner together a month later. Following the end of their supposed romance, Bassett’s and Rodrigo’s followers were left wondering if Rodrigo had explained the breakup on her TikTok channel.
August 2020: Olivia Hints At Heartbreak
Rodrigo suggested that she suffered a heartbreak on TikTok, amid sightings of Bassett and Carpenter. During the month of August 2020, she uploaded a movie to the app showing herself munching on a muffin while listening to “All I Want” by HSMTMTS. She captioned the blatant post, “And that’s on failed romances.”
March 2021: Olivia Addresses The Sabrina Drama
After weeks of rumours suggesting bad blood between Rodrigo and Carpenter, the “Deja Vu” singer finally came clean and stated she had never met the latter. As she explained to Radio.com, “I guess we’ve met once or twice in passing, but I’ve never had a chat with her,” she emphatically denied that “Drivers License” was about the Tall Girl star. No one I didn’t know personally could inspire me to pen an emotionally resonant song about them.
April 2021: Joshua Congratulates Olivia On “Deja Vu”
#SMOKESLOWSELFIE pic.twitter.com/sTWBR01cqj
— Joshua Bassett (@joshuatbassett) August 13, 2022
Single “Deja Vu” was released by Rodrigo in April as a follow-up to his previous single “Drivers License.” Bassett’s 2019 cover of Billy Joel is mentioned, and she sings about an ex-inability lover’s to accept that she’s moved on. The line in the song where she implies that her co-star abandoned her for someone else in the entertainment business rings truest. Do you almost use my name when you call her? “Cause let’s face it, we kind of do sound the same,” Rodrigo sings. “I’d hate to believe that, as yet another actress, I was just your type,” she said.