5 Signs Sabrina Carpenter And Barry Keoghan's Relationship Would Never Last

Hollywood's hottest couple of 2024 have officially called it quits. Barry Keoghan and Sabrina Carpenter had been in a coveted romance since December 2023, when they were first spotted together. After a year of dating, the couple confirmed their split in December 2024. According to reports, the reason why Keoghan and Carpenter broke up was due to the pair's budding and increasingly busy careers. With Carpenter's idolized album "Short n' Sweet" keeping her busy on tour, as well as Keoghan's industry fame coming off "Saltburn," the two were likely to drift apart, but that's not all to the story.

As a couple, Keoghan and Carpenter flaunted their tantalizing romance through Carpenter's music; Keoghan first made a surprising appearance in his girlfriend's music video for her song "Please Please Please," where he played Carpenter's ex-con boyfriend, whom she begs not to "embarrass" her. Suffice it to say, Keoghan didn't listen to the lyrics because popular gossip monger DeuxMoi published a blind item that accused the actor of cheating on Carpenter "with a blonde, semi-famous, LA-based influencer (who's particularly big on [TikTok])," (via Reddit). Though people speculated it was social media influencer Breckie Hill, she addressed the rumors in a TikTok video, confirming she did not hook up with Keoghan.

Now that Keoghan and Carpenter have separated, it's still unclear what caused the split. However, looking back on their relationship, a few red flags stand out, which might have more to do with their break up than what has been said.

Before they were even a full-fledged couple, Sabrina Carpenter and Barry Keoghan sparked rumors of their split. In August 2024, reports of their breakup started swirling in the media. A source told The Sun that Carpenter was "fed up" with Keoghan's excessive partying habits. "She is soaring in the charts and is putting herself first as she gears up for her tour next month," said the insider.

It was hard to know whether the two were really separated and, if so, for how long. That same month, however, Keoghan posted on his Instagram Stories with a link to Carpenter's "Short n' Sweet" album (via Entertainment Tonight). He added the words: "BED CHEM my fave just sayin m'darlin." 

With all eyes on them, it must have been fairly difficult to keep their relationship private, thus taking a toll on the couple. Life in the chronically online era has been admittedly tough on Carpenter. She told The Guardian in August 2024: "It's not what I signed up for, but I can't really help when I was born." 

Throughout their brief relationship, Barry Keoghan and Sabrina Carpenter kept things pretty casual. So casual, in fact, it's been reported that they were on-again, off-again for the majority of their time together. Their August 2024 breakup rumors only sparked insiders to reveal their dicey dating habits. 

A source confirmed to People in August 2024 that Carpenter and Keoghan were "on and off." It was likely that the pair had not defined their relationship at that time, but that fling attitude is almost always a recipe for a relationship to end. Neither said much of their romance; Carpenter only alluded to it in a June 2024 Rolling Stone interview, saying, "How do I skirt around this question?" when asked if Keoghan was her boyfriend. 

Carpenter seemed more focused on her professional work with Keoghan. She told Variety in August 2024 that nothing was more "special" than seeing such a prominent Hollywood star acting to the sound of her music. "I don't want to sound biased, but I think he's one of the best actors of this generation," she added.

Sabrina Carpenter and Barry Keoghan have a bigger age gap than we thought — Keoghan is seven years Carpenter's senior. At different stages in life, it may have been hard for Carpenter and Keoghan to stay at the same pace. One notable difference between the pair is that Keoghan is actually a father. As he raises his son Brando from across the pond, Carpenter keeps "working late, cause [she's] a singer." 

At the time of filming "Saltburn," Keoghan welcomed his baby boy with then-girlfriend Alyson Sandro, with whom he ended things in July 2023, which GQ confirmed in January 2024 while speaking to the actor. "She's done a great job, and she's an incredible mother," said Keoghan, without any more information on his relationship with Sandro.  

Part of Carpneter's charm is her youth — she was even celebrated for it at Variety's 2024 Power of Young Hollywood party. One thing that she's currently keen on maintaining is how much fun she's having in her career. "I'm having fun," she told Variety on the red carpet. "I could use a few more hours of sleep — I could — but I'm having a lot of fun, and I'm just very grateful." With the responsibility of parenthood on his shoulders, we don't think Keoghan could say the same thing. 

When Barry Keoghan and Sabrina Carpenter went official in early 2024, a source told Us Weekly, "They really took things slow at first," but signs point to the opposite. After being spotted for the first time in December 2023, they made their first public appearance as a couple in early February 2024 at W Magazine's Grammys after-party. Their relationship debuted only a month after Keoghan confirmed to GQ that he was separated from his son's mother — their official end date was reportedly in July 2023.

Carpenter doesn't mind the dating pandemonium. To her, fast is synonymous with fun. When chatting with Cosmopolitan magazine about her dating life, Carpenter opened up about her relaxed mindset when it comes to dating compared to her younger self. "When I was younger, the one thing I always thought was, why would I date this person if I didn't see myself marrying them?" she said. "But now I have a mentality that there are relationships that are meant to be in your life, even if it's only for a couple of weeks." As the young musician said in her hit song "Espresso": "My give-a-f***s are on vacation."

Sabrina Carpenter and Barry Keoghan's chill approach to their relationship may not have been so easy-breezy by the end. The exes say that they went their separate ways due to their busy careers, but Keoghan's perpetually wild nights may have been an influence. A source in Keoghan's inner circle told The Sun in July 2023, "His partying caused arguments" with his baby's mother. "Alyson [Sandro] also suspects he has got close to someone else and is adamant there is no going back."

Another ex of Keoghan's spoke out about his purported infidelity. In 2020, Shona Guerin told Evoke that she met Keoghan when he was with another girl. "I was working in the pub at the time, and he was actually there with another girl," Guerin said, adding his persistence in taking her out: "He just wouldn't take no for an answer."

His partying was reportedly something that bothered even Sabrina Carpenter. In The Sun report of the couple's alleged August 2024 breakup, a source told the outlet: "Barry acts like an idiot when he is drunk and Sabrina was getting increasingly frustrated." If he pursued another woman while with Carpenter, we might never know.