Shortly after those initial interactions, rumors began to swirl that Paul and Phoebe had started dating. Phoebe called Paul "cute" during a magazine interview, and she even appeared to fly to Ireland to hang out with him in July 2020. There's no photographic evidence from the trip, but a local cafe thanked the two of them for stopping by.

Paul started to tease about a mysterious "girlfriend" in interviews but he didn't provide any additional details on who she was. Shortly thereafter, he appeared in Phoebe's music video for "Savior Complex" in December 2020. It was possible, even then, that the two were simply engaged in a professional collaboration, but all signs began to point toward a more serious relationship.