Sydney Sweeney is opening up about love, loneliness and the pressure that comes with living so much of her life in the public eye, as part of a candid new cover story with Cosmopolitan.
The 28-year-old actress is fronting the magazine while promoting her new intimate apparel line SYRN, but much of the conversation turns inward as she reflects on dating, privacy, and why she’s choosing to stay quiet when it comes to politics.
While she doesn’t directly address her current relationship with Scooter Braun, Sweeney does speak about the end of her long-term relationship with Jonathan Davino, which came to a close in 2025 after more than seven years together.
Speaking on how guarded she was during that chapter of her life, she said:
“I was in a relationship for a very long time, for seven and a half years, and I never talked about it. I was very private. No one would ever see us. I think it’s important to have some things for myself. I understand that I’m a public person, but I’m still in my 20s. I’m still figuring out love, and it’s hard to do that with millions of people who have their own opinions of what that looks like.”
She went on to explain that after spending most of her 20s laser-focused on work, she’s now trying to allow space for personal experiences, even if that comes with discomfort.
“At the same time, for all of my 20s, I put my head down and focused on work and now I want to experience things. But it’s hard deciding that I want to experience love in the public eye. I’m just navigating it all.”
Sweeney also poked fun at how quickly speculation follows her, joking that the media assumes she’s “dating a different guy anytime I stand in a room where there’s a single man.”
When it comes to actually meeting people, the reality, she admits, is far from simple.
“I don’t know. After I had a few months of just crying my eyes out, I asked all my friends, ‘How do I do this?’ I’ve never dated before. I’ve never even used a dating app. My friends who aren’t in the industry are like, ‘We’ll just go out and meet someone.’ But I can’t just meet someone at a bar. It doesn’t work like that.”
That uncertainty is tied closely to a deeper fear she says she’s still working through.
“I have a huge fear of being alone for the rest of my life, so I look for someone who will be my best friend, who I can hang out with, talk to all the time, dream up things with, and work with.”
Asked about her “type,” Sweeney described someone athletic, adventurous, and emotionally secure enough to stand beside her independence.
“Look, I am a boss in my life. I take control. I go after what I want. I am confident, and I am successful, and I don’t actually need a man. That is very intimidating to a lot of guys, so a guy needs to be able to stand in that with me. It takes a very specific person who can handle the world that comes with me.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Sweeney also addressed why she refuses to publicly discuss politics, particularly in today’s hyper-charged climate.
“Anything you say gets taken out of context. You can say one thing and suddenly you’re labeled or pulled into a conversation you never intended to be part of. I don’t want my voice to be twisted into something it’s not, especially when people are just looking to fight or put you in a box.”
For Sweeney, staying quiet isn’t about indifference, but about self-preservation, choosing to protect her peace in an era where public figures are constantly pulled into culture wars they never signed up for.