By As the sun gets a little brighter in the sky, spare a thought for the men who have endured a long, cold winter on their own. We're not talking about those manning lighthouses on isolated rocks, but (*checks notes*) Harry Styles and Brad Pitt, two men who are at pains for the world to know they are very much single.
Pitt's mission to raise awareness for his dating status ran alongside his Oscar campaign, peppering speeches with clues like adding his Golden Globe award to his Tinder profile, or telling audiences he had to bring his mother to awards with him because of the rumours about who he was going out with.
The boy with the pearl earring, Harry Styles, is also flying solo these days, with the singer confirming his dating status while discussing being robbed at knifepoint in London on Valentine's Day. "That's what you get for being single," he joked while recounting the incident on The Howard Stern Show. "I should have had other plans."
Publicists have long advised the famous and beautiful that being in a relationship can kill their career, but Brad and Harry's keen attempts to show off how lonely they are is a new level of commitment to the cause. Are they going home to scroll through Raya while listening to the Lizzo album and chanting 'I am enough' into the mirror before bed? Given Pitt has coyly described his life as a bachelor as "really good", he's probably not too glum about being alone. Either that or he's playing a very good distraction game after that photo with him pulling at Jennifer Aniston's wrist went viral.
It can hardly be an accident that two of the world's most eligible men are desperate for everyone to know they aren't committed. When your campaign strategy is flirting with the whole world, it pays to not have someone on your arm to ruin the fantasy.
