Emily Ratajkowski and Harry Styles’ late March Tokyo kiss may have been far from the beginning of their romance. Daily Mail and Page Six pointed out that in Ratajkowski’s March 9 podcast interview on Going Mental with Eileen Kelly, Ratajkowski revealed she had been seeing someone for a month who was “pretty great.”
The two women were discussing being serial monogamists in the past, along with what Ratajkowski is looking for in a partner now.
“I just don’t like a lot of guys,” she started. “I don’t go on dates unless I don’t think they’re going to be like that [give me the ick]. Yeah, I can get the ick.”
“I just started dating someone that I kind of like, like, so that feels different,” she continued, around the 28-minute mark of the podcast. “But yes, if you had talked to me four weeks ago, I would’ve been absolutely like, ‘Oh my god.’ [Now,] I’m just like, ‘Oh well, he’s kind of great.’ But yeah, no, I would be seeing someone and then all of a sudden, the way they would like, walk, would be like, ‘Ugh.’” Ratajkowski said, literally gagging.
Regarding what she looks for in a partner, she explained being in therapy has helped her break some bad habits from the past. “What do I look for in a partner?” she asked. “I mean, I like someone who is very independent. I think, that for me right now, that’s very important just because I do have a full life.”
“I’m hoping that dating somebody who has more of their own confidence and life will help with preventing that [the issues I had before with men getting emasculated by and resentful of my accomplishments],” she continued. “I look for good-hearted people, people who are thoughtful, people with good politics. I like people who are funny, similar interests is important for sure.”
As for her tendency to go from relationship to relationship since she was a teenager, “There are no things that I regret, but I’m like, ‘Man, if you had just been a little less afraid you could’ve experienced things a little differently.’ But also I really do think I stayed in those relationships to be protective and not have to deal with what it’s like to be single and like trust people or whatever because even now, I find myself, I’m so guarded and like I can do that but I just wouldn’t have been capable of doing it before.”
You can watch her full interview below. The dating conversation starts around the 25-minute mark:
In terms of Ratajkowski and Styles’ relationship, while she did not explicitly confirm Styles is who she was seeing in March, a source did tell People that the two have history, and she would like to spend more time with him. The source explained on March 29, “She is having fun and enjoys the attention from guys. She hooked up with Harry, but they are not in touch every day. Emily is interested in seeing him again though.”
A source previously told People that Ratajkowski and Styles “have been friendly for a while.” That source did not specify how long, but Ratajkowski was seen at Styles’ concert last June with his then-girlfriend Olivia Wilde, so they’ve likely been friends for almost a year at least.
Senior News and Strategy Editor
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.