It's no secret that Taylor Swift has dated -- with disappointing, sometimes heartbreaking results -- a string of A-list men: Jake Gyllenhaal, Joe Jonas, Taylor Lautner, John Mayer and Cory Monteith. (Her most recent ex wasn't a Hollywood star, but Conor Kennedy is part of America's most legendary political family.)
"When she gets in these public relationships with other big names, the magnifying glass is there," a source reveals in the new Us Weekly, out now. But what most fans of the 22-year-old singer-songwriter don't know is that Swift quietly dated a completely un-famous Nashville college student a couple years ago.
"Her friends were proud of her for trying to date a normal dude," a pal says of the "Begin Again" singer. "And trying to be part of the local college scene like someone her age would be doing."
Unfortunately, the relationship quickly soured, thanks to her beau's fame-obsessed pals. "A couple of his friends started texting her and trying to hang out. It got weird," the source explains.
So Swift -- who split with Kennedy, 18, last month -- ended things. "I don't know how to have a normal relationship," she admitted to Katie Couric recently.
Still, says another friend, "all Taylor wants is to be loved."
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