Entertainment

Are Nick Jonas & Tove Lo Dating? The Steamy Video For "Close" Started Some Rumors

by Kimberly Zapata

Ever since the music video for "Close" was released — the Nick Jonas/Tove Lo collaboration project — rumors have been circulating that the singers are more than "work buddies." Many fans have speculated that Jonas and Tove Lo, whose real name is Ebba Tove Elsa Nilsson, are actually a couple. However, with the 2016 Billboard Awards just days away — and their live duet around the corner — it seems almost everyone is now asking if Nick Jonas and Tove Lo are dating. But, according to a recent interview with Jonas on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, the rumors are just that: rumors.

I really am [single]. Yeah. I really am.

And Tove Lo echoed that sentiment in an Entertainment Weekly interview, explaining she's "known Nick...a couple of years” and pointing out that Jonas is a "friend."

However, even with this confirmation, it seems many fans still believe there is something special between Jonas and Tove Lo. And how could you not? In the music video, the couple is muddy and sweaty and so damn sensual that it's unreal, and when you consider this is Tove Lo's first time interacting with another artist in a video, it's hard not to wonder where all of the sexual energy comes from.

That said, while the video is steamy, according to Jonas, "Close" isn't about a relationship, persay, or even anything remotely sexual; instead, "Close" is about Jonas's own inability to "open up and be vulnerable” with others.

The video, which was directed by Tim Erem, debuted in March and is the first single from his forthcoming album, Last Year Was Complicated, due out June 10. But it is hardly the only song in which Jonas shows his vulnerable side. In fact, as Jonas explained on Twitter, his sophomore album was defined by heartbreak:

When I first started making [Last Year Was Complicated] I thought I knew what it would be about...[t]hen I had a breakup. It then became very clear what this thing would be about…[a]nd that I would need to dig really deep…[s]–t is too real sometimes…[r]eliving some of these real life experiences through this music is hard.

As for Jonas and Tove Lo, the pair will certainly be seen at the Billboard Awards together, as they are are slated to perform "Close" live — but whether they appear together on stage or on the red carpet remains to be seen.

The 2016 Billboard Awards, hosted by Ciara and Ludacris, will broadcast on ABC on Sunday, May 22 at 8 p.m.