Sam Smith has confirmed they are engaged to fashion designer Christian Cowan, describing the act of singing openly about queer love in today’s political climate as “radical”.
The 34-year-old musician casually revealed the news during an interview with The New York Times, referring to Cowan as their fiancé while discussing their forthcoming fifth studio album, Hazel Eyes.
The record takes its name from Cowan’s eye colour and is scheduled for release on 21 August. Smith is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns.
“For me, there’s something radical about being queer in this time, in this world, and singing love songs,” Smith said.
“I’m not going to allow the poison that I read and that I see to affect my way of loving.”
A New Era of Requited Love
Smith’s music has frequently explored heartbreak, loneliness and relationships in which affection was not equally returned.
Hazel Eyes, however, marks a romantic shift.
The album’s opening track, Everlasting Love, was reportedly started on the night before Smith and Cowan’s first date and completed after their relationship had developed.
Smith described it as the first time they had written “about requited love”.
The album’s lead single, My Guy, similarly celebrates the warmth and security of a mutually loving relationship. The 12-track record also includes collaborations with Feist and the TwoCity Chorus.
By writing openly about their relationship with another man, Smith said they were choosing not to allow hostility towards queer and transgender people to alter how they experience or express love.
Their comments arrive amid continued political attacks on LGBTQ+ identities in the United States, United Kingdom and elsewhere. Rather than responding by making themselves less visible, Smith is placing queer romance at the centre of their next musical era.
Smith and Cowan’s Relationship
Smith and Cowan were first publicly linked in December 2022, when they appeared in a photograph at the White House following the signing of the Respect for Marriage Act by then-president Joe Biden.
They were subsequently photographed together on several occasions but largely kept their relationship away from social media and interviews.
The couple made their official red-carpet debut at the Met Gala in May 2024, wearing complementary black-and-white outfits created by Cowan. The looks featured metal-plated roses inspired by a gift the designer had given Smith early in their relationship.
Engagement speculation intensified ahead of the 2026 Met Gala after Cowan was photographed wearing a diamond ring on his ring finger.
Reports also claimed the couple had been overheard discussing their engagement before arriving at New York City’s Mark Hotel. Neither Smith nor Cowan confirmed the rumours at the time.
Smith’s description of Cowan as their fiancé has now settled the matter, although the couple have not publicly shared details of the proposal or any wedding plans.
A Crystal-Covered Love Letter
For the 2026 Met Gala, Cowan again designed coordinated outfits for the couple.
Smith described their elaborate ensemble as physically demanding while speaking to Vogue on the red carpet.
“This is the heaviest thing I’ve ever worn in my life. It’s a massive workout,” Smith said.
Gesturing towards Cowan, they added: “There is no one who knows my body better than this man.”
Cowan later revealed that the matching creations contained “255,000 individual crystals and beads” and required “2,000 hours of artisanal hand sewing”.
“This look is a love letter to the king of fashion illustration, and to my love, Sam,” Cowan wrote, explaining that the designs were influenced by French illustrator and designer Erté.
Keeping Their Love Protected
Smith has previously explained that they prefer to protect their romantic life from the pressures of public attention.
After discussing earlier relationships online, they decided that love was something they wanted to experience more privately.
“I think being loved by someone is such a gift — for yourself,” Smith said in a previous interview. “And I think my job can get in the way of that — the purity of that love — sometimes.”
Although the couple have gradually become more visible together, their engagement announcement reflects that private approach. It arrived not through a carefully staged social media reveal, but through Smith simply referring to the person they love as their fiancé.
That relationship has nevertheless become central to Smith’s creative work.
From its title to its opening song, Hazel Eyes captures the experience of finding mutual love after years of writing about longing and loss.
For Smith, singing those songs as an openly queer and non-binary performer also carries a wider significance.
At a time when LGBTQ+ identities remain the subject of intense political and cultural hostility, Smith is refusing to let that hostility dictate the limits of their joy.
