Shawn Mendes Says Going Through Public Split From Camila Cabello Was 'Brutal': 'This Is Real Life'

Shawn Mendes is pulling back the curtain on what it was like to go through a split in the public eye.

While chatting with Jay Shetty on his podcast, "On Purpose with Jay Shetty," the singer, 26, explained how he managed his breakup from Camila Cabello.

"Brutal. I mean, honestly, I think Camila and I have just done the best job at preserving our private lives. We have a little fire of love for each other, because no matter how strong mentally you are, when there are millions of people commenting on it, it's so hard not to be affected by it, and to be swayed by it, and to be inspired by it, and to desire it because people desire it, or to hate it because people hate it, and it's just human," he shared about his former girlfriend. "So I don't really see or care what people say about my love life or my relationships because it's honestly too detrimental to the actual relationship itself that I've become pretty strict on. But it's crazy, man. This is not a movie."

"This is real life. This is real love, and love is confusing and hard and goes through dips and goes through pauses, goes through breaks, goes through so much. And so, I really feel for everyone who goes through that, you know. I just feel like as a celebrity, I just want to just come at it and be really truthful from the place of, this is what love is like for me, you know," he continued.

In order to protect his romance, Mendes, who split from Cabello 27, for good in 2023, said he would "over communicate" with her.

"I felt this way when I was doing this interview and I said this thing and I felt weird and I'm sorry if it came off like that. You know, I love you and it just immediately cuts through any type of assumption that I could make or she could make from anything," he shared. "For me, and for us, I think immense honesty just like over communication — and we're both amazing at that."

Though the two are done, they still keep in touch.

"I'll be the first to text her. She'll be the first to text me. And we just, as long as we're good, we're good. All the noise is just noise, and that's been a huge part of it," he admitted.

As OK! previously reported, the singers first split in 2021 but rekindled their romance in 2023 when they were seen kissing at Coachella. However, they called it quits a few months later.

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The brunette beauty previously spoke about why they weren't meant to be.

“It wasn't even a decision, I think you are just kind of like, ‘Yeah this doesn't really — it's not a fit,” she told Alex Cooper on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast in March. “It doesn't feel right. I think luckily, I was in a place in my life where it took me less time to realize that — and it took us both less time to be like, ‘This doesn't feel right and we don't really need to try so hard to make it work. It's all good. This is not feeling good, like ‘Let's be friends, I love you. It's all good, let's move on.'"