Olivia Rodrigo has officially moved on, and her new boyfriend is about as far from Hollywood as it gets. The Grammy-winning pop star, 23, was photographed packing on the PDA with Julian Croonenberghs, a 26-year-old private equity associate, during a Brooklyn park date in July 2026. The photos showed Rodrigo sitting between his legs as he wrapped his arms around her, kissing her hand, and looking completely at ease. It was the clearest confirmation yet that the “Drivers License” singer has closed the chapter on her two-year relationship with actor Louis Partridge and opened a new one with a man she once described as exactly her type: a “nice, normal boy.”
Who Is Julian Croonenberghs?
Julian Croonenberghs is a private equity associate at Hg Capital, where he works on the firm’s Mercury team focused on lower-mid market buyouts. Before joining Hg in September 2024, he spent over two years as an investment banking analyst at Goldman Sachs, working on the FIG (Financial Institutions Group) desk.
He graduated from Brown University in 2022 with a degree in applied mathematics and computer science. According to his LinkedIn profile, he speaks three languages: English, Dutch, and French. He’s also a former athlete, having played for the U.S. Men’s National Field Hockey Team between 2018 and 2020.
In short, he’s Ivy League-educated, athletically accomplished, and firmly rooted in the world of finance. There’s no Hollywood connection, no entertainment industry ties, and no red carpet history. That’s exactly what Rodrigo has said she wanted.
How Olivia Rodrigo and Julian Croonenberghs Met
The couple was first linked in June 2026 when they were spotted having dinner together in Brooklyn, with photos shared by the gossip account DeuxMoi. They kept things low-profile for weeks, but eagle-eyed fans began connecting the dots.
By mid-July, they were reportedly spotted together at an airport in Iceland, and Rodrigo posted a TikTok video from the trip that featured what fans believed was a man’s hand holding the camera. One fan commented: “Mind you she filmed this with her new boyfriend.”
The Brooklyn park date on July 26 removed any remaining doubt. The photos showed them walking hand-in-hand before settling on the grass, with Rodrigo leaning into Croonenberghs as he held her. Neither has publicly commented on the relationship, but the images spoke for themselves.
The End of the Louis Partridge Era
Rodrigo’s relationship with Louis Partridge, the British actor known for Enola Holmes, was her longest and most serious to date. They were first spotted together in October 2023 during a Halloween trip to London, and they made their red carpet debut at the 2024 Venice Film Festival in support of Partridge’s series Disclaimer.
They attended Wimbledon together in July 2025 and largely kept their romance out of the spotlight, with Partridge telling Esquire UK that they chose “to not be so public” and that there was “a sanctity to being private.”
By December 2025, reports emerged that they had quietly parted ways. Rodrigo never confirmed the split directly, but in an April 2026 Cosmopolitan interview, she hinted at a shift in her life. When asked what “phase of love” she was in, she said: “I’m in the most important phase, the friendship love that I’m sitting right across from. Best friend, community love. Dating is just the cherry on top.”
She also revealed what the relationship taught her: “Patience. Things happen the way that they’re supposed to happen. It’s not supposed to be white-knuckle.”
Her third album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, released in June 2026, was widely interpreted as a chronicle of that relationship’s highs and lows. Rodrigo described it as “a time capsule of a relationship in all of its highs and lows” and “my attempt at capturing love from both sides of the coin.”
Olivia Rodrigo’s Complete Dating History
Before Croonenberghs, Rodrigo’s romantic life had been a series of high-profile relationships, most of them within the entertainment industry.
Ethan Wacker (2018–2019): Rodrigo’s first public relationship was with her Bizaardvark co-star. They dated for around six months before quietly splitting, with fans noticing they had wiped photos of each other from their social media.
Joshua Bassett (2019–2020): Rodrigo’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series co-star was widely believed to be the subject of her breakout hit “Drivers License.” Neither ever officially confirmed the relationship, but their on-screen chemistry and off-screen songwriting collaborations fueled endless speculation.
Adam Faze (2021–2022): Rodrigo dated the music producer for just under a year. They attended the Space Jam 2 premiere together in 2022 before splitting.
Zack Bia (2022): The DJ and Rodrigo were linked after meeting at a Super Bowl party in February 2022. Their relationship reportedly fizzled by August due to conflicting schedules and different social circles.
Louis Partridge (2023–2025): Her longest and most public relationship, spanning over two years before their quiet split in late 2025.
What Rodrigo Has Said About Dating Outside Hollywood
Rodrigo has been refreshingly candid about what she looks for in a partner. In a June 2026 appearance on The Needle Drop with Anthony Fantano, she was asked whether she could date someone with a different music taste than her.
“I think I could,” she said. “There’s something nice about a nice, normal boy. It’s nice to have a guy with taste, but then there’s some normal guys… that’s also quite refreshing. I like it when people don’t know a ton about my job.”
She also revealed that she relies on friends to vet potential partners. “Through friends, for sure. Because then they can be like, ‘I know this person, they’re not a crazy stalker serial killer, trust me.’ And you’ll already have so much in common… that’s definitely the best way.”
And she’s still a romantic at heart. In June 2026, she sent a playful message to her “future husband,” suggesting she’d love a proposal in Central Park with a bench placard that read “Will you marry me?”
Leave a Reply