All The Red Flags We Noticed In Sabrina Carpenter And Barry Keoghan's Relationship

When news broke in December 2024 that Sabrina Carpenter and Barry Keoghan had gone their separate ways after around a year of dating, not everyone was surprised. "They are both young and career-focused, so they've decided to take a break," a source told People of the split. Us Weekly's insider also blamed busy lifestyles. "It's been challenging for their relationship since she started going on tour and has been gone a lot. Their schedules were not aligning. All the time spent apart it was hard to maintain a relationship amid her career exploding," the unnamed source said.

But while it appeared on the surface the two were too busy to make things works, rumors swirled that Keoghan may have cheated on the "Espresso" hitmaker. Keoghan was flooded with online hate after the allegations, and eventually deactivated his Instagram account, writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the messages he's received are "absolute lies, hatred."

But whatever did go wrong, we noticed a few red flags before the split that suggested this romance was doomed from the start. We spoke to two relationship experts, Luxury Rehab's April Moran, and founder of Marriage Crisis Manager, Becky Whetstone, to find out why.

The end of Barry Keoghan and Sabrina Carpenter's romance may have been influenced by the actor's wild ways. "One of the biggest red flags regarding Keoghan was his history of infidelity," April Moran exclusively told Women. "There were reports that he was not serious about his previous relationships, and partied often," she added. Keoghan's former girlfriend Shona Guerin even told Evoke in 2020 that he pursued her while dating another woman, after they met at the pub where Guerin worked. "He was actually there with another girl, which is a debate we have quite a lot, because I wasn't aware and then I was aware and it was too late," she said. 

Keoghan has also made headlines for getting a little carried away after a drink. The star was arrested in April 2022 after police found him drunk and causing a disturbance outside an apartment complex before 7 a.m. "This indicates that he may have a problem with substance abuse," Moran speculated, though Keoghan has never mentioned any issues with addiction. "When one person has a substance use disorder, it can spell disaster for relationships." 

Four months before the split news broke, one source claimed Carpenter wasn't happy with her then-boyfriend's drinking habits. "Barry acts like an idiot when he is drunk and Sabrina was getting increasingly frustrated," the insider told The Sun. "He has always been a party animal and Sabrina was fed up with his antics."

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Age gap relationships aren't always a red flag (there are plenty of celebs who make it work, after all) but, sometimes, a few years can make a big difference. Carpenter was 24 when rumors started in December 2023 that she was dating Keoghan, then 31. "When you are young, a 7 year difference means each person is in a different life stage with different wants, needs, and desires," Becky Whetstone exclusively told Women. A 2017 Australian study found that a 1 to 3-year age gap was the magic number for the most satisfying relationship, and claimed those who had an age gap of 6 years or more were the least satisfied in their romances.

It's no secret that Keoghan is in a different stage of life compared to Carpenter, either. The actor is dad to a son named Brando, who he welcomed with a former girlfriend of two years, Alyson Sandro, in 2022. Carpenter doesn't have children and, in the months before the breakup, was focused on globe-trotting for her "Short N' Sweet Tour," which has been so popular it's inspired Carpenter-esque nail designs.

Long-distance relationships are hard enough, but they're made even tougher when there are children involved. "[Barry Keoghan] has a toddler who lives in the U.K. and he commuted to Los Angeles to see Sabrina Carpenter," Whetstone told us. "Long-distance relationships between two busy people are always something to be concerned about. It's stressful to pull it off," she added.

Keoghan's dedication to his son isn't a red flag, but because of the thousands of miles between the "Saltburn" star and the "Bed Chem" singer, his constant need to go back and forth across the Atlantic may have caused some issues. Though plenty of couples don't live in the same city, or even country, Survive LDR claimed the average length of long-distance relationships in 2023 was 14 months, with 35% of long-distance relationships ending. Post-breakup, couples blamed factors such as loneliness or a lack of trust or communication.

Though Keoghan prefers to keep his son out of the spotlight, he's made it very clear he's an involved dad and, understandably, won't sacrifice their relationship. "[I have] a lovely relationship with my little boy. I'm getting to see him grow and it gives me such love and hope," he said on the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast in November 2024. "He's starting to talk now and give back chat."

Sabrina Carpenter saw huge surge in popularity after she released "Espresso" in April 2024, but she was a prominent celeb for around a decade before the song took off. She started gaining notoriety for "Girl Meets World" in 2014. Barry Keoghan, though, had more instantaneous fame. He got some attention for 2021's "Eternals," but caused a media firestorm for his role in 2023's "Saltburn" that rocketed him to the A-List. 

"[Carpenter] has gotten time to get accustomed to power, fame, and money. Keoghan came from nothing and has gained power, fame, and money relatively quickly and recently," Whetstone told Women. "Ask any famous person; money and fame change everything. If Keoghan didn't have the self-esteem and confidence to support that, I would imagine he could be very wobbly, uncertain, and skittish."

Carpenter has admitted her steadier rise to the top has helped her stay grounded in a way Keoghan may not have been able to. "If you really look at how long I've been singing and acting, it's a long time compared to the instant gratification that some people have," she told Cosmopolitan in May 2024. "I never had the instant thing, which now I feel very lucky about because I have a lot of experience."

Sabrina Carpenter and Barry Keoghan's family and background differences could also have been red flag. Carpenter grew up in the States while Keoghan hails from Ireland. "She was raised in a traditional, intact family in Pennsylvania ... he had a heroin-addicted mother who died when he was 12, and his father wasn't in the picture," Whetstone said, noting the Keoghan was in 14 foster homes before he turned 9 years old. "A therapist could imagine the trauma the child took on as a result of this," Whetstone added.

Keoghan has spoken publicly about the impact his difficult upbringing had on him. "I had a lot of problems with trust, never trusted love, never trusted that someone wanted to know me," he told James Corden on the "This Life of Mine" podcast in December 2024. "You don't trust the process of anything. You have a problem with attachment and abandonment," he added, noting he'd spent a lot of time in therapy to deal with his trust issues. 

Carpenter has also opened up about her approach to love, admitting she too can be more guarded. "When I was younger, I fell in love very easily and now I fall in love ... with some more knowledge," she said on "Chicken Shop Date" in August 2024. And if both were sceptical about being vulnerable and trusting one another, it could explain why this romance fizzled.