Shawn Mendes Plays Coy About Attending Met Gala with 'Really Good Friend' Hailey Baldwin

Shawn Mendes is keeping the exact status of his relationship with Hailey Baldwin a mystery for now

Shawn Mendes is keeping the exact status of his relationship with Hailey Baldwin a mystery for now.

The 19-year-old singer played coy while chatting about his Met Gala date with W magazine, despite many taking their joint red carpet debut as confirmation of their rumored romance.

“We’re really good friends,” he shared. “It’s funny, she’s such a pro with this type of stuff. I want it to be amazing for her, so I’ve been trying for the past 24 hours to be really silly so that she stays on. I’m happy to walk with her — she’s amazing.”

Mendes also revealed to the magazine that Baldwin, 21, was with him when he got the number “8” tattooed on the inside of his middle finger.

Stephen Lovekin/Variety/Shutterstock

Stephen Lovekin/Variety/Shutterstock

The pair shared numerous photos from their fun evening together on Instagram, but opted not to caption many of the posts. Mendes’ included a black and white shot of the duo toasting with pals, and another shows Baldwin sticking her tongue out at the camera on the red carpet.

On a solo shot, the model wrote, “last night was dreamy.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BigNckJgV5B/?hl=en&taken-by=haileybaldwin

Speculation of a romance between Baldwin and Mendes first ignited after they were spotted holding hands at a Halloween party and cuddling in his hometown of Toronto over the holidays. They’ve also been featured on each other’s social media pages.

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Baldwin spoke with PEOPLE in March about Mendes, whom she called “amazing.” But when it comes to dealing with speculation about who she’s dating, her approach is simple.

“I just laugh most of it off. It’s quite funny to me, to be honest. I try to keep that side of my life as private as possible. I don’t feel like I have to explain myself to people because it’s my life,” she said.

Neilson Barnard/Getty

It’s clear that Mendes has someone special on his mind, although he wouldn’t come out and say exactly who he was thinking about.

“I wrote a song on the new album confessing my feelings for somebody, which I’ve never truly done before,” he told W. “Everything has been about breakup, or hurt, or whether I’ve felt it or not. But I never truly wrote a song about somebody confessing the way I felt, which is a terrifying thing to do.”

The “In My Blood” singer also reflected on how fame has launched him into adulthood — and how he’s rediscovering himself.

“I feel like I grew up really fast from 15 to 18 in a very mature way,” Mendes explained. “Now, there’s a next phase of maturity that I’m hitting which is, be less mature! You know? How important it is to not stress so much about yourself and not take yourself too seriously, and realize what’s goofy about you.”