Updated: 2 Dec 2025Author:
David Frederickson

Tate McRae and Jack Hughes might be dating – and hockey just found its pop princess

  1. Tate McRae and New Jersey Devils star Jack Hughes were spotted on what looked very much like a date at a cosy restaurant in New York’s West Village.
  2. Anonymous tips, grainy photos and a very distinctive arm cast have fans convinced the “guy with the broken arm” is indeed Jack, out for dinner with one of pop’s biggest new names.
  3. The sighting comes just months after Tate’s breakup with The Kid LAROI, and right as she wraps a sold-out arena tour off a No.1 album.
  4. Hockey wives are weighing in on her outfit, TikTok is calling this “Taylor and Travis but for the NHL”, and Devils fans suddenly know every lyric to “greedy”.
  5. Neither Tate nor Jack has confirmed anything, but the internet has already skipped to the part where they move in together and argue over whose playlist wins.

How one West Village dinner turned into a full-blown ship

The Anton’s sighting that started it all

The whole saga kicked off when a celebrity gossip account shared tips and photos claiming Tate and Jack were having dinner at Anton’s in Manhattan’s West Village. Diners reportedly clocked them straight away, with one eyewitness saying the whole restaurant was sneaking looks at their table like it was live theatre.

The vibe, according to those anonymous sources, was very much “date night”, not “just business”, with the pair tucked into a corner table and chatting in that intense way people do when they’re either falling in love or negotiating for screen time on a reality show.

“Guy with the broken arm” gets unmasked

At first, fans only saw Tate from behind and a mystery man with his arm in a cast, which is the sort of detail the internet treats like an FBI-level clue. It did not take long for hockey fans to point out that Jack Hughes is, in fact, currently injured and has been photographed in a similar cast.

Once that connection was made, the “mystery date” narrative evaporated and was replaced with “Tate McRae is on a date with an NHL franchise player”, which is a much juicier headline and an excellent way to crash both fandoms’ group chats at once.

The evidence TikTok and Twitter are obsessing over

Mutual follows, matching outfits and timeline maths

Beyond the dinner, fans have been building a case file out of mutual Instagram follows, old screenshots and suspicious likes. People have dug up past moments where Jack’s name popped up at the top of Tate’s friend list, suggesting this connection has been simmering quietly for a while.

There are also side-by-side outfit comparisons from the alleged date night that appear to match the clothes in the leaked photos, which is exactly the sort of forensic fashion analysis that should qualify as unpaid labour at this point.

Post-tour timing and the “soft launch” era

The timing has everyone extra nosy, because Tate has just finished a massive arena run off her album “So Close to What”. She spent most of 2025 on the road, so a cosy November dinner in New York right after tour wrap feels like a reward, not a coincidence.

For fans fluent in celebrity dating lore, this has all the hallmarks of a classic soft launch: one public outing, no direct comment, and just enough photographic evidence to fuel shipping without technically confirming anything.

Who is Jack Hughes – and why are hockey fans screaming?

NHL golden boy meets pop’s new main character

Jack Hughes is not just some guy with a stick; he is a star centre for the New Jersey Devils and one of the league’s most marketable young players. He is known for highlight-reel goals, speed, and the kind of messy hair that says “I woke up like this and then scored on you.”

He was already a big deal in hockey circles, but dating rumours with a Grammy-nominated pop star instantly push him into a different celebrity bracket, where your love life is discussed right alongside your power-play stats.

Hockey’s “Taylor and Travis” moment, but with more ice time

Some fans and pundits are already calling this a mini version of the Taylor Swift–Travis Kelce crossover, only for a sport that spends most of its time complaining people don’t understand icing. The idea of Tate’s fanbase discovering the Devils because their possible boyfriend plays there is giving the league marketing team heart palpitations and wild hope.

Hockey influencers have even started joking about a “Tate effect” on ticket sales and jersey numbers, imagining teenage fans turning up in custom shirts that say “greedy for #86” like it’s the most normal thing in the world.

Tate’s side: breakups, bangers and a very on-brand hockey crush

From The Kid LAROI to “guy with the cast”

This rumoured romance comes a few months after Tate’s breakup with The Kid LAROI, which ended earlier this year after about eighteen months together. Both sides have insisted they’re on good terms, despite some noisy online drama from his camp that fans happily turned into subtweet bingo.

For Tate, being seen out with someone new – especially someone from a totally different lane – signals a clean chapter shift, the kind of post-tour, post-ex reset that could easily inspire three more songs and a bridge that ruins your entire week.

A pop star who actually grew up around the rink

One detail fans love is that Tate comes from a hockey household herself. Her brother has played at a high level, and she has talked before about being comfortable in arenas that smell like sweat, popcorn and crushed hopes.

That makes the supposed link-up with Jack feel less random and more like someone finally realising she can combine her childhood environment with her current job in the most dramatic way possible: by potentially dating one of the league’s biggest names.

Fashion, flirts and the WAG jokes that followed

The outfit that got a wink from a hockey wife

Beyond the romance angle, a lot of the chatter has focused on what Tate was wearing at that Manhattan dinner. Her colourful look drew compliments from the wife of a former NHL player, who left a playful comment praising her outfit rather than pouring petrol on the dating rumours.

That small nod from someone firmly inside the hockey world made the whole thing feel oddly wholesome, like a gentle “approved” stamp from the current WAG committee instead of a televised trial.

WAG TikTok, but make it pop-star edition

Of course, the internet immediately jumped ten steps ahead, imagining Tate as an NHL WAG in perfect leather coats, quietly mouthing along to “greedy” on the jumbotron while the camera pans past. TikTok edits are already cutting together her stage clips with Jack’s highlight reels like it is a fan-made movie trailer.

It is all speculation, but it speaks to how hungry people are for another glamorous player-pop star crossover, especially one with a new sound, a new sport and fewer televised family dinners.

Why UK fans care about a New Jersey–New York fling

When your playlist meets late-night hockey streams

Tate has a strong UK fanbase thanks to her hit singles and recent arena shows, so British listeners are heavily invested in any storyline where their sad bangers intersect with sport. The idea of streaming her album on the bus while checking Devils scores is weirdly appealing to a certain type of pop-and-Premier-League-obsessed fan.

Hockey remains fairly niche in the UK compared with football, but a viral romance can do what marketing campaigns cannot, especially if it results in more clips of Jack trying to dance at concerts like a man whose job does not involve rhythm.

Another cross-Atlantic celebrity ship to argue over

There is also the simple fact that Brits love a messy, slightly unconfirmed celebrity situationship, particularly when it involves transatlantic travel and professions that seem incompatible on paper. Pop star on tour and hockey player with a dodgy hand injury is essentially a novella waiting to happen.

Group chats are already divided between people who think it is a fling, people who have pre-named their future dog and people warning everyone to calm down until someone posts a selfie that isn’t taken from across an entire restaurant.

What happens next for Tate, Jack and the internet’s new favourite rumour

Hard launch, soft fade or “no comment forever”

Right now, both camps are keeping quiet, which is either PR wisdom or emotional self-preservation, depending on your level of cynicism. They can choose the full hard launch with couple photos, keep sprinkling breadcrumbs via anonymous sightings or quietly stop hanging out and let the story die a natural death.

Given how much attention even one dinner generated, a proper red-carpet debut would probably melt at least three social platforms and force hockey commentators to say words like “TikTok official” with a straight face.

Pop stars, athletes and the new normal of crossover love stories

Whatever happens, this mini-saga underlines how pop-star–athlete pairings have become the new shared universe of celebrity gossip. Music brings the fan cams, sport brings the stats, and together they create a storyline that keeps everyone talking between album drops and playoff runs.

If Tate and Jack turn out to be just friends, the memes will live on anyway, and some Devils fans will have accidentally discovered their new favourite pop album. If they are more than friends, well, start brainstorming ship names now before someone claims the good ones on TikTok.

References. A list of references and links used

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