Joshua Bassett jokes about his ‘failed relationship’ with Olivia Rodrigo

Joshua Basset has poked fun at his relationship with rumoured ex-girlfriend, Olivia Rodrigo.

The actor is best known for his role in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, in which he plays Rodrigo’s on-screen love interest.

Last year rumours surfaced that the pair had also dated in real life, and that Rodrigo’s hit breakout single, “Driver’s License”, was written about Basssett.

While neither party have confirmed a relationship, Bassett further fueled rumours on Tuesday (11 October) when he shared a playful TikTok about the “love of his life”.

Using a filter that generates random letters, Bassett asked: “First letter is the love of my life.”

In response, a capital ‘O’ appeared on the screen. Grimacing at the filter’s response, Basset tried again: “Second letter is the love of my life.”

When a “Q” appeared on the screen, he relaxed: “Okay, Q, I’ll take it.”

The hilarious video has been watched more than eight million times and has elicited a strong response from fans of the actors who couldn’t believe Bassett referenced Rodrigo.

“When I tell you my jaw DROPPED,” one person said. “Wait this is so funny,” another said.

A third user wrote: “Nah this has got to be that one guy who looks like you but isn’t you, this can’t be real.”

“He bold and I appreciate that,” another said.

Rodrigo and Bassett shocked fans earlier this year, when they posed together on the red carpet at the season three premiere of their TV series.

Videos and photographs from the event showed the pair smiling and hugging as they posed for cameras.

“Never in a million f***ing years would I have predicted an Olivia Rodrigo and Joshua Bassett pic together,” one fan tweeted at the time.

Bassett opened up about the impact of “Driver’s License” on his personal life in an interview with GQ last year.

Rodrigo released the single on 8 January, 2021. The song spent nine weeks at the top of Official Singles Chart, helped by TikTok – where a hashtag for the song has amassed more than nine billion views.

“I would see TikToks with like 50 million views and 10 million likes saying, ‘If I ever see that kid on the street, I’m going to fucking kill him,’” Bassett said.

“It’s hard to see that and then be living in New York and walking down the street.”