Calvin Harris 'snapped' after breaking up with Taylor Swift

Calvin Harris. Photo / Getty Images

Calvin Harris has opened up about his feud with ex-girlfriend Taylor Swift, admitting he "snapped" when he called her out on social media after they broke up.

The high-profile pair dated from March 2015 to June 2016, sharing frequent pics of their loved-up lifestyle with their millions of followers during their year-and-a-bit together.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by rickyselby (@rickywselby)

Once the relationship ended, though, things got messy: A month later, it emerged that Swift had secretly co-written Harris' massive hit single This Is What You Came For. The news certainly didn't come from Harris, who lashed out at Swift in a series of social media posts, suggesting her team had leaked the information in an attempt to discredit his musical talents.

In a new interview with GQ UK a year after the incident, Harris admits he was in the wrong.

"It was completely the wrong instinct. I was protecting what I see as my one talent in the world being belittled. It felt like things were piling on top of me and that was when I snapped," he said.

At the time, Harris had tweeted a pointed reference to Swift's next, short-lived relationship with actor Tom Hiddleston: "I figure if you're happy in your new relationship you should focus on that instead of trying to tear your ex bf down for something to do," he wrote.

"Hurtful to me at this point that her and her team would go so far out of their way to try and make ME look bad at this stage though. I wrote the music, produced the song, arranged it and cut the vocals though. And initially she wanted it kept secret, hence the pseudonym," he continued, in a Twitter spray that made headlines worldwide.

Reflecting on the incident in GQ, Harris said he regretted adding fuel to the tabloid fire.

"It's very difficult when something I consider so personal plays out very publicly. The aftermath of the relationship was way more heavily publicised than the relationship itself. When we were together, we were very careful for it not to be a media circus. She respected my feelings in that sense. I'm not good at being a celebrity.

"But when it ended, all hell broke loose. Now I see that Twitter thing as a result of me succumbing to pressure. It took me a minute to realise that none of that matters. I'm a positive guy. For both of us it was the wrong situation. It clearly wasn't right, so it ended, but all of the stuff that happened afterwards..."