According to TMZ, Anwar Hadid reached out to Dua Lipa in June 2019 after hearing she'd broken up with her long-time boyfriend. The two initially bonded over music. They went on a date, hit it off, and soon Lipa was invited to Anwar's 20th birthday party, where eyewitnesses confirmed they looked pretty cozy. The British singer spent a few days in L.A. before returning to London, where she's based, and where Anwar later joined her for an event in Hyde Park — the first time the duo was spotted publicly together, kissing and looking pretty happy.

Cosmopolitan reported that Hadid later attended Lipa's own birthday party, kickstarting a whole summer of PDA moments including Nobu dinner dates and a surfing lesson in Malibu, and culminating with Hadid reportedly moving in with Lipa in New York City, after just a few months of dating. The Sun revealed that the couple would be splitting their time between Los Angeles, New York City, and London. "Dua and Anwar are spending all of their time together so it just made sense for them to rent this place [in New York City]," a source close to the couple advised.