How a love triangle is driving the biggest hit song right now

Sabrina Carpenter's song has taken off on the charts and the saga that inspired it is a wild breakup drama

Olivia Rodrigo
(Image credit: (Photo by Jason Mendez/Getty Images))

It's the song of the moment and no doubt every teenager you know is fully clued up, but did you know the dramatic story behind Sabrina Carpenter's hit single Skin? 

The Disney star, who got her start on Girls Meets World, dropped the sultry song  Skin this morning and it's already racing up the charts — and it gives us the next chapter in a dramatic love triangle that has tongues wagging. 

Carpenter, who shot to fame in 2014 playing Maya Hart in the Disney spin-off, is using the song to set some records straight. 

What is Sabrina Carpenter's Skin about? 

The song’s lyrics are thought to be aimed at her High School Musical: The Musical: The Series co-star Olivia Rodrigo, who's recent No. 1 single Driver's License broke Spotify's record for the most streams in a day.

The two young women have allegedly fallen out over Sabrina's closeness with Rodrigo’s ex and their fellow co-star, Joshua Bassett.  Joshua and Olivia fell for each other while playing love interests in the latest High School Musical reboot.

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Olivia is rumored to have written Driver's License about her breakup with Joshua. On top of that, fans think certain lyrics referring to a blonde girl are about Sabrina. But Olivia is staying mum on all that. 

"All of my songs are about my experience being a teenager and figuring life out," Olivia told i-D. 

And fans have been quick to speculate that Sabrina is using her new single to answer back. 

“You can try to get under my, under my, under my skin while he’s on mine,” she sings boldly in Skin. 

If that wasn’t enough to raise eyebrows, it sounds like Sabrina may have directly nodded at her former co-star in one particular lyric. 

Fans' ears pricked up at the line, “Don't drive yourself insane, it won't always be this way,” which may be a reference to Olivia's single. 

Forget who’s going to get the guy. The real question is, who’s going to get the Grammy? 

Emma Dooney
Lifestyle News Writer

Hailing from the lovely city of Dublin, Emma mainly covers the Royal Family and the entertainment world, as well as the occasional health and wellness feature. Always up for a good conversation, she has a passion for interviewing everyone from A-list celebrities to the local GP - or just about anyone who will chat to her, really.


Emma holds an MA in International Journalism from City, University of London, and a BA in English Literature from Trinity College Dublin.