Today, everyone's rewatching Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's performance at the Oscars.

Almost four months ago, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper performed their song Shallow at the Oscars. Cooper sang with his arm around Gaga, and she nuzzled into his neck. Their faces were close, their eye contact electrifying.

It was the culmination of months of what fans perceived to be very real sexual tension between the lead actors of A Star is Born – who convincingly played love interests Jackson and Ally in the film.

For some viewers, the chemistry made them “uncomfortable”, given Lady Gaga had just split with her fiance, and Cooper was reportedly in a happy relationship with model Irina Shayk.

Watch the performance below. Post continues after video.

Then, days after the Oscars performance, the rumours were shut down.

Speaking to Jimmy Kimmel, Lady Gaga said, “First of all, social media quite frankly is the toilet of the Internet and what it has done to pop culture is abysmal.

“And people saw love, and guess what, that’s what we wanted you to see. This is a love song, the movie is a love story.”

Ahead of the Oscars, Mamamia’s Laura Brodnik wrote that the drama around Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga – including Lady Gaga’s curiously timed break up, was all part of the marketing campaign for the film.

“A Star Is Born’s slightly lower budget could be traced back to the idea that their campaign is based on their publicly endorsed and sweeping “narrative” style plan centred on the star power and “relationship” between Lady Gaga (real name Stefani Germanotta) and Bradley Cooper,” Brodnik wrote.

“You see, along with spending big bucks on trade advertising and swish events, the best way for a movie star to secure themselves an Oscar is to structure a compelling or favourable public “narrative” around not just their name but also the road they had to walk in order to bring their movie role to life.”

But now, months later, when there’s no incentive to promote the film, Cooper’s break up with Shayk seems suspicious.

Does it have anything to do with the tension between him and Lady Gaga?

Or is it pure coincidence?

For many fans, this photo says it all:

When viewers saw Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's Oscars performance, they may have been witnessing a very real love story play out on a global stage.

Or, we might have all bought into one of the cleverest marketing campaigns of the year.

But one thing is certain: the ambiguity about Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's romantic lives makes us want to watch A Star is Born over and over again.