Taylor Swift is breaking from recent tradition and is appearing on late night TV, as well as talk radio to promote her latest project “The Life of a Showgirl.”
She met up with multiple DJs and interviewers in London to talk about the album, her recent engagement to Travis Kelce, bread and more.
Here’s a summary of what she said on the five radio interviews.
Taylor Swift brings bread and a wedding invite onto BBC Radio 1
The interview started out with host Greg James and Swift talking about the blueberry lemon sourdough bread that Swift brought him.
“The bread puns, I think the worse they are, the better,” Swift joked.
James called it “a baller move” to announce a pop album during a football podcast, referring to how Swift dropped the news about “The Life of a Showgirl” during the “New Heights” podcast that Kelce and his brother, Jason Kelce, cohost.
“I’m always trying to surprise people with how I announce albums,” she said.
James argued that Swift is in love and that “it’s kinda gross.”
She agreed saying, “Yes, it’s actually kind of wonderful.”
Swift revealed that she recorded the album in Sweden, and that each time she returned home, she would play songs from the album for Kelce.
“I knew that this was the kind of album he was going to love the most,” Swift said. ‘He’s like so supportive of all of it, but he’s a real vibes guy."
When talking about the album, she first referenced the lead single “The Fate of Ophelia,” and how it’s a play on Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” as if Ophelia didn’t end up dying.
“I just love the idea of you saved me from love driving me mad because that’s what happened to Ophelia, spoiler alert,” she said.
On The Eras Tour, she said it was “astonishing” what happened with how big of a deal the tour became.
James started to say the magnitude of that experience was probably something she would have to appreciate in hindsight, and she said she knew it was something special even “in the moment.”
“No I really did appreciate it in the moment,” Swift said. “I knew it was crazy what was happening. We have never had anything happen like that.”
Taylor Swift says ‘In my mind, I had the perfect album’ on Magic Radio
Swift went on Magic Radio to talk with hosts Gok Wan and Harriet Scott where she revealed how proud she was of her new album, saying, “In my mind, I had the perfect album.”
Scott and Wan raved about the 10th track “Wi$h Li$t,” and Swift disclosed that when she finished writing the song, that’s when she realized the album was complete.
The song goes into how people want this or that and different things, and the main character in the song argues you can have that, but that what she wants is her partner and kids with her partner.
“It really does get me too,” Swift said. It’s really emotional and it’s a really accurate stance on where I’m at in life.”
On “The Fate of Ophelia,” Swift says it’s a look at past heartbreaks and a present love that helped save you from the similar fate to Ophelia.
“We talk about someone saving you from that fate and how euphoric that feels to look at,” she said. “Maybe your past experiences with heartbreak and feel that you’ve been rescued from that by this fortuitous turn of events where you ended up finding a person that changed that for you.”
Taylor Swift reveals her and Travis Kelce’s favorite song from ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ on Capital FM
Swift joined Capital FM with Jordan North and Siân Welby where she told the hosts that she likes being in the same place as she was when she first wrote the album.
“It feels very accurate to my life experience right now,” she said.
She played “The Fate of Ophelia” for Capital FM listeners for the first time and laughed about the theatrics of what the song means.
“It’s all very dramatic, obviously, because it’s me,” she said.
Swift recorded the entire album during the European leg of The Eras Tour when she had days off, and the hosts asked how exactly she did all that.
“I needed to stimulate my creative mind and my brain and make something that would kind of fuel the fatigue I was feeling at that point in the tour,” Swift said.
On the third track “Opalite,” Swift uncovered that the song is Kelce’s favorite track on the album and shared how she learned that opalite is man-made and that opal is Kelce’s birthstone.
“I thought it’s kind of a cool metaphor that it’s a man-made opal, and happiness can be man-made too,” Swift said.
Taylor Swift on ‘The Life of a Showgirl,’ The Eras Tour and her engagement on Hits Radio
When asked what this album is for her, she shared how her life changed so drastically from when she wrote her last project “The Tortured Poets Department” and what her life looked and felt like once the album actually came out.
But with “The Life of a Showgirl,” it’s more accurate to where she’s at now.
“With this one, the coolest part is it is absolutely the place that I am still in my life,“ she said. ”The music matches the moment I’m in.”
On the Eras Tour, she said something Stevie Nicks told her went through her mind oftentimes — “Don’t threaten my show,” referring to whatever happens, the show is the most important to her.
“You’re like don’t get sick. Don’t let any outside noise into your head. Focus on only this one thing,” Swift said. “If you do get sick, you’re doing the show anyway. If you’re sore, you’re injured, you’re hurt, you’re pretending you’re not and doing the show anyway. So that was a really, really astonishing challenge, and I’m really proud of how we all handled it — not just me but also my band and my crew and my amazing fellow performers onstage. Every one of those people has to be at the top of their game and operating with the same mentality.”
The hosts joked asking her if she “doomscrolls” on social media, and Swift shared how she doesn’t spend much time on social media because she devotes that time to her hobbies like baking.
“It’s been so much fun mandating a different relationship with social media,” Swift said. “I’ll get sent things.”
When talking about “Wi$h Li$t,” one of the hosts mentioned the lyric, “Just give me a best friend who’s hot” and asked if she’s achieved that with Kelce.
And Swift flashed her ring saying, “Look what I’ve got.”
She talked again about “Opalite” and how when we go through something that doesn’t work out that it’s an opportunity to “catapult you forward.”
“Opalite is kind of about forgiving yourself for having gone through something that didn’t pan out the way you wanted it to,” she said.
She continued, “It’s giving yourself permission to like not have it all figured out and to not marry the first person you ever dated.”
Taylor Swift fangirls over Spice Girl Emma Bunton on Heart Radio
Jamie Theakston and Spice Girls member Emma Bunton hosted Swift on Heart Radio where Swift started the interview out revealing she had the Baby Spice doll when she was younger and how she and the other girls would fight over who got to play Baby Spice.
Theakston praised Swift and Bunton and said they’re the type of artists who “put the fans at the front of everything you do.”
“It’s really fun as a fan to feel known and to feel like the artist cares about what you want from them,” Swift said.
Swift shared how fun it was to have The Eras Tour be a cross-generational family affair.
“You’re just seeing people having these shared moments together as families, and it feels like a huge honor to be a part of that,” Swift said.
Speaking of family, Theakston asked to see Swift’s engagement ring, and she revealed Kelce really did design the ring himself.
“He listened to me,” she said. “I didn’t know what I’d want, but he did somehow.”
When referring to “The Life of a Showgirl, she said, “I love this era. I love this theme of this album. It’s so fun to play with.”
Bunton referenced the time Kelce went onstage with Swift during The Eras Tour, and Swift raved about her now fiance.
“He’s such a natural just in life,” Swift said. “He’s kind of never been nervous about anything in his entire life. He’s all the things. He’s fun and vibrant and has this infectious personality and makes me laugh so much.”