Taylor Swift appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” this week to discuss her latest album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” and her recent engagement to Travis Kelce — and, of course, to talk about bread.
Jimmy Fallon started the show off by shouting, “She’s here!”
He then called Swift “the mother of all guests.”
“I listened to the album so many times that now I think I’m in love with Travis Kelce,” Fallon joked.
He skipped the monologue after the members of his band told him, “Dude, we’re here for her,” and he then proceeded to introduce Swift and list out all of her accolades.
As he introduced her, he continually had to yell over the screaming audience.
“We have to let her talk,” he finally said, to quiet down the audience. “That’s the loudest intro to the ‘Tonight Show.’”
Taylor Swift on ‘The Life of a Showgirl’
When asked about her latest project “The Life of a Showgirl,” Swift said, “This was a surprise and secret I’ve been carrying around for a year.”
Seeing the fans’ reactions to the album, she compared it to knowing you have the perfect Christmas gift for somebody and the anticipation leading up to them opening it, and how much joy it brings to see them open and enjoy the gift.
Her last album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” was a more heavy, raw and dense album in comparison to the frills and pomp of “The Life of a Showgirl.”
She revealed that she likes to “showcase” aspects of her personality in each album — like with her previous album, “Tortured Poets Department.”
“Tortured Poets Department was really highlighting the facets of me that are like a writer who’s earnest and stoic and raw,” she said.
“Pain and excruciating detail, that was the character of the poet,” she continued.
Whereas this album channeled a showgirl — sassy and funny and feisty.
Taylor Swift talks engagement to Travis Kelce
Fallon offered congratulations on her engagement and asked her to show off the ring, which she did happily.
“He’s just my favorite person I’ve ever met,” she said of Kelce. “No offense to everyone else.”
After rumors swirled, Swift confirmed that the couple got engaged right after the podcast they recorded for Kelce’s “New Heights” show, which he co-hosts with his brother, Jason Kelce.
Swift pondered whether having her on the podcast was just a ruse to keep her from looking out the back windows of the house, because Kelce had a crew bringing in flowers to create a secret garden for the proposal.
She noticed he was acting extra nervous and even mentioned his heart racing.
“I’ve never seen this dude nervous,” she said. “He’s professionally not a nervous person.”
Taylor Swift addresses internet rumors
Fallon introduced a game that ended up being slightly confusing, where he read five rumors that have swirled on the internet about Swift and then she revealed which rumor was true.
Here are the five rumors:
- Rumor 1: “Taylor Swift, you turned down the Super Bowl halftime show because the NFL wouldn’t allow you to own your performance footage.”
- Rumor 2: “Your close friend, Ed Sheeran, learned about your engagement like everyone else did on Instagram.”
- Rumor 3: “In your speech at Selena Gomez’s wedding, you joked that Selena beat you to the altar.”
- Rumor 4: “You’ve been spotted walking a mystery dog in Florida.”
- Rumor 5: “Travis Kelce can be heard harmonizing on ‘Opalite.’”
Fallon guessed that she joked that Gomez beat her to the altar during her speech at Gomez’s wedding.
“I did make a speech, but I made a point not to mention anything about my engagement,” she said. “Nobody cares about my engagement.”
Swift then disclosed that the true rumor was that Sheeran discovered she was engaged through Instagram because “he doesn’t have a phone!”
“This is something I love about him,” Swift said. “He doesn’t have a phone. It’s eccentric.”
On the Super Bowl halftime show, she revealed she’s been in talks to perform but is “too locked in” to supporting Kelce on the field.
“I am in love with a guy who plays that sport,” she said. “The whole season, I am locked in.”
Taylor Swift talks ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ songs
They played the song “Opalite” for the crowd, and the entire crowd sang along to every word of the chorus of the brand-new bop.
“You’ve had like six minutes to learn all the words, and you’ve done it. That’s unbelievable,” Swift said.
She described the song as an interesting metaphor for picking and choosing your own happiness.
“You have to sometimes make your own happiness just like how men made opal,” Swift said.
About Track 8, “Wi$h Li$t,” she said it was partly inspired by the movie “Happy Gilmore,” where he has his happy place.
“That chorus, I wanted to show you what mine is and how mine would sound,” she said. “That’s utopia for me.”
She said it’s about building a life with that person and a home, and continued to rave about Kelce.
“I like learned about sports for this man,” she said. “I love them. I don’t want to do them. I’ll watch.”
About the final track, “The Life of a Showgirl,” she said when it all came together, the first thought she had was of Sabrina Carpenter.
“As sort of entertainers, one of our main jobs is to be a mirror for people,” she said. “The art we make, you see yourself back. The way you feel about our art has a lot to do with the experience you’re having at this point in time.”
Taylor Swift discusses ‘The Fate of Ophelia’ music video
Each scene in the massive production of “The Fate of Ophelia” is one take. The entire backup dance and backup singing crews, as well as her band, are all included in the production of the video.
“That felt more like the energy of a performance when it’s make it or break it, you hit your marks or you don’t,” she said. “So that was really fun to have that energy going and to be in rehearsals again with that entire group of people that I had with me on The Eras Tour, and they’re all in the video. It just felt like this joyous reunion.”
Taylor Swift talks about bread once again
Swift has been open about her obsession with baking sourdough bread, and took some time during her interview to bring up bread once again after Fallon asked her about the sourdough bread featured in the music video.
“I have these baking or cooking obsessions where it becomes my entire personality,” she said.
She then joked, “I have to actually stop myself from talking about bread at parties.”