Taylor Swift is opening up about her engagement to Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce while simultaneously weaving their romance into her latest record, The Life of a Showgirl. In a rare television appearance on The Graham Norton Show Friday, Swift described Kelce's proposal over the summer as a carefully staged surprise.
"He really crushed it in surprising me," Swift told Norton. "While we were talking on his podcast, he had a complete garden built out the back of his house to propose in. He went all out - 10 out of 10."
The 35-year-old singer, who announced her engagement on August 26, said she is focused on promoting her new album before diving into wedding plans. "You'll know," she said when pressed for details, adding, "I want to do the album stuff first, and the wedding is what happens after in terms of planning. I think it will be fun to plan."
Swift's 12th studio release, which arrived at midnight on October 3, was conceived in the midst of her grueling Eras Tour. "I was physically exhausted - sick and worn down - so to spark me up, I had the album as a secret passion project behind the scenes," she said. "It stopped me hitting a wall."
One of the most personal tracks on the record, Opalite, explicitly references both Swift's and Kelce's romantic pasts. The song begins with Swift reflecting on failed relationships, including her six-year partnership with actor Joe Alwyn and her brief 2023 reunion with musician Matty Healy. "I had a bad habit of missing lovers past / My brother used to call it, 'Eating out of the trash' / It's never gonna last," she sings, before pivoting to a verse that appears to allude to one of Kelce's former partners: "You were in it for real, she was in her phone / And you were just a pose."
Kelce, who previously dated Maya Benberry and sports journalist Kayla Nicole, has reportedly embraced the track. In an interview on Capital Breakfast radio, Swift said, "I think that's his favorite. He loves that one." She explained that the inspiration came from Kelce's birthstone. "I had written down the word 'opalite' because I learned that it's actually a man-made opal. Opal can be man-made just like diamonds. And Travis's birthstone is an opal. ... Happiness can also be man-made, too."
Swift noted that the album marks a shift away from her earlier, more confessional work. "In recent years, I have a different perspective and like storytelling at a little bit of a distance, so it isn't like doing a complete autopsy of myself," she said. "I feel I can do anything now while running in heels. I am confident to write higher choruses, jump an octave, and do falsetto stuff."
Her father, Scott Swift, has also taken a liking to Opalite. "My dad is very excited about 'Opalite,' and it is Travis's favorite," she told Norton, describing the song as both a family favorite and a metaphor for self-made resilience.
