By Nell Geraets
Another Taylor Swift album announcement, another social media meltdown.
The pop juggernaut revealed the name of her upcoming 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, on Tuesday, confirming what Swifties had frenziedly predicted for months. However, the way she shared the news was less expected – and has divided fans.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are rarely seen apart these days – now even their jobs are overlapping.Credit: AP
The pop star announced it in a clip teasing an upcoming episode of the sports podcast New Heights, which her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, co-hosts with his brother, Jason Kelce. Swift is due to appear on the podcast on Thursday morning (AEST), during which fans believe she will reveal more information about The Life of a Showgirl (for example, the album’s cover or release date).
On one hand, some Swifties have applauded the podcast approach, arguing that it was the ideal way for the singer to reveal the news on her own terms, rather than those of powerful, large-scale media or entertainment organisations.
“A highly successful female taking over her partner’s place of work to talk about her own work and the whole world trips over on itself to see it. She gives him a handshake of online engagement and took the power away from traditional media. I am here for it, honestly,” one user wrote in a comment section on Instagram.
Others also believed it was an effective way to “troll” sports fans who expressed frustration over Swift’s intersection with the NFL since dating Kelce, who is the Kansas City Chiefs tight end.
These opinions are not universal, however.
Swifties had become accustomed to hearing about their idol’s new albums via grand, public-facing events. For example, her previous two albums, Midnights and The Tortured Poets Department, were revealed at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards and the 66th Grammy Awards, respectively. She also announced the release of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) onstage during her Eras Tour.
Revealing an album via a casual – albeit successful – sports podcast is arguably outside the norm for the star. This is further bolstered by the fact that over the past five years or so, Swift has rarely done long-form interviews, especially on podcasts (she last appeared on Zane Lowe’s podcast in 2020, and in Time magazine in 2023).
“This is crazy to me lol she hardly does interviews and here she is on a podcast,” one user wrote on Reddit. Meanwhile, another user wrote: “Male podcast culture so parasitically dominant that Taylor Swift is about to announce her next album on her illiterate [boyfriend’s] show. Free us omg.”
In less than 24 hours, the preview for Swift’s episode on New Heights reached 9.3 million views on X, as well as 1.9 million likes on Instagram. Comparatively, the podcast’s preview for its popular episode with basketball player Caitlin Clark, which was posted in January, only attracted 1.6 million views on X and 225,000 likes on Instagram.
It’s fair to assume that Swift’s appearance will boost the podcast’s listenership and engagement, as Swifties (one of the most loyal and largest fandoms currently) flock towards the sports show.
“It kinda [sic] feels like Clark Kent giving Lois Lane a scoop on Superman lol,” one Reddit user wrote.
That said, the cross-pollination of pop music and sports has alienated certain people. Her appearance could drive certain sports fans – those hoping to only hear discussions based on sports and not music – away from that specific episode, and perhaps even future episodes.
Notably, this isn’t the first time Swift and Kelce have boosted each other in their respective realms (though it’s probably fair to say the latter has more to gain from the former, who is the world’s biggest pop star). Kelce appeared on stage at the Eras Tour in London last year, performing in the I Can Do It With a Broken Heart segment. Swift has also famously attended several NFL games, including the Super Bowl, to cheer Kelce on. Both of these appearances earned them major ongoing publicity.
This could be particularly beneficial for Kelce, who has recently been building his career and brand beyond the football field. Since beginning his relationship with Swift in 2023, he has catapulted onto the world stage, starring in shows such as Ryan Murphy’s Grotesquerie and Netflix’s Happy Gilmore 2. Most recently, he appeared on the cover of GQ magazine. This kind of mainstream exposure arguably wouldn’t be possible for an NFL player without Swift and her marketing machine.
Whether it’s all an elaborate PR ploy, a step “down” for Swift, or a sign of a flourishing symbiotic relationship, there’s one thing we know all too well: this showgirl’s life (and decisions) will remain under the microscope.
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