NEED TO KNOW
Taylor Swift is back at The Tonight Show!
The pop superstar, 35, appeared on the Monday, Oct. 6 episode of The Tonight Show for a conversation with host Jimmy Fallon, where the pair went through a list of rumors, with Swift confirming or denying them.
One of the revelations from Swift’s appearance was her explanation for why she will not do the Super Bowl halftime show. When asked by Fallon about the “rumor that [she’s] turned down the Super Bowl ‘because of performance footage,'” Swift replied “No.”
She then launched into a lengthy explanation. “Here’s the thing,” she began. “Jay Z has always been very good to me. Our teams are very close. They sometimes will call and say how does she feel about… and that’s not an official offer or a conference room conversation. We’re always able to tell him the truth, which is that I am in love with a guy who does that sport on that actual field.”
Swift reflected on how stressful it is to watch her fiancé Travis Kelce play on the field — and how that plays into her consideration of potentially doing the halftime show. “That is violent chess,” Swift said. “That is gladiators without swords. That is dangerous. The whole season I am locked in on what that man is doing on the field. Can you imagine if he’s out there every single week putting his life on the line, doing this very dangerous, very high-pressure, high-intensity sport, and I’m like, ‘I wonder what my choreo should be. I think we should do two verses of ‘Shake it Off’ into ‘Blank Space’ into ‘Cruel Summer’ would be great.'”
The music star clarified, “This is nothing to do with Travis, he would love for me to do it. I’m just too locked in.”
The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon
During the segment where Swift debunked rumors, she was also asked if she joked to Selena Gomez on the actress’ wedding day, “Hey you beat me to the altar.”
Swift shared that the answer is another no. “I got to see her be the most elegant, gorgeous — not only bride but just — vision that I’ve ever seen in my life. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful as her on her wedding day,” she said of Gomez’s Sept. 27 wedding to music producer Benny Blanco.
“And she deserves all of this happiness. Benny is so funny. He’s the best. I did make a speech. But I actually made a point not to mention anything about my engagement. No one wants you to be like, ‘Hey, I know this is your wedding day but—'” with a raised hand showing off her ring. “I was like, ‘Don’t mention it.'”
“Let me turn it around,” Swift joked of her ring, adjusting it to face away from the back of her hand.
Swift then revealed the contents of her speech to Gomez. “I did do some light teasing about the way we used to dress in the year 2008 — the year that we met,” she said. “We met when we were teenagers in 2008. It was quite a year. It was the year of deep, deep V-necks. It was the year of aggressively colorful skinny jeans. Everyone was walking around saying that things were amazeballs.”
“Selena — her favorite outfit back then was a very long tank top, skinny jeans, but a tiny little vest,” Swift continued. “The smallest vest, and Chucks, and that was her uniform that year. Mine was I always looked like I was late for the cowboy-themed junior prom. So I talked a little bit about 2008, how happy I am for her, how it’s been beautiful to get to be a part of her life. But I did not make it about me.”
The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon
Swift then confirmed that Ed Sheeran learned about her engagement on Instagram. “I have the perfect explanation. He doesn’t have a phone! He doesn’t have one that works.” She then revealed her method for sharing the news of her engagement with her friends: It came down to who she’s texted over the past month. Since Sheeran wasn’t in her texts, he didn’t get a personal notification.
“When the news came out I was like oh my god we forgot to call Ed! Oh no! He’s like family. I love him. But he doesn’t have a phone.”
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The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon
Swift’s latest appearance on The Tonight Show marked her first since the Midnights era in 2022.
The Grammy winner released The Life of a Showgirl at midnight on Friday, Oct. 3. Less than 11 hours later, the album broke Spotify’s record for the most-streamed album in a single day in 2025 on the platform.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am to share this with you, an album that just feels so right,” wrote Swift on Instagram upon releasing the project, created alongside producers Max Martin and Shellback.
“A forever thank you goes out to my mentors and friends Max and Shellback for helping me paint this self portrait,” she continued. “If you thought the big show was wild, perhaps you should come and take a look behind the curtain…”
For more on Taylor Swift, pick up PEOPLE’s newly updated special edition Taylor Swift A to Z: A Showgirl’s Life, out now.
