21 Secrets That Taylor Swift Has Revealed About Her Life On "The Ellen Show"

    From driving past the houses of ex-boyfriends to being terrified of going to prison, Ellen always gets the scoop.

    Ellie Woodward
    by Ellie Woodward

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Everyone knows that Ellen Degeneres is the queen of talk shows, getting the gossip from every damn celebrity she meets. But she has an especially close bond with Taylor Swift who over the years has revealed many secrets about her life on the show. Here are some of the best.

    The Ellen Show

    1. Taylor has a very real fear of being framed for a crime and sent to prison.

    The Ellen Show

    Speaking on the show in 2015, Taylor said: "So many people would frame me. But look at me! I wouldn't survive in jail! I think [the fear] comes from the fact that I can see any headline written about me at any time that could be the most ridiculously untrue thing. I could sit in my house with the cats all day and somehow there'll be an article about me buying a house in a place I've never been. In nightmare world, that fear then becomes being framed for murder."

    2. Before she was mega-famous, Taylor used to spend her free time driving past the houses of ex boyfriends.

    The Ellen Show

    On her second ever Ellen appearance, Taylor said: "I'm not, like, throwing eggs. I'm just checking up on them. It should really be seen as an act of public service, I'm just checking they're OK. Everybody does that, but no one admits it.

    3. She likes it when fans cry when they meet her.

    The Ellen Show

    She said: "I get a lot of crying, which is sweet. It's really nice. I guess girls will see their lives and my life – they see parallels with the lyrics, so they'll cry. And it's really nice. I know that it's weird."

    4. Before releasing a new album, she has repetitive nightmares in which Rolling Stone "hate" it and give it a "half star" review.

    5. She set two main goals at the start of her career: "In spite of success, remain the same person. And in spite of success, remain the same song-writer."

    Big Machine Records

    That means, writing personal and confessional songs about her life.

    6. And she says she will never confirm the subject of a song.

    The Ellen Show

    In response to Ellen asking whether "Dear John" was about John Mayer, Taylor said: "People are interested in the subject material of my songs, and people are going to speculate about that. But I will continue to never to tell them who the songs are about."

    7. She did, however, break this rule once – on The Ellen Show.

    The Ellen Show

    Speaking in 2011, Taylor confessed that the song, "Forever and Always" was about Joe Jonas. She said: "There's one song [on the album] that's about that guy. But that guy's not in my life any more unfortunately. I got a last minute recording session to write about [the breakup.]"

    8. And she also revealed on the show that Joe Jonas dumped her over the phone.

    The Ellen Show

    She said: "When I find that person that is right for me, I'm not even going to be able to remember the boy who broke up with me over the phone in 25 seconds when I was 18. I looked at the call log and it was 27 seconds. That's got to be a record?"

    9. She can write a song in 30 minutes.

    The Ellen Show

    10. She taught Zac Efron how to play the guitar when they met while shooting The Lorax together.

    The Ellen Show

    Taylor says she taught Zac how to play "Pumped Up Kids" by Foster the People.

    11. She never approaches her heroes for fear of disappointment.

    12. The one time she broke the policy was when she hung out with Bruce Springsteen backstage at a show in 2013.

    The Ellen Show

    He came to watch her perform in North Carolina. After the show he hung out with Taylor backstage and played her an acoustic version of "Dancing in the Dark" – one of her favourite songs.

    13. She was in the same restaurant as Stevie Wonder on the night that Barack Obama was elected in 2009. Stevie gave a speech to fellow diners that Taylor memorised word for word.

    The Ellen Show

    She made the mental note to "remember everything" that was said – and she did. Taylor revealed that the speech went like this: "This is for all the people who have fought for this country and died so that we could vote. And this is for all of the people who live their lives with love. This is for all the people who live their lives in hatred because they're only trying to be loved. This is for all the believers and the non-believers, and for the future generations who will get to vote because of those who have fought for this country. And most of all this is for all the people here tonight whose main goal in life is to make this country and the world far better than it has ever been."

    14. The Secret Sessions were never originally planned to be such a huge deal.

    Big Machine Records

    The Secret Sessions are the album listening parties Taylor holds for specially selected fans ahead of the record's release. She came up with the concept during the recording of 1989, but originally only planned to have one gathering of fans at one of her homes. However, throughout the planning process she "amped it up" at every stage until she'd decided to have 89 fans at each of her five residences. And, during the Reputation era she increased the number of fans she met at these sessions to 500.

    15. Taylor began song-writing as a way of coping with being isolated in school.

    The Ellen Show

    Taylor said that any time people were discussing an out of school event that she wasn't invited to, she'd tell herself: "It's fine, I can write a song about this later." In fact, she says it's a strategy she deploys even now.

    16. At the age of 11, Taylor's mother would drive her to Nashville and park outside the offices of record labels while Taylor went inside with her demo tape and begged for a contract.

    The Ellen Show

    It didn't work. So, two years later, Taylor's parents upped sticks and moved their whole family to Nashville so she could pursue her dream.

    17. She got a job as a song-writer for Sony ATV Publishing when she was just 14 years old.

    The Ellen Show

    This meant going to downtown Nashville after school, writing with big-name producers before coming home and doing homework.

    18. As well as the aforementioned fear of being imprisoned, Taylor also has an irrational fear of sea urchins.

    The Ellen Show

    She's petrified of accidentally standing on one, being impaled and needing it surgically removed. Speaking about the risks, Taylor said: "You could lose your foot, you could lose your hand, you could lose your hand trying to get it out of your foot."

    19. And, finally, she cites getting her first cat, Meredith, as one of the top five moments of her life.

    Instagram: @taylorswift

    The others were winning Album of the Year at the Grammys, getting a standing ovation at the Grammys, playing the Gillette Stadium, and playing with James Taylor.