Taylor Swift Says She Was a ‘Lonely Millennial Woman’ During COVID Quarantine Despite Joe Alwyn Romance

The singer wrote surprise albums 'Folklore' and 'Evermore' during the mentioned time.

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Taylor Swift, 34, called herself a “lonely millennial woman covered in cat hair,” when describing her time in COVID quarantine, during Saturday’s Eras Tour show in Melbourne, Australia. The singer, who was dating Joe Alwyn in 2020, was describing how she felt when she wrote her two surprise albums, Folklore and Evermore, that same year, while on stage at the packed venue. The comment immediately got her fans’ attention both at the show and online

“[I was] imagining that, instead of being a lonely millennial woman covered in cat hair drinking my weight in white wine, I was a ghostly Victorian lady wandering through the woods with a candle in a candlestick holder, and I wrote only on parchment with a feathered quill,” she said in a video, which was shared by a fan, from the memorable moment. “That was in my mind, what I thought I looked like writing ‘Folklore.’”

Taylor’s comments come after she and Joe, who started quietly dating in 2016, spent time together during quarantine. He even helped her write a few of the songs on the album, including “Exile” and “Betty,” under the pseudonym William Bowery, but their romance ended by early 2023. Many of her fans believe her upcoming new album, The Tortured Poets Department, could be about their six-year romance.

Despite the speculation about her former relationship, Taylor has never publicly spoken out about it, but she did admit she’s a lot more trusting in life now than she was back then, in an interview with TIME last year. “Life is short. Have adventures. Me locking myself away in my house for a lot of years — I’ll never get that time back,” she told the outlet after being named their “Person of the Year.” “I’m more trusting now than I was six years ago.”

Taylor Swift, Joe Alwyn
Taylor and Joe during an outing in 2019. (Getty Images)

Taylor’s currently on the Australian leg of her highly successful Eras Tour and has been playing to the largest crowds she’s ever played for. The talented songwriter started dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce last summer and unlike her romance with Joe, their union has been very much in the spotlight due to the public moments they’ve had together at one of his NFL games or at one of her concerts.