Taylor Swift has set the record straight about her song London Boy after there was confusion over her experience in the British capital.
She has also denied that a line in the song – which is from her new album Lover – was inspired by British reality TV star Gemma Collins following speculation from fans.
The US pop star sings about her wide-ranging travels across the city having fallen for a London boy in the track, referring to locations such as Highgate, Hackney, Brixton and Bond Street.
Swift told BBC Radio 1: “This is supposed to happen over the space of three years. Somebody told me, ‘They think you’re talking about one day’, and I was like, ‘Oh no, you’d never make it.’”
“You wouldn’t make it. You’d make it in three years!”
Swift wrote the song about her partner, British actor Joe Alwyn, who she has been in a relationship with for around three years.
In the track, she sings the line “Babe, don’t threaten me with a good time,” which some fans believed was inspired by The Only Way Is Essex star Collins, who is known for using the term “babe”.
But Swift said: “No, it’s just something my British friends say all the time, and they say it exactly like that, so forgive the impression.”
Swift, 29, performed London Boy during Radio 1’s Live Lounge along with five other tracks, including a cover version of Phil Collins’ Can’t Stop Loving You and an acoustic rendition of her song Lover.
She said of the song, which is also about her romance with Alwyn, that she “wrote in the middle of the night”.
“I just couldn’t sleep, I had an idea, it ended up being one I was really proud of later.”
Swift also told Radio 1’s Clara Amfo about her decision to speak openly about politics now after being criticised for staying quiet about such matters back in 2016.
The chart-topper finally broke her silence on politics in November 2018, when she revealed her backing for two Democratic candidates in the mid-term elections
She said: “I wasn’t worried about backlash because I think at a certain point, it’s about right and wrong, and I think this is the most imperative time in our political history, in America.
“You really can’t care at a certain point, if you’re going to be honest about what you think and how you feel and what you believe in.
“You have to put it out there and just log off.”