Everything has changed since Taylor Swift was 21, but when it comes to her ideal relationship, what she wants is nothing new.
In newly shared audio from 60 Minutes‘ 2011 interview with the young singer-songwriter shared on the program’s A Second Look podcast Tuesday (Sept. 17), Swift — still a country musician at this point and barely of legal drinking age — opened up about one of the most precarious parts of her dating experiences. “It’s so heartbreaking when things click, but your comfort level with fame is so different than [the person you’re dating],” she told the outlet. “‘Cause I don’t care … It doesn’t matter to me who’s looking, but it does to some people.”
“You couldn’t really have a good relationship with someone who cares that much.” Swift continued. “It seems a little unnecessary to care that much about keeping people out.”
As many Swifties have pointed out over the past year, the 14-time Grammy winner finally seems to have found someone who can handle her spotlight: Travis Kelce. Since Swift started dating the Kansas City Chiefs tight end in summer 2023, he’s only seemed to embrace the good, bad and ugly of her outlandish fame while cheering her on whenever possible. “I have fun with it,” Kelce said of the public scrutiny that comes with dating Swift. “It comes with the territory.”
One thing that Swift has changed her tune on since 2011, however, is politics. After staying far away from the subject for over a decade, the “Karma” musician finally broke her silence in 2018 by endorsing Democratic candidate Phil Bredesen for U.S. Senate. Since then, she’s spoken out about politics multiple times — most recently backing Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race — and penned the tracks “Only the Young” and “You Need to Calm Down” about her political beliefs.
All of that would probably surprise 21-year-old Taylor, though. “As far as politics and who I want to be making decisions for our country and all that, I don’t really — I don’t really sing about that,” she told 60 Minutes 13 years ago. “I don’t get melodies and ideas in my head that have to do with, you know, the issues of our economic climate.”
Listen to Swift discuss her ideal romance and stance on politics — plus her favorite lyric she’d ever written at the time and why she’s motivated by “deep wells of insecurity” — on 60 Minutes below.
