Swift Opens Up About Personal Struggles During Eras Tour
Taylor Swift revealed in her six-part Disney+ docuseries The End of an Era that her personal life was harder than performing during the tour. The Grammy winner said she never considered quitting because of the shows themselves.
“There were points in this tour when the tour was really the only thing that was really keeping me going in my life,” Swift admitted in episode four.
The 36-year-old singer went through two major breakups during the first half of the tour, which ran from March 2023 to December 2024. She dated British actor Joe Alwyn for over six years before they split in early 2023. Swift then had a brief romance with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy.
“But there were never points in the tour where I thought, ‘Oh, you know what? I want to quit the tour ’cause the tour’s hard.’ No, my personal life was hard,” she continued in the documentary.
“The show was what gave me purpose and was what I could use to get me out of bed. So, the tour has never been the hard thing in my life. The tour has been the thing that has allowed me to find purpose outside of the s— that was going wrong in my life.”
Swift added with a smile: “Men will let you down, the Eras Tour never will.”
Music as Therapy During Difficult Times
The singer described writing music as “a form of therapy.” Her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, reflected the emotional turmoil she experienced.
“Tortured Poets album is like this purge of… just, like, everything, everything bad that I felt for two years,” Swift explained. “It was a really rough time in my life, so the songs reflect that.”
She described feeling isolated during that period.
“Feeling like I’m not a person, I’m just this like, big conglomerate that no one sees as a real human being and especially not men that I date,” Swift said.
How Swift Met Travis Kelce
The Eras Tour also brought positive changes to Swift’s life. It became the catalyst for her relationship with now-fiancé Travis Kelce.
Swift’s mother, Andrea Swift, discovered headlines from Kelce’s New Heights podcast. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end had mentioned wanting to give Swift a friendship bracelet with his number on it.
Andrea called her cousin, described as the “resident expert on the Kansas City Chiefs,” who confirmed Kelce was “the nicest guy” and “really loves his mom.”
“Bells immediately rang in her head,” according to the docuseries.
Swift recalled her mother’s approach: “So, you call me up with this tone of like, ‘Hey so I know you’re not going to react well to this. But there’s a guy…'”
Andrea chimed in during the documentary: “He’s really cute.”
Swift noted she had been “very non-athlete” when it came to dating before meeting Kelce. Her mother encouraged her to try something different.
“You said something to the effect of like, ‘You gotta start doing something different,'” Swift told her mother.
From Podcast Mention to Engagement
Swift ended the episode with humor about how their relationship began.
“If you ever would have ever told me that the most meaningful relationship I would ever have would start with a man saying he was ‘butt hurt’ that I didn’t want to meet him, unbelievable.”
The couple went public with their relationship in September 2023. Kelce, 36, proposed in August, with Swift announcing their engagement on social media.
She wrote alongside photos of the garden proposal: “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married .”
A source told People that both Swift and Kelce continue prioritizing their relationship despite busy schedules.
“Taylor’s had an incredibly full, demanding year and she’s really proud of everything she’s accomplished,” the insider shared. “She’s worked extremely hard and her schedule has been nonstop, but even with everything going on, she and Travis still put a lot into their relationship.”
