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Taylor Swift ignites Charli XCX feud with brutal Life Of A Showgirl lyrics

Home> Music> News

Updated 12:34 3 Oct 2025 GMT+1Published 09:58 3 Oct 2025 GMT+1

Taylor Swift ignites Charli XCX feud with brutal Life Of A Showgirl lyrics

Is there really 'Bad Blood' between the duo?

Ellie Kemp

Ellie Kemp

Featured Image Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for iHeartMedia

Topics: Taylor Swift, Music, US News, UK News

Ellie Kemp
Ellie Kemp

Ellie joined UNILAD in 2024, specialising in SEO and trending content. She moved from Reach PLC where she worked as a senior journalist at the UK’s largest regional news title, the Manchester Evening News. She also covered TV and entertainment for national brands including the Mirror, Star and Express. In her spare time, Ellie enjoys watching true crime documentaries and curating the perfect Spotify playlist.

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@EllieKempOnline

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It appears Taylor Swift has clapped back at Charli XCX with a song off her new album, 'The Life of a Showgirl'.

The seventh song of the record, Actually Romantic, has sparked much speculation about the pair's relationship.

But first, let's take a quick look back on the duo's history...

Last June, Charli released Sympathy is a Knife on her her sixth studio album, Brat.

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While not exactly a diss track, it's believed to be about Taylor, and how Charli feels insecure around her, her successes seemingly dwarfed by the global mega star's achievements.

The pair crossed paths back in 2023, when Charli was dating now-husband and The 1975 drummer George Daniel, and Taylor, meanwhile, getting close with frontman Matty Healy in 2023.

Their brief situationship is thought to have inspired many of the tracks on Taylor's previous album, The Tortured Poets Department.

Taylor and Matty dated briefly in 2023 (Robert Kamau/GC Images)
Taylor and Matty dated briefly in 2023 (Robert Kamau/GC Images)

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And so when Charli sang in Sympathy: "Don't wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend's show/ Fingers crossed behind my back, I hope they break up" - it's understandable that fans thought it was a dig at Taylor.

Now, Taylor has hit back with pretty scathing lyrics of her own.

"I heard you called me ‘Boring Barbie’ when the coke’s got you brave,” she declares in the opening line of Actually Romantic. Yikes.

It's worth noting that Charli released a special edition of Brat with white powder in the vinyl, and has gone viral for 'sniffing' during some DJ sets...

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Anywhere, elsewhere in the song, Taylor adds: "High-fived my ex and then you said you’re glad he ghosted me,” - again, it's reasonable to believe this is about Matty.

Elsewhere, she taunts: "How many times has your boyfriend said/ 'Why are we always talking 'bout her?'"

Charli and now-husband George Daniel (JMEnternational/Getty Images)
Charli and now-husband George Daniel (JMEnternational/Getty Images)

In the chorus, Taylor sarcastically laments how this attention is, in fact, a form of flattery, singing: "It's actually sweet/ All the time you've spent on me

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"It's honestly wild/ All the effort you've put in/ It's actually romantic/ I really gotta hand it to you, ooh/ No man has ever loved me like you do."

Not sure fiancee, Travis Kelce, will feel about the one, but it's a slick way to respond, in any case.

Despite the feud rumors, in real life the duo have actually been pretty civil.

Both women were at this year's Grammy Awards, and Taylor was spotted dancing, champagne bottle in hand, as Charli performed hit track 'Guess'.

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Taylor was all smiles watching Charli perform at the Grammys (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
Taylor was all smiles watching Charli perform at the Grammys (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

Although, Switfies have now calculated that the Love Story hitmaker probably had already wrapped up 'Actually Romantic' by then.

Last year, during a gig in Brazil, a fan shouted out: "Taylor Swift is dead," and Charli wasn't having any of it.

"Can the people who do this please stop. Online or at my shows," she hit back. "It is the opposite of what I want and it disturbs me that anyone would think there is room for this in this community. I will not tolerate it."

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Maybe there's no 'Bad Blood' between the pair after all.

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