There’s a lot going on in the Taylor Swift fandom right now. Though the pop star has been keeping out of the spotlight in recent months, the internet is swimming with theories that she’s about to make her comeback — and she just might make the big announcement on boyfriend Travis Kelce‘s podcast.
It all started Monday morning (Aug. 11), when New Heights — the podcast hosted by the Kansas City Chiefs tight end and his brother, retired Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce — posted an image on X teasing its special guest for this week’s episode. In the photo, the two NFL stars smile on either side of a blacked-out silhouette, which Swifties think happens to look a lot like a certain 14-time Grammy winner.
“92%ers, we’re coming back early for a special episode with a VERY special guest,” reads the photo’s caption, which notes that the episode will drop on Aug. 13, coinciding with Swift’s favorite number.
The New Heights teaser image also features a glittery orange background, aligning with long-held fan theories that Swift’s next album will have an orange theme. Plus, Jason appears to be wearing an Eras Tour T-shirt.
But if those apparent Easter eggs weren’t enough to get Swifties riled up, the message Taylor Nation posted just 12 minutes later definitely was. Sharing four images of the musician on stage at past Eras shows, wearing the color — you guessed it — orange in each one, the official fan account wrote, “Thinking about when she said ‘See you next era…’”
Fueling the fire, Taylor Nation quickly followed that post up with two additional batches of four orange-themed Eras outfits in the replies, amounting to 12 pictures total. (Following 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department, Swift’s next album would be the 12th in her discography.)
With all of that in mind, Swifties are absolutely losing their minds at the possibility that the singer has new music coming soon. “glittery orange background, taylor nation posted 12 minutes after new heights, the silhouette is shaped like taylor, Jason in eras merch, a ‘VERY’ special guest…… what if she announces ts12 on Wednesday the 13th ON NEW HEIGHTS…..,” one person wrote on X.
“TS12 IS ACTUALLY COMING THIS IS NOT A DRILL WHATS THE PROCEDURE!!” another excited fan posted.
“travis looking to his left with his Taylor Smile, jason wearing merch, i can see the bangs from a mile away……but most importantly, the background…, added a third Swiftie. “ts12 confirmed to be orange alert the troops.”
Billboard has reached out to Swift’s rep for comment.
Fans have been waiting to see what the musician will do next ever since the Eras Tour wrapped in December, tying a glittery bow on Swift’s first two decades making music. Pulling in more than $2 billion in worldwide grosses, the trek went down in history as the highest earning tour of all time.
And though Swift has never had trouble outdoing herself, her past few projects have left expectations quite high. Her 2022 album, Midnights, won album of the year at the Grammys — making the hitmaker the first artist to ever win the prize four times — while Tortured Poets spent 17 weeks atop the Billboard 200, the third-longest No. 1 run of any album in chart history.