Taylor Swift fans speculate man behind Wildest Dreams amid Travis Kelce dates

22 October 2023 , 01:37

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Fans think they've discovered who 'Wildest Dreams' is really about amid Taylor Swift's romance with Travis Kelce (Image: Getty Images)

When Taylor Swift goes to sleep at night, who is it that the international megastar pictures in her Wildest Dreams? The answer to that question has been tearing at Swifties for nearly nine years as they desperately try to determine who she wrote the song about — and as the whirlwind romance between the songstress and NFL superstar tight end Travis Kelce heats up, some fans believe they know the answer.

Back in 2013, as the Blank Space hitmaker was writing what would become one of her most critically acclaimed albums — 1989 — she was also filming The Giver, the film adaptation of the famous 1993 young adult book by Lois Lowry.

The film and book are about a dystopian world in which residents of a society are unable to feel emotions or remember the community's history. Emotions and memories are held by the Giver (played by Jeff Bridges). Swift plays his daughter, Rosemary, who attempts to become the Giver but fails and then dies by suicide. Rosemary is considered a minor character.

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Alexander Skarsgård, known for his role in 'The Giver' with Swift and in 'Succession,' is rumoured to be the man 'Wildest Dreams' is really about (Getty Images North America)

The father of the main character, Jonas (played by Brenton Thwaites), was portrayed by Alexander Skarsgård — and that's where things get interesting.

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The Giver was filmed in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa. When Swift released Wildest Dreams as a single in 2015, the music video that accompanied it was based in (you guessed it) Africa.

The plot of the video has many fans raising eyebrows as well since it depicts Swift falling in love with her onscreen co-star, portrayed by Scott Eastwood, as the two film a movie while on a safari among the wild animals of the continent. Interestingly, the video not only took place in Africa, just as The Giver did — it also featured Swift in a dark-brown wig similar to the one she wore in the film.

Taylor Swift starred as Rosemary in 'The Giver'

Alexander Skarsgård starred as Jonas' father in 'The Giver' alongside Swift (Getty Images North America)

Swift, 33, and Skarsgård, 47, were also seen out together eating dinner with their co-star Katie Holmes in South Africa amid the filming of The Giver, and Skarsgård later revealed that he had some "jam sessions" with her during their downtime on set. They allegedly would take turns playing the piano and singing — small dates he described as "really lovely" at the time.

Then, they parted ways, and Swift started dating popstar Harry Styles, who was then still a member of the famous boy band One Direction. That's exactly what happened in the Wildest Dreams music video as well, with her and Eastwood parting ways at the end, just as many speculate happened between her and the Succession actor in 2013.

As if that wasn't enough, the lyrics of Wildest Dreams seem to further confirm to many fans that Skarsgård is, in fact, the one Swift might be singing about. "He's so tall and handsome as hell," she begins the pre-chorus, perhaps in reference to Skarsgård's height of 6'4".

Rumours about Skarsgård and Swift hanging out during filming have circulated, with the actor even admitting to little get-togethers (Getty Images for Focus Features)

The rest of the song is wistful, with the cardigan crooner singing: "I can see the end as it begins / my one condition is / say you'll remember me / standing in a nice dress / staring at the sunset, babe / red lips and rosy cheeks / say you'll see me again / even if it's just in your wildest dreams."

The rumours are flying amid Swift's whirlwind romance with Kelce, which has kept the media satiated for the past several weeks since she first attended one of his games at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, where he plays for the Chiefs.

Next Friday, October 27, exactly nine years after the original, Swift will also release the re-recorded version of 1989, dubbed 1989 (Taylor's Version), which will feature Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version). That particular song has already been released, a present to eager fans who made the original version famous on TikTok that year. It preceded the November release of Red (Taylor's Version), her second re-recorded studio album.

Swift originally released 'Wildest Dreams' in 2014 on the album '1989' (Getty Images for TAS)

Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version) has also been featured in trailers for the movie Spirit Untamed, which came out in late 2021. Those got the fandom riled up, as they featured snippets of the song. But the fans were hungry for more. It was also featured in the second season of Netflix's original Fate: The Winx Saga, which came out in 2022.

This Love (Taylor's Version) was also released ahead of the full album, dropping on May 6, 2022, just ahead of its feature in the Amazon Prime original series The Summer I Turned Pretty, which also features a snippet of Delicate (Taylor's Version) from the highly anticipated Reputation (Taylor's Version), the release of which has yet to be announced. The full re-recorded version of Delicate also has yet to be released.

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Neither Swift nor Skarsgård have confirmed the dating rumours (Getty Images for Universal Pictu)

Back in 2016, 1989 garnered Taylor her second Album of the Year Grammy when it won that year, and 1989 (Taylor's Version) is expected to also be a smash hit, featuring five extra songs From The Vault, as she deems it, that weren't included on the original version of the album.

The drop comes amid her ongoing battle to reclaim the masters from her first six studio albums, which are owned by Big Machine Records, who she parted ways with nearly five years ago as her nemesis Scooter Braun took ownership of the company and fabricated numerous "shady" deals that ultimately saw the Cruel Summer hitmaker lose out on purchasing those masters. Now, she's re-recording those albums and has been receiving rave reviews as she does so.

Jeremiah Hassel