People are in hysterics over unearthed clip of Taylor Swift

A resurfaced clip of Taylor Swift appearing as an opening guest on the Paul O’Grady show has left people in shock – as the megastar was billed before EastEnders actress Rita Simons.  

In a now-viral TikTok the late English comedian and broadcaster introduces Rita, who played Roxy Mitchell on the soap from 2007 to 2017, as the crowd cheers in excitement. 

As the camera pans to Paul and Rita sharing a hug, Taylor Swift is spotted standing and clapping to welcome the TV star.

Taylor then embraced Rita and said ‘nice to meet you’, but social media users joked that she would’ve had ‘absolutely has no idea’ who she was. 

The clip, which was filmed in 2009, was reshared on X, formerly known as Twitter, racked up over 600,00 views and 6,000 likes. 

The caption read: ‘Obsessed with this old clip from Paul O’Grady I’ve just seen on TikTok when Rita Simons off EastEnders was his headline guest… and Taylor Swift is just there.’ 

Taylor was just 19 at the time and promoting her second album, Fearless, which she won an Album of the Year Grammy for.  

Between her wildly popular Eras Tour, mastery of the Billboard charts, billion-dollar fortune, twelve Grammy Awards, and domination of the pop culture headlines many pointed out just how bizarre it looks nowadays to not have Taylor as the main guest.  

One person wrote: ‘The way Taylor Swift just absolutely has no idea Who Rita Simons is.’

Another said: ‘Damn I remember watching this at the time and being so excited because I am a Swiftie and I loved Airhead by Girls@Play and they showed it to Taylor and Rita just about died.’

Girls@Play were a British five-piece girl group band from London formed in 2000, consisting of Vicky Dowdall, Lisa-Jay White, Rita Simons, Lynsey Shaw and Shelley Nash. 

Someone else wrote: ‘I feel the same way about an 80s episode of the Kenny Everett show where the band break inexplicably turned out to be U2, like it was most normal thing in the world for them to be a B-list TV comic’s support act. Why? How?’ 

Swift’s 131-date Eras world tour, is currently packing stadiums across the world and has become the highest-grossing concert tour of all time.

The hitmaker brought the curtain down on a stellar run of shows on the other side of the Atlantic with a record eighth concert at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday, where she once again sent 92,000 fans into a frenzy with her medley of hits.

Having already been such a success its coined the term Swiftonomics, Taylor’s tour has introduced a jaw-dropping £1 billion to the UK economy.

It’s thought that over one million giddy Swifites – and their bank balances – descended on big cities to see the Love Story hitmaker’s show.

Overall the European leg of Taylor’s tour was booked to span over 50 dates in countries including France, Sweden, Ireland, Germany, Poland, Austria, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland, before wrapping up in London on 20 August.

As soon as the dates were announced, many European cities saw a sharp rise in demand for hotels and short-term accommodation over the summer.

BBC Scotland also stated that that the accommodation shortage was so severe, that several homeless people had been sent via taxi to Aberdeen and Glasgow.

1.2million fans were estimated to be spending an average of £848 on tickets, travel, accommodation, outfits and other costs to see the star at one of her 15 UK tour dates – more than 12 times the average cost of a night out.

It was recently revealed how Taylor Swift had joined the ranks of the world’s billionaires, with her music, live performances and real estate portfolio estimated by Forbes to be worth $1.1 bn (£874m).

On average those lucky enough to attend Taylor’s shows are thought to have spent £206 on a ticket and for the fans (14% of the total) who dug deeper to buy VIP or premium seats that figure exceeded £400.

The report estimated fans spend an average of £121 on accommodation and £111 on travel to go to the night out.

As 18% will buy a new outfit the average clothing bill for a Swiftie concert is put at £56.

Dr Peter Brooks, Chief Behavioural Scientist at Barclays, said: ‘Whoever came up with the phrase ‘money can’t buy happiness’ clearly wasn’t a Swiftie.

‘There’s growing evidence that spending on experiences boosts happiness and well-being more so than purchasing physical items, especially if that experience is shared with friends and loved ones.

‘When it comes to cultural icons like Taylor Swift – like we saw with Elvis and Beatlemania in the 50s and 60s – supporters have such a strong connection to the artist and to the rest of the fandom that the desire to spend becomes even more powerful.

‘For non-fans, £848 may seem like an enormous amount to splash out on a concert – but for Eras Tour ticketholders, every pound they spend is an investment in the memories they’ll create.’

While of course many hotel and restaurant owners have lined their pockets with the profits of Taylor’s concerts, the star has also shown her generous side during her time in the UK.

The Edinburgh Food Project, said it was informed before her first concert on Friday that she would be ‘making a donation to support foodbanks across the city’.

The charity told MailOnline it had agreed not to reveal the exact amount of money donated by Swift, but said it will ‘make a big difference to the people we support.’

One food bank in Liverpool even reported that they only found out she planned to donate when they missed a call from an American number.

The St Andrew’s Community Network, which provides for 11 food banks and eight community food pantries in the north of the city, returned the call on June 20 and discovered Swift’s team wanted to give money.

A Cardiff Food bank also confirmed on Instagram and Facebook that the artist had donated, adding that the development was ‘beyond their wildest dreams’.