There is something extremely humbling about the fact that the longest, most complicated relationship I have ever had is with someone who has no idea I was even born.

Taylor Swift (born on December 13, 1989, to Andrea and Scott Swift) has been in my ears and my thoughts every one of the 6860 days since eight-year-old me first heard Teardrops On My Guitar’s wistful opening chords on the car radio. Her deepest and darkest desires and distresses have been my own for almost 20 years, with her diarised lyrics holding me through every heartbreak and happiness.

I feel like I know her better than the back of my own hand. I know that, despite her decades of music, documentaries, interviews and more, I don’t know her at all. I admire her. I don’t understand her. I don’t know if I can believe everything she tells me, but I want, no, I need her to tell me more.

Swift did tell me more this week, but it only made me more conflicted. She has spent two decades building a billion-dollar empire on authenticity, but her New Heights podcast sit-down with her NFL tight end boyfriend proves we’re being fed contradictions. And that’s exactly by the marketing mastermind’s own design: cleverly and constantly creating a deeper investment from her fans, a deeper desire to crack the enigma who has given us all the clues is, after all, to her bank account’s benefit.

Taylor Swift has spent almost 20 years building an empire on the foundation of sharing her deepest, darkest desires and distresses. But do we know who she really is?Credit: Jamie Brown

At the time of writing, more than 13 million people have watched Swift’s charity appearance on Travis Kelce’s podcast, which he hosts with........

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