Fans think Taylor Swift’s new ‘Life Of A Showgirl’ song ‘Actually Romantic’ is a Charli XCX diss track

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Fans of Taylor Swift believe ‘Actually Romantic’ off her new album ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’ is a diss track aimed at Charli XCX – see why below.

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Following the release of ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’, fans have been dissecting the lyrics to every song off Swift’s 12th studio album – but no track has garnered as much attention as ‘Actually Romantic’.

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Fans think Taylor Swift’s new ‘Life Of A Showgirl’ song ‘Actually Romantic’ is a Charli XCX diss track
Taylor Swift, 2025. Credit: Mert Alas & Marcus Piggot

The lyrics – while cryptic – seem to contain enough hints for fans to believe that the track is a swipe at Charli XCX. Its opening lines hit out at someone who’s “brave” when on cocaine, and “wrote a song saying it makes you sick to see my face”, all of which point at the ‘Brat’ artist.

Taylor sings to kick off the track: “I heard you call me ‘Boring Barbie’ when the coke’s got you brave / High-fived my ex and then said you’re glad he ghosted me / Wrote me a song saying it makes you sick to see my face/ Some people might be offended / But it’s actually sweet.”

The rest of ‘Actually Romantic’ sees Swift spin her detractor’s snark for admiration: “It’s actually sweet / All the time you’ve spent on me / It’s honestly wild / All the effort you’ve put in / It’s actually romantic / I really gotta hand it to you / No man has ever loved me like you do.”

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Listen to Swift’s ‘Actually Romantic’ below.

While unconfirmed, ‘Actually Romantic’ seems to be a rebuttal to Charli’s ‘Sympathy Is A Knife’, off ‘Brat’. That track saw Charli sing about the self-doubts that still plague her despite her public demeanour of never being affected by the public’s perception of her.

In the song, Charli sings: “Don’t know if I’m spiralling / One voice tells me that they laugh / George says I’m just paranoid / Don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show / Fingers crossed behind my back / I hope they break up real quick”.

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This line stuck out to fans upon the track’s release, as Charli XCX is now married to The 1975 drummer George Daniel, while Swift was in a brief relationship with that band’s frontman Matty Healy in 2023.

Since the release of ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’ and ‘Actually Romantic’, fans have taken to social media to share their reactions to the track – check out a few of them below.

Charli XCX has yet to respond to ‘Actually Romantic’, while Swift has yet to confirm if the track is about the ‘365’ singer. While it’s possible that both ‘Sympathy Is A Knife’ and ‘Actually Romantic’ are blows at each other, Charli and Taylor Swift have both defended each other since the release of ‘Brat’ last year.

At a concert in Brazil in June last year, a fan shouted “Taylor Swift is dead”, prompting Charli XCX to criticise the fan (via Variety): “Can the people who do this please stop. Online or at my shows. 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.”

In August last year, Swift said of Charli XCX: “I’ve been blown away by Charli’s melodic sensibilities since I first heard ‘Stay Away’ in 2011. Her writing is surreal and inventive, always. She just takes a song to places you wouldn’t expect it to go, and she’s been doing it consistently for over a decade. I love to see hard work like that pay off.”

Charli XCX
Charli XCX. CREDIT: Harley Weir

Charli also denied that ‘Sympathy Is A Knife’ was written about Swift: “People are gonna think what they want to think. That song is about me and my feelings and my anxiety and the way my brain creates narratives and stories in my head when I feel insecure and how I don’t want to be in those situations physically when I feel self-doubt.”

In 2019, Charli also spoke to Pitchfork about the experience of opening for Swift on her ‘Reputation’ stadium tour, saying that while she was “really grateful” for the opportunity, “it kind of felt like I was getting up on stage and waving at five-year-olds”. She later clarified that “there is absolutely no shade and only love” between the two artists.

Meanwhile, ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’ has received mixed reception from fans – some have hailed it as her “best album”, while others are calling it her “worst”. Other fans have also called it “boring”, while others have labelled it as “pop perfection” – see more reactions here.

The album features only one guest – Sabrina Carpenter on the title track. However, ‘Father Figure’ sees Swift interpolate George Michael’s 1987 classic of the same name in tribute – Michael’s estate has since responded to the interpolation.

The star has insisted that there are “no other songs coming” beyond the standard edition tracklist. More recently, she talked about the “luxurious” album artwork and said fans would see “more images than we ever planned”.

Swift will also make a return to The Graham Norton Show later today to celebrate her album’s release.

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