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Denise Welch, Matty Healy’s mom, has addressed Taylor Swift’s new album

Published 09:02 26 Apr 2024 GMT+1

Matty Healy has been quite the topic of conversation of late, and it’s all because of Taylor Swift.

Healy, the lead singer of The 1975, is thought to have known Swift for quite some time – with the pair sparking up a brief romance last year following the ‘Shake It Off’ hitmaker’s split from Joe Alwyn.

In true Swift style, fans believe she’s drawn inspiration from her recent romantic relationships (including her ongoing romance with NFL star Travis Kelce), for the lyrics of her songs.

The singer dropped a surprise 31-song album last Friday (April 19) titled The Tortured Poets Department.

In regards to Healy, fans have speculated that numerous songs referenced him in some way – naming ‘Gulity as Sin’, ‘Black Dog’, ‘Fresh out the Slammer’, and ‘The Tortured Poet’s Department’ among a few others.

The ‘Chocolate’ hitmaker has since responded to the so-called ‘diss tracks’ on the album about him in a pretty nonchalant way.

Healy was spotted out and about in Los Angeles on Wednesday (April 24), and the topic of Swift’s new album was brought up.

Matty Healy and Taylor Swift briefly dated last year. (Robert Kamau/GC Images)

When asked what he thought of the alleged songs about him, the 35-year-old replied: “I haven’t really listened to that much of it, but I’m sure it’s good.”

And his mom, Denise Welch, took a similar approach when asked about it.

Welch, a British actor and TV personality, is a panellist on Loose Women, which is arguably the UK’s version of The View.

On yesterday’s show (April 25), the topic of Swift was brought up.

Fellow panellist Nadia Sawalha asked Welch: “Taylor Swift has got a new album out, have you heard it Denise?”

Welch quipped in response: “I wasn’t aware she had an album out at all. I haven’t heard anything about it.”

Guest Dermot O’Leary then hailed the chat has having turned ‘really awkward’.

“Anyway, I wish her all the best,” Welch added as the topic of conversation was changed.

Denise Welch addressed Swift’s new album on Loose Women. (ITV)

Healy’s mom isn’t the first of his family to speak out in the wake of the release of The Tortured Poets Department. In recent days, his aunt has also addressed it.

Debbie Dedes, Welch’s sister, told Mail Online: “[Swift] writes about all her relationships, doesn’t she?

“I don’t think it will come as a shock to him at all. He’s very happy in his new relationship so I’m sure he will be focusing on that.

“As my nephew, we know a bit more about what went on than has been in the press.”

How cryptic…

Swift and Healy seen with radio DJ Nick Grimshaw in 2015. (David M. Benett/Getty Images for Soho House & Bacardi)

The Tortured Poets Department songs Swifties think reference Matty Healy

‘The Tortured Poets Department’

Swift sings: “You left your typewriter at my apartment / Straight from the Tortured Poets Department / I think some things I never say / Like, ‘Who uses typewriters anyway?’”

Healy previously admitted he ‘really likes’ typewriters in a 2018 GQ interview.

‘Guilty as Sin?’

Swift sings: “Drowning in the Blue Nile / He sent me ‘Downtown Lights’.”

Healy is known to be a fan of Scottish band The Blue Nile, and ‘Downtown Lights’ even inspired a The 1975 song.

‘But Daddy I Love Him’

This one seems to take aim at Swift’s fans, who continually pleaded with her to break up with Healy during the brief time she dated him.

At one point she sings: “God save the most judgmental creeps / Who say they want what’s best for me / Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I’ll never see / Thinking it can change the beat of my heart when he touches me.”

Tell us how you really feel.

‘The Black Dog’

Swift sings: “I just don’t understand how you don’t miss me / In The Black Dog when someone plays The Starting Line / And you jump up, but she’s too young / To know this song / That was intertwined in the magic fabric of our dreaming.”

Healy is a fan of The Starting Line, and covered the band’s song ‘The Best of Me’ during gigs in April and May 2023, just days before he and Swift were snapped holding hands.

‘The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived’

One fan called this ‘the most brutal song I’ve ever heard’ – the title says it all, really.

The opening reference to a man in a ‘Jehovah’s Witness suit’ seems to be a dig at how Healy dresses on stage.

Topics: Celebrity, Music, Taylor Swift