If there’s one thing Taylor Swift does brilliantly, it’s surprises – and her final London tour show certainly wasn’t short of those.
The Grammy-winning star, 34, took to the stage at Wembley Stadium for the final time tonight after a staggering run of seven sold-out shows with her record-breaking Eras Tour.
Making sure to give fans a proper send-off, she invited a collaborator out for a duet during her Tortured Poets Department set.
Following much anticipation from Swifties around what might happen during her closing show in the capital, Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine rose to the stage from a lift below to perform their collaboration, Florida!!!
Not only did the song mark Florence’s Eras Tour debut, but it was also the first time Taylor has played the tune live.
The duet saw flame-haired Florence, 37, wear a lace robe to match Taylor’s white dress adorned with song lyrics.
Accompanied by backing dancers, the music titans performed meticulously rehearsed choreography which concluded with skipping down the runway before sharing an intimate moment.
Kneeling on the floor, Taylor reached out to grasp Florence’s hand, staring into one another’s eyes as they sang through the crescendo.
As the music came to an end, the 92,000-strong crowd erupted into cheers, understandably, before Florence exited the stage.
Having hugged Florence tightly, Taylor implored the audience to applaud the ‘extraordinary’ Florence, hailing her as a ‘national treasure’.
Speaking previously about collaborating with Taylor, Florence told Vogue: ‘I almost didn’t think of the scale of it.
‘There’s the sort of bigness of [Taylor Swift the phenomenon], and then there’s the Taylor I spend time with in the studio, who is just the sweetest and most down to earth.’
She added that Taylor went to her with ‘a concept and a story’ for the song, which she described as ‘[her] favourite way to start songwriting’.
‘We had such a fun time.’
Florence is far from the first surprise guest on Taylor’s tour, as she’s previously performed duets with the likes of Phoebe Bridgers, Gracie Abrams, and just last week, Ed Sheeran.
In fact, her final London show included another collaborator during her famous acoustic set in which Taylor sings different tunes from her discography each night on guitar and piano.
Having brought out long-time friend and producer Jack Antonoff, the loveable duo sent the crowd feral with Death By A Thousand Cuts from Taylor’s Lover album, then Getaway Car from reputation.
Introducing the Bleachers star, Taylor said on the mic: ‘I think a lot about why I’m lucky enough to get to do a show like the Eras Tour, and it’s because I’ve been fortunate enough to find friendships over the years that have been incredible collaborative and creative forces.
‘I get to make music with one of my best friends in the world, and he’s here tonight.’
She added that the songs they sang together were some of their ‘favourite ones that [they’ve] done together’.
Taylor proceeded to sing So Long, London on the keys as a goodbye to the city.
‘You know, we have done a lot of shows on here on this tour, so it’s kind of rare to have a song that I’ve never performed live before,’ she teased before playing… then making another surprise reveal.
Bowing out of her Wembley residency, and her European leg, Taylor did so in style – pun fully intented – by confirming the release of a music video for fan-favourite track, I Can Do It With A Broken Heart, which lands on YouTube tonight and offers behind-the-scenes footage from the smash hit tour.
Taylor now takes a well-deserved break from tour life for several weeks before performing her last nine dates, which will take place in Canada from November 14, with her final show on December 8.
Her London shows have been nothing short of a success, with countless celebrity guests flooding to the stadium to get in on the action, including The X Factor icon Sharon Osbourne, Oscar-nominated British actress Emily Blunt and her husband, The Office star John Krasinski.
Taylor has also been praised for her stength in getting back on stage after cancelling three shows in Vienna, Austria due to a foiled terrorist attack.
Her fandom was previously rocked when three young girls – Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar – were horrifically killed by a knifeman at a Taylor-themed dance class in Southport.
Eight other children suffered stab wounds and five were left in critical condition after a 17-year-old boy attacked the event.
Following reports that Taylor reached out to the families of those affected, last week she invited one of them backstage for a meet and greet, wrapping her arms around them.
‘The biggest thank you to Taylor Swift and her mum for making the most magical night possible for us all,’ Sami Foster wrote alongside a TikTok video.
Initially, Taylor issued a statement to say she was ‘at a complete loss for how to ever convey [her] sympathies’ to the loved ones who lost children in the Southport stabbings.
And while she did not address the terror plot – presumably due to safety concerns and on advice from authorities – she did make reference to ‘sad days’ during her comeback after security was increased in London and counterterrorism experts were deployed.
Delivering a tearful speech to Wembley Stadium after receiving a standing ovation, she said: ‘Anytime I’m having a sad or a bad day from now on, not only will I play the video in my mind, but I’m gonna revisit that moment a lot.
‘Thank you so much for doing that for us.’
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