Video: Taylor Swift Gets to Eras Tour Stage Inside of a Janitor Cart

Taylor Swift's Eras Tour kicked off in Glendale, Arizona last month, with Swift so far welcoming hundreds of thousands of fans to see her perform for the first time since 2018 across three cities.

Since the first night of the tour, fans have wondered how the popstar stealthily arrives beneath the venue's stage to emerge mere minutes later clad in a sparkly leotard while belting the chorus of 2019's "Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince."

The venues that Swift is visiting on tour have sold "obstructed view" seats that place fans behind the stage but in front of a giant screen so they, too, can see the show.

Because this group sits behind the scenes, some observant Swifties began to theorize that Swift secretly entered the stage in a massive janitor's cart, emerging just minutes before she starts her over three-hour-long set list.

Why? Because at every show, the same suspicious cart has rolled up and entered the stage area while Lady Gaga's "Applause" blares on the stadium's sound system — the song that Eras Tour goers have recognized as the one that plays just before Swift goes on.

After three cities down on the tour, Swifites have the receipts to prove the theory.

Video from Swift's Arlington, Texas, concerts shows her stepping out of the janitor's cart, seeming to confirm the wild fan theory.

This isn't the first time Swift's covert or non-traditional transportation methods have sparked intense interest from fans. Swift had been photographed hiking backward in 2015 and walking sideways in 2016 to avoid the paparazzi.

In July 2017, a picture of two men transporting a large suitcase from Swift's Tribeca apartment went viral. At the time, Splash News alleged that Swift was hidden inside. (Splash later retracted the claim, saying it was impossible to know if Swift (who is just shy of 5'11") was inside).

To set the scene, this photo was released a year after Kim Kardashian shared the infamous recording to Snapchat stories of a conversation between Swift and Ye (formerly known as Kanye West). In it, Swift seemed to approve of the lyrics about her in West's "Famous" before its release. Swift hadn't released an album since "1989" in 2014 and would go on to release the edgier, more vengeful "Reputation" in November 2017. In her 2020 documentary "Miss Americana," Swift spoke about this period, saying: "Nobody physically saw me for a year, and that was what I thought they wanted. I had to deconstruct an entire belief system, toss it out and reject it. It woke me up from constantly feeling like I was fighting for people's respect. It was happiness without anyone else's input."

A year later, a Zayn Malik interview in British Vogue lent fuel to the theory's fire: "She was traveling around in a suitcase," he told the outlet, referencing Taylor Swift's skill at avoiding the paparazzi. (Swift and Malik had worked on the 2017 "Fifty Shades of Darker" song together). Swift is a peerless master of the Easter egg, so it's not hard to understand why fans might treat other curiosities like a group mystery project.Whether Swift is in on the janitor's closet joke or just happened to emerge earlier than usual is unclear, but it appears only a lucky few Swifties might be able to confirm the theory in person.

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