TS12 is almost upon us. On Aug. 12, Taylor Swift announced the release of her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl. The singer unveiled her new album on her official website, posting a three-hour countdown ending right at 12:12 a.m. ET.

On Instagram, Swift also shared a clip of her announcing the album’s title on boyfriend Travis Kelce and his brother Jason’s New Heights podcast. As fans previously suspected, Swift will appear on the next episode to talk about her new project. The episode will be posted on Aug. 13 at 7 p.m. ET, with the date and time matching both Swift’s lucky number 13 and Travis’ Kansas City Chiefs number 87.

In the teaser, Swift shows the Kelce brothers the album cover — which was censored — signaling that she might make her grand reveal during the podcast. “This is my brand new album, The Life of a Showgirl,” she proudly declared, which made Jason scream. “TS12!” Travis yelled in response.

Fans can now pre-order The Life of a Showgirl on Swift’s official store, where the album cover is also kept protected with a stock image of a lock. The official release date will also be announced at a later date, though Swift’s store states that the vinyl, CD, and cassette will ship before Oct. 13, which means that the likeliest release date is Friday, Oct. 10.

TS12 Easter Eggs

Swift has been laying Easter eggs pointing to her 12th album for months, starting at the 2025 Grammys, where she wore a pair of ruby earrings with exactly 12 stones. In May, she wrote a letter proudly announcing that she now owns the masters of her first six albums, and spelled the word “this” in the first paragraph with exactly 12 i’s.

In the days leading up to her announcement, Swift’s official fan account, Taylor Nation, shared exactly 12 orange Eras Tour looks on social media, captioning the post, “Thinking about when she said ‘See you next era…,’” along with a flaming heart emoji. Swifties took this as confirmation that Swift’s 12th album was imminent, and the era’s color would be orange, as fans have long expected.

Fans Think Taylor Swift Teased The Life Of A Showgirl 3 Years Ago

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What if I told you Taylor Swift was a mastermind? On Aug. 12, the singer announced her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, of which she plans to reveal more details about on the Aug. 13 episode of her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast. However, it seems like she’s been giving clues for Showgirl since even before her 11th album came out.

Swift is infamous for planting Easter eggs that hint at upcoming albums and projects months before they ever arrive. She even remarked in a 2021 interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that she loves to stretch the limits of her fans’ investigative ways. “Can I hint at something three years in advance?” she asked. “Can I even plan things out that far?”

With The Life of a Showgirl, it seems she’s done exactly that, as Swifties have rediscovered Easter eggs from 2022, which now obviously point to the Showgirl era. Some fans even suspect that she planned to release a showgirl-inspired record as her 11th album, before writing The Tortured Poets Department instead in 2023.

Below, revisit all of the ways that Swift teased The Life of a Showgirl years before it came to fruition.

The “Anti-Hero” Colors

In Swift’s music video for her 2022 hit “Anti-Hero,” her self-sabotaging persona wears a glittery orange romper with mint green stripes and matching boots, plus the bathroom has a similar color scheme. This matches the Showgirl era’s colors perfectly, and could also indicate the conceptual themes of the album.

The “Bejeweled” Costume

As one Swiftie pointed out, Swift sat on the “12” of a giant clock while wearing a showgirl-inspired costume in the “Bejeweled” music video, which came out in October 2022. Swift liked the fan’s post, signaling that she indeed planted this Easter egg intentionally.

Lady Gaga’s “Applause”

Lady Gaga’s 2013 smash hit “Applause” — which Swift has openly praised — was a staple on her Eras Tour preshow playlist. In fact, the song always played right before her countdown, signaling that the show was about to begin. Thanks to a PopCrave post, one fan realized that Swift announced her 12th album on the 12th anniversary of “Applause.”

“Is this just the most insane coincidence or like is she clinically insane?” the fan wrote. Swift liked the post, indicating that either answer may be correct.

Orange On The Eras Tour

Swifties suspected that orange would be the color of Swift’s next era when the Eras Tour kicked off in March 2023, as the dancers walked through an orange door at the end of the show. In addition, one dancer wore an orange jacket during the “Karma” performance, which didn’t represent one of Swift’s albums like all of the other jackets did.

Naturally, Swift ended up writing Tortured Poets in 2023, and that album’s color was white. However, she kept hinting at an orange era through new outfits during the 2024 leg. And sure enough, orange is now the official color of the Showgirl era.

The Infamous “Office” Video

On Oct. 18, 2024, Swift posted a video of her “back at the office,” aka Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, to commemorate the final leg of the Eras Tour. The Instagram clip showed section A12 behind her as the camera pans the venue, which fans have always suspected as a possible Easter egg. Sure enough, Swift announced The Life of a Showgirl on Aug. 12.

Is Taylor Swift Announcing New Music On Travis Kelce’s Podcast?

His new episode teases a “VERY special guest.”by Jake Viswanath

Aug. 11, 2025

CBS Photo Archive/CBS/Getty Images

TS12 may finally be on the horizon. Fans are speculating that Taylor Swift might announce her 12th studio album as soon as Aug. 13, thanks to a new announcement from her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, and a suspiciously timed post from her official fan account, Taylor Nation.

Swift has been laying potential Easter eggs nodding to her 12th album for months, most recently in the letter announcing that she now owns all of her masters, where she used exactly 12 i’s in one word. Now, both Kelce and Taylor Nation have shared teasers using the number 12 and the color orange, which fans have suspected would be the hue of Swift’s next era for over a year.

Is Taylor Going On Travis’ Podcast?

On Aug. 11 at 9 a.m. ET, Kelce and his brother, Jason, announced a special new episode of their New Heights podcast, teasing a “VERY special guest.” The teaser photo featured a silhouette that looks a lot like Swift, plus Jason’s wearing an Eras Tour T-shirt. On top of that, the episode premieres on the 13th — Swift’s lucky number.

As some fans pointed out, the Kelce brothers usually use a yellow background to promote episodes featuring guests. This is the first time that they’re using a sparkly orange banner, fueling the theory that Swift might be appearing on the podcast to announce — or at least tease — her next album.

Swift’s label, Republic Records, and one of her BFFs, Ashley Avignone, both liked the New Heights Instagram post, indicating that the singer is likely this week’s surprise guest.

What Did Taylor Nation Say?

Exactly 12 minutes later, Taylor Nation posted on their social media channels, writing, “Thinking about when she said ‘See you next era…,’” along with a flaming heart emoji. Swift signed off with this teaser at the end of her letter in the Eras Tour book, where she reflected on the record-breaking tour that celebrated all of her studio albums up until that point.

The account shared exactly 12 photos of Swift wearing orange looks on the Eras Tour, nodding to the longtime theory that the color of her 12th album would be orange.

Taylor Nation’s well-timed post only fueled suspicions that the singer would begin her next era in just a matter of days, starting on her boyfriend’s podcast. Of course, Swiftie theories have gotten it wrong many times, but no matter how this week pans out, it seems like Swift does have something new and fun up her sleeve.