It’s been nearly 2 weeks since Taylor Swift announced her new album The Life of a Showgirl on her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s podcast. New Heights‘ current most-watched episode broke the internet when it dropped on August 13 (of course), ushering in a whole new era for the highly anticipated TS12 release. This era promises glitz and glam to the max, as portrayed by Swift and her dancers on the most recent album cover release. While I love everything about this image, from the poses to the giant showgirl headdresses, I’m absolutely living for one dancer’s reaction to making the album cover.
Taylor Banks spent the past 2 years at the Grammy winner’s side every night on stage, dancing her way through Swift’s discography. You probably recognize her as “You Belong With Me” cheerleading Swift during “Look What You Made Me Do” on the Eras Tour. She’s a professional, the best of the best, having also performed with the likes of Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, JLO, and even Cher. So her casually freaking out on Instagram about making it onto The Life of a Showgirl’s cover is actually so adorable and you can see how genuinely excited she is with this caption:
IT’S ME! Living the life of a showgirl. Excuse me, what?! Never did I ever think I’d be on the cover of a Taylor Swift album! No words. What an honor to stand beside the queen that is Taylor and MY GIRLS! MY SISTERS! It’s giving body, glitz, glamour. Seeing this in person is going to be UNREAL!!! OCTOBER 3rd CAN’T COME SOON ENOUGH.
It makes me so happy to know that the people that work with the Midnights artist are just as big of Swifties as her everyday fans. Most of all, I love that Taylor Banks and the rest of these dancers are getting their recognition with this album cover. They truly lived the lives of showgirls alongside Swift for 2 years, prepping and performing the record breaking Eras Tour around the world. And as per usual, they all nailed this classic Vegas showgirl look. While I’d love to see and hear more about this upcoming era from Banks, we can assume that she’s buried in NDAs about the album and rumored music video.
The picture behind Banks is 1 of 6 different variations of the album cover, between limited release pre-order vinyls and CDs. Ever since the release of Folklore in 2020, it has become common for Swift to put out numerous versions of her albums, all with the same music but different cover art. While some view these as collector’s items, others have allegedly criticized it as a wasteful money grab.
Whether they buy them or not, fans are still dying to see all the Life of a Showgirl photoshoots as they come out, hungrily looking for clues as to what this next era might bring. Many fans question whether we will see the “Fortnight” singer and her dancers tour again anytime soon, though I doubt she’d want to hit the road again so quickly.
It seems more likely that she’d play Super Bowl LX Halftime Show, what with her connections to the NFL through boyfriend Travis Kelce. I’m more in favor of the fan theories surrounding a Taylor Swift Vegas residency, as that would align with the upcoming era’s theme.
While I can’t assume Banks will join the “Blank Space” singer in her next performance, I feel pretty safe saying she’ll be included after this photoshoot. If it was to be a Swift Las Vegas residency, the RuPaul’s Drag Race dancer is no stranger to the iconic Nevada city, having joined Carrie Underwood for her Vegas residency before Bank’s stint on the Eras Tour. Regardless, I can’t wait to see what this next era brings, and like Taylor Banks said, October 3rd can’t come soon enough!
