The Washington Inquirer Editorteenvogue.com – Taylor Swift brought Sabrina Carpenter out for a surprise duet on the first show of her four-night Australia Eras Tour stop, which sent fans into an excited tizzy on social media. But Carpenter had already went viral earlier that same day, for a hilarious video that is, honestly, all too relatable: a clip of her trailing behind Swift and her boyfriend Travis Kelce at the Sydney Zoo.
Local outlet news.com.au reported that Kelce traveled to Australia via private jet to support his girlfriend, and Swift took him on a private tour of the zoo — which Swift had already visited, literally the day before. Tayvis spent the day hand-feeding kangaroos, taking selfies, and sharing kisses throughout the facility.
However, in each of the paparazzi photos and videos snapped of the couple, Carpenter can be seen just a few feet away, clearly trying very hard to not look like a third wheel on their date.
Carpenter, who is currently rumored to be dating Saltburn star Barry Keoghan, is both the opener for Swift’s tour and the singer’s close friend; she’s been in the VIP suite with Swift to watch Kelce play football and she’s been spotted hanging out with Swift, Sophie Turner, and other members of Swift’s squad.
While it’s clear Swift and Kelce didn’t intentionally leave their friend so far behind, it’s still pretty funny to watch the two do that typical couple thing of being oblivious and in love.
After @PopCrave reposted the video on X (formerly Twitter), social media users began to immediately react with crying emojis. “Not Sabrina third wheeling,” wrote one. “Not Sabrina being their child,” another chimed in. Some even made memes, pasting Carpenter, Kelce, and Swift’s faces over the movie poster for 2011’s We Bought a Zoo.
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Later that evening, after hazardous weather caused Swift’s show to be delayed and Carpenter’s opening set to be canceled, Swift made it up to her with a special surprise for the audience.
“My incredibly talented, wonderful, gorgeous, hilarious, genius opening act Sabrina Carpenter, she heroically sacrificed her show, which I think is a crime against Sydney,” Swift told the crowd, per People. “And I think it needs to be fixed, so I’m going to bring her out now, is that OK, Sydney?”
The two pop stars performed a mashup medley acoustic duet of Swift’s songs “White Horse” and “Coney Island.” Right before their joint performance, Swift revealed a new album cover variant for her upcoming 11th studio album The Tortured Poets Department on the Jumbotron.
“This is an alternate cover for The Tortured Poets Department, and so this edition is called ‘The Albatross’ because there is an exclusive bonus song on this vinyl called ‘The Albatross,’ and I can’t wait for you to hear it,” said Swift.
BY KAITLYN MCNAB
