Five ways Taylor Swift stole Welsh hearts

Taylor Swift smiles as the sell-out Cardiff crowd cheers

It was a long time coming for the thousands lucky enough to get tickets to Taylor Swift’s hotly anticipated Cardiff gig.

The recording-breaking US artist certainly made the Principality Stadium shimmer, wowing fans with her Eras Tour setlist for more than three hours.

"This is my very first time getting to play a show in Wales and look at this," she said.

"Look what you've done, you've gone and made me feel so amazing."

From nods to the Welsh language to crowd-pleasing surprise songs, she made the land of song fall in love with her.

1. Greeting her fans in Cymraeg

Taylor opened her epic performance by speaking Welsh, triggering a massive response from the 67,000 sell-out crowd.

“Croeso i daith Eras,” she said, meaning welcome to the Eras tour.

The language was then woven throughout her performance, with her dancer saying "ych a fi" - meaning disgusting - as part of the number one single We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.

And how better to close her three-hour performance than by saying "diolch o galon", meaning thank you from the heart.

Fans praised her online for her use of the Welsh language, with clips travelling far and wide on social media.

One fan wrote on X: "Taylor Swift said the name of my city and spoke Welsh multiple times and I’m just expected to go about my life as normal."

2. Dressing in the colours of Wales

Taylor's red and green outfit was perceived by many as a nod to the colours of the Welsh flag

While performing songs from the 1989 album, Taylor donned her customary sparkly two-piece outfit.

For Cardiff, however, her two-piece was red and green with many speculating it was yet another nod to her host nation.

Posting on X, the youth movement Urdd Gobaith Cymru asked: "Who wore it better?" comparing the American singer’s outfit to their red, white and green mascot, Mistar Urdd.

3. Treating fans to a surprise song

Taylor wowed fans with a previously unperformed song called I Hate It Here

Taylor treated her fans to a previously unperformed song as part of her surprise song section of the show.

Swifties had spent weeks speculating about which surprise tune she would opt to perform, backing the recently released Tortured Poets Department song due to its nod to Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.

Instead she performed I Forgot That You Existed from the 2019 album, Lover, combined with This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things from the Reputation album.

Moving to the piano, she wowed fans by mashing a previously unperformed song called I Hate It Here with The Lakes from her critically acclaimed Folklore album.

4. Giving her hat to a little girl

Taylor Swift gave her hat to seven-year-old fan Evie

Seven-year-old Evie, from Swindon, felt like the luckiest girl in the stadium when she was picked to be the recipient of the singer's signed 22 hat.

The crowd went wild as Taylor placed the hat on her head before hugging her during the hit single.

"Evie cried her eyes out when she found out she was going," said her mum Kayleigh.

"It was really lovely when Evie got the hat and how all the crowd cheered her on and clapped."

In each show Taylor plucks someone from the audience and gives them her hat which is a nod to the outfit she wore in the music video for her 2012 single.

Countless fans in the queue told BBC Wales they too were hoping to be chosen to have the black fedora.

The message on the inside of the hat said it all: "Taylor Heart Cardiff."

5. Romance in the air

Paul Ward proposed to girlfriend Hollie Randall during Love Story, after buying the ring more than a year ago

And it wouldn't be a Swift concert without an engagement - or several - in the crowd.

As Swift sung her original smash hit Love Story, Paul Ward dropped on one knee and proposed to his partner Hollie Randall - after the couple secured tickets to the show just two hours before.

The apprentice electrician from Cardiff said: “I just thought if I have been lucky enough to get these tickets, it’s got to be now.”

Paul said he heard that people often proposed during Love Story, but knew Hollie would not think he would be aware of the tradition, and the reaction from concert-goers around them was “electric”.

“Everyone was just screaming. I was really excited, but I was also really nervous to be honest. I did think she would say yes but, being in the moment with so many people watching and screaming, it was a lot.”

He said he was now feeling relieved and “on cloud nine”.

The couple, who are both 20 and started dating four years ago, want to move in together before planning a wedding and are in no rush to tie the knot.

“To me, it’s more of a promise that this is it, that we are going to be married, that I will make that happen no matter what.”

The icing on the cake of an evening to remember for Taylor Swift fans.