Biographer CHLOE GOVAN on the pop star’s “abiding” passion for the English countryside, which reminds her of her childhood and provides her with “respite” from the pressures of fame

Taylor Swift chose the Cotswolds as the location for the London shows of her sold-out Eras tour after falling in love with the English countryside, which reminded her of her idyllic childhood in the countryside.

Taylor, 34, is due to return to a secluded villa near Chipping Norton, costing £15,000 a night and 70 miles from London’s 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium, after her three consecutive sell-out shows.

There are many reasons why Taylor chose the Cotswolds as a base for this tour, a source told me.

Her love for the region is more than just a fad – it is passionate and authentic, and harks back to her childhood memories before the pressures and pitfalls of fame.

“Britain was a haven of peace for her, a place where she was a little less famous at the time,” the source explained.

“While the atmosphere at home was hostile, she felt that people in Britain were not so prejudiced.

“She grew from a naive teenager into a shrewd businesswoman – but where was the little girl she left behind? There were times when she missed her, and her time in the Cotswolds was a fond memory of when she lived in the country.”

As Taylor’s biographer, I have followed her journey across Britain, from a tiny student bar in 2008 with just 200 customers, many of whom talked throughout the show, to her billionaire status and phenomenal fame in the present day.

The billionaire singer has always had a deep desire to return to the area she fled as a teenager to become famous in the big city.

She spent her formative years in a luxurious mansion on a 15-acre Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania, USA, a time she described as extremely happy.

After moving to Nashville, Tennessee at just 14 years old to pursue her music career, she made the transition from childhood to adulthood at breakneck speed. The young prodigy went from scribbling lyrics in notebooks on the farm, sometimes with barely a soul in sight, to writing song lyrics in large urban recording studios surrounded by executives in suits.

She left behind dogs, cats and seven horses, not to mention the familiar tranquil landscape and a close-knit circle of friends.

A source revealed: “With success came sacrifices and Taylor was never able to fully move on from the childhood she left behind. She left everything behind so abruptly and suddenly, without much time to process it. I think a part of her always longed to reconnect not only with the landscape, but also with the younger self she left behind there.”

Her “magical childhood” was initially overshadowed by career opportunities, but even though the fairytales faded from her memory and were replaced by glitz, glamour and Grammys, her love of the country people was rekindled when she moved to the UK.

She experienced trauma in 2016, shortly before her big move, when she publicly feuded with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian over the former’s song “Famous.” Kanye claimed she had given her blessing to a song by saying “I made that bitch famous,” while Taylor, on the contrary, insisted that she had warned him against releasing a song that sounded “misogynistic.”

A recording – later revealed to be an edited version – showed that she had agreed to the wording, prompting a flood of trolls online calling her a “liar” and a “snake.”

After Kim attempted to “expose” her on social media, she told Vogue she was subjected to “mass public shaming.”

“I don’t think there are that many people who can truly understand what it’s like to be loudly hated by millions of people. When you say someone’s been canceled, that’s not a TV show. It’s a person,” she explained at the time.

“(Some of the messages) could also be interpreted as ‘kill yourself’ … I realized I needed to restructure my life because I felt like it was completely out of control.”

During this time, she dated an Englishman in the United States, actor Tom Hiddleston, but then fled to the United Kingdom, where she met another British boyfriend, Joe Alwyn, with whom she remained for six years.

To escape the trolls and media attention in her home country, she stayed home from her rental property for a year – but when she ventured out, she found solace in the countryside.

In her song Christmas Tree Farm – something of a childhood memory – Taylor alludes to how, in times of stress and turmoil, she imagines herself back there. In the lyrics, she pleads, “Take me back there tonight” and describes her childhood home as “the place where mistakes are forgiven.”

Although some believe she moved to England to be with Joe, she had actually moved before she got together with him – and although she lived in London, they regularly took trips to the countryside.

Some of her lyrics are full of ghost and haunting references. In “Ready For It,” for example, she talks about turning into a “phantom” to hold a man “hostage.” So perhaps it’s no surprise that she chose to revive the ghosts of yesteryear in a haunted pub.

Taylor has been spotted several times in recent years at the Fleece Inn in Bretforton, just three miles from Evesham, where he would pick up either Joe or friends.

Frightened locals report items spontaneously flying off the shelves, and the landlord maintains the ancient tradition of witches’ circles placed on either side of the fireplace to “ward off evil spirits.”

Taylor doesn’t seem to be put off by this – and a local who spotted her recalled that she seemed to have “a weakness for the thick chips and beer pie on the menu”.

Although her romance with a Brit has ended and she’s now cozying up to fellow American Travis Kielce instead, the magic of England isn’t lost on Taylor and she still loves nothing more than escaping to the British countryside. According to insiders, her enduring love for the Cotswolds is a given.