WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett recently opened up about Taylor Swift putting on a three-hour private for his late first wife, Jill Gregory, shortly before she lost her battle with cancer.
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While speaking to TMZ, Jarrett said he has known Swift since she was a little girl, and she even babysat his daughters.
“It was Christmas of 2006. My first wife [Jill Gregory] was really ill with breast cancer,” he explained. “She passed away about five months after this, so she was really ill.”
The AEW wrestler said someone close to Taylor Swift suggested that she stop by his family home in Hendersonville, Tennessee, to be there for the family and sing. She had already released her first single, “Tim McGraw,” and her self-titled debut album.
“Obviously, like every little girl in America, my daughters were big Taylor fans,” he said. “And her songs had just kind of broke, but she was a hometown girl.”
Jarrett then said that the experience was “amazing,” with Swift initially arriving at the home without her guitar. Then she “actually ran back home” to get it upon realizing the difference her music could make. “Cause the girls wanted her to sing and play,” he noted.
The wrestler further shared that there were a little over half a dozen people at his residence at the start of the day. However, as time went on, the event grew to approximately 45 people.
“By the end of the afternoon, Taylor played about three hours,” he said.
Jarrett jokingly declared that while Swift was loved by his girls and hung out with them, she wasn’t on his “payroll.”
“But what a very cool relationship that developed,” he added. “When my wife passed away, Taylor would come around and was really good with the girls.”
The WWE Legend Previously Spoke About His Connection With Taylor Swift
During a 2024 interview with Nashville’s WREG, Jarrett spoke about Swift stepping in to babysit his daughters while Gregory was battling cancer.
The pop icon was 17 at the time.
“Taylor was like a big sister,” Jarrett shared. “She came over, took the girls baking cookies, and just hung out at the house. I can’t say enough good things about Taylor.”
“She’s just a sweetheart. I still call her ‘our girl,’” he continued. “And now she’s up hanging in the NFL circles.”
The WWE legend was referring to Taylor Swift’s relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, whom she’s now engaged to.
Swift was so close ot Jarrett’s family that one of his daughters even appeared in the music video for her hit song, “Mine.”
My daughter, Jaclyn, looked like a little Taylor,” he shared in a 2021 interview. “Taylor, being as bold as she always is, just said, ‘I want Jaclyn in the video.'”
He went on to add, “Not only is she uber-creative as an artist, but she also thinks like a businesswoman. Those two skill sets combined, you rarely see. She deserves all the success she has.”