Katy Perry got quite the genealogical surprise when she called into the U.K.’s Capital FM on Friday (July 10).
During the chat, host Sian Welby presented a well-researched fan theory to the pop star: that she could be ninth cousins with none other than Taylor Swift. “Well, we fight like cousins,” Perry quipped at first — referencing the pair’s famous “Bad Blood”-era feud — before incredulously joking that the theory was nothing more than “fan fic.”
However, the singer was stunned to discover Welby and her fellow hosts were being dead serious about the connection to her fellow superstar, which one fan apparently put together on the family history platform My Heritage. “Wow, I’m gonna have to ask her if this true, or if we should, like, get blood tests together…It’s cool because you can just, like, spit in a tube.” Perry said while wearing a bright yellow hoodie from her brand-new “Smile” merch line.
During the chat, the pop star also opened up about releasing the title track to her upcoming fifth studio album, Smile.
“What it is, is it says in the lyrics kind of everything the album embodies,” she dished of the upbeat tune. “Which is, like, hopefulness, resilience, joy, love and that whole journey. And so that’s why it’s kind of the opus of the record. That’s why the record is called Smile, because it’s as simple as the fact that I had lost my smile and couldn’t get it back. And I got it back, obviously…It’s just a simple emotional, physical signal that speaks volumes and so it really is the definition of the journey that I had to go through.”
Smile is set to be released Aug. 14 via Capitol Records. Watch Perry’s interview with Capital FM below.
