Taylor Swift has reportedly reached out to Southport victims amid return to Wembley

Taylor Swift did not address the Southport incident or the alleged terror plot in Vienna during her Wembley show, ITV News Entertainment Reporter Rishi Davda reports

Taylor Swift has reportedly reached out to the victims of the Southport attack privately as she returned to Wembley to bring the European leg of her Eras Tour to an end.

On July 29, three children were killed at a mass stabbing in Southport at a Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance workshop.

In the days after the attack, Swift said she was "completely in shock".

"These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families," she said in a statement shared on Instagram.

Several families affected by the attack were reportedly contacted personally by Swift, but she did not make any public comments during her concert.

One of the victims of the Southport attack, Alice da Silva Aguiar, outside the dance class. Credit: Family photo

On Thursday, the American singer was joined in a surprise duet by Ed Sheeran at Wembley in what was her first show since several performances in Vienna were cancelled due to an alleged terror threat.

Third arrest made over foiled terror plot on Taylor Swift concert in Vienna

Swift performed one verse of Everything Has Changed, which features Sheeran, before bringing out Sheeran to rapturous applause from the crowd.

They blended the song with End Game - which they also collaborated on - and 33-year-old Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud.

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Sheeran has previously performed on her The Red Tour, which ran from 2013 to 2014, and in 2022, he re-released The Joker And The Queen as a duet with Swift.

On stage, she said he was “like a second brother to me” and talked about how his career has taken off, saying: “He plays Wembley like, every week. This is regular for him.

“And he’s worked so hard and he’s probably so tired but he wanted to come and play for you, so give it up for him.”

Taylor Swift at her Eras Tour at Wembley Stadium in London. Credit: George Thompson/PA

As Sheeran left the stage, Swift said: “I had such a good time, did you have a good time?”

Sheeran's surprise appearance comes as the Suffolk based artist announced he bought a minority stake in his favourite football club, Ipswich Town FC.

Before the Wembley concert got under way, Metropolitan Police commander Lou Puddefoot said officers are “well prepared” ahead of her five dates in London.

As Swift performed the first of five nights at Wembley, celebrities including Luther actor Idris Elba, Keith Richards’ granddaughter Ella Richards, and Jameela Jamil were spotted in the VIP area.

A fan takes a photograph at the Swiftie Steps and murals at Wembley Park, north-west London Credit: Yui Mok/PA

Security outside Wembley has been heightened, with hundreds of guards surrounding the venue and managing fans entering.

The elevated security has not dampened the spirits of fans, who made and shared friendship bracelets as they waited for Swift.

The stadium put out a warning to ticketless supporters ahead of the concert, saying they will be unable to congregate outside the stadium, thwarting an often common practice among the singer’s fans known as “tay-gating”.

Swift’s billion-dollar Eras Tour takes fans through her back catalogue, including hits from albums 1989, Red and Midnights.

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