This Current ‘Bachelor’ Contestant Once Starred in Taylor Swift’s ‘Fifteen’ Music Video
Talk about “Fifteen” minutes of fame! It turns out one of the contestants on the new season of ABC’s The Bachelor has a surprising connection to Taylor Swift.
Eagle-eyed viewers realized during the season 27 premiere that Christina Mandrell once starred in the superstar’s music video for 2008 Fearless single “Fifteen,” exactly 15 years before she was vying for Bachelor Zach Shallcross’ heart. In the clip, Swift recounts her freshman year of high school with longtime best friend Abigail Anderson, and at the very end, she stands outside in the rain as a young Mandrell glances over at her while chatting with her own bestie.
For her part, Mandrell poked fun at both her music-video past and dating-show present on social media, writing, “Apparently I look at Zach the same way I look at Taylor Swift. New Conspiracy theory, first I stared at Taylor, then stared at Zach, which inevitably leads to me crying on the STAIRs.”
Of course, in the decade-plus since Swift tapped the Bachelor contestant for her “Fifteen” video, she’s released Fearless (Taylor’s Version) as the very first album in her grand plan to re-record her back catalog. The 2021 version of “Fifteen” became an instant fan favorite, with many Swifties remarking that the bittersweet nostalgia of the track has only grown stronger since Swift first recorded it at 18.
Time will tell how far Christina Mandrell — niece of Hot Country Songs chart-topper Barbara Mandrell — gets on The Bachelor.
Swift’s recent clash with Ticketmaster over ticketing for The Eras Tour has already launched a hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee over the debacle, complete with baked-in lyrical references to “All Too Well” and “Anti-Hero” from Senators Amy Klobuchar and Richard Blumenthal during questioning.
Relive Mandrell staring down Taylor in “Fifteen” below.
Glenn Rowley
Billboard
