It's only been a few hours since Taylor Swift's long-awaited new album The Life of a Showgirl dropped, and fans across the world have gone into overdrive trying to unpack all the hidden meanings, references, and symbolism within the lyrics of the 12 tracks.
It didn't take long for Swifties to catch onto the dark meaning behind the opening song, the Charli XCX diss track and, of course, the cheeky NSFW reference about Taylor's fiancé Travis Kelce.
But now, fans of Swift are clocking on the album's fourth track, which is titled 'Father Figure', and they can't help but share their theories over the 'surprising link' between her and none other than Nicole Kidman, who just filed for divorce from her husband of 19 years, Keith Urban, this week.
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For anyone who has watched the box-office smash-hit, Babygirl, alarm bells will surely be ringing.
In short, the erotic thriller, which came out last year and also stars Harris Dickinson, is about an hour and 50 minutes worth of power play, kinky sex, and a perfectly-positioned dose of George Michael's 'Father Figure' - which came out in 1987.
It didn't take long for the internet to go crazy with steamy edits of the film, splicing together all the best X-rated excerpts from the flick set to the backing track of the famous anthem, which soon became a viral sound on TikTok.
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Taylor's 'Father Figure' is far from a cover, but it does feature an interpolation of the same lyric 'I will be your father figure'.
Michael's team even gave their stamp of approval regarding the reference, writing on Instagram yesterday (2 October: "Thank you @taylorswift for including George in such a special moment."
Michael also received a posthumous credit on the track as tribute.
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After listening to the song, fans rushed to social media to share their excitement over the Nicole Kidman-Taylor-Swift-Babygirl crossover.
One X user theorised: "I’ve got a feeling that Taylor wrote Father Figure after watching Babygirl."
"Why's Father Figure literally the plot of Babygirl," questioned a second while a third chimed in: "Father Figure RE Babygirl coded."
A fourth speculated: "U can see that Taylor is online like tell me she didn't see all of those Father Figure/Babygirl edits and had an idea."
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"Father Figure by George Michael is also in Nicole Kidman's movie Babygirl that came out last year," pointed out a fifth while a sixth wondered: "Do we think there’s any chance Father Figure is at all in reference to Babygirl or am I being insane?"
Others, however, declared that the track was written ahead of the A24 flick hitting cinemas.
"TAYLOR SAID SHE WROTE FATHER FIGURE BEFORE THE BABYGIRL MOVIE CAME OUT," a seventh stated.
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Another joked: "Tay wrote Father Figure before Babygirl came out she really is Nicole's daughter."
And a final X user praised: "I love how well Taylor’s releases often align with the film industry — the album being called 'The Life of a Showgirl' after 'The Last Showgirl' and interpolating 'Father Figure' after it’s had a resurgence in virality from the 'Babygirl' scene. whether intentional or not!"
Topics: Nicole Kidman, Celebrity, Music, TV And Film, Taylor Swift
Rhiannon Ingle