The Swifties are not happy

The English actress and presenter appeared on the most recent episode of WWHL following a run-in she had with the host Andy Cohen on Loose Women, where he promised to let her be a guest on the iconic show.

The Shake it Off singer is known to draw inspiration from her relationships to fuel her chart-topping albums, so fans were quick to theorise that the singer wrote several of her hit songs about her short-lived relationship with Matty Healy.

When Welch (67) was asked what it was like when Taylor released her Tortured Poets Department album in 2024, she quickly became quite guarded.

Even though Welch remained rather diplomatic, she seemed to accuse the 'Swifties' of lashing out at anyone who dares to criticise the singer.

In response to Cohen's question about her reaction to the album, Welch replied: "Obviously, on pain of death, can I talk about that episode, but being her mother-in-law is a role that I am glad that I lost."

This response quickly gave rise to shocked gasps from the audience, but Welch immediately tried to tamp them down to avoid a Swiftie lynching.

"Not that I have anything against her at all!" she exclaimed over the audience's murmuring.

"It was just, it was tricky," Welch confessed.

Denise paused for a moment before continuing.

"She, listen, you're not allowed to say anything, and then she writes a whole album about it," the actress continued.

However, she does clarify that her son Matty is taking the aftermath of Swift's album "all in completely good grace".

She went on to say that her son is now "very happy with his amazing fiancée Gabriella", a model and singer more widely known as 'Gabbriette'.

"So, we've moved on," Welch concluded, per the Daily Mail.

Matty Healy and Taylor Swift dated back in 2023, and their romance is among Taylor's most short-lived ones, however, their friendship dates back years before.

The pair allegedly met when Taylor attended a 1975 show in LA in November 2014 with her A-lister friends Selena Gomez and Ellie Goulding.

After Swift split from her longtime boyfriend Joe Alwyn in April of 2023, rumours quickly began to spread that she and Healy were a thing.

They confirmed those rumours later in May when they were seen holding hands, and Healy was even spotted at her Eras Tour concerts.

However, the relationship was short-lived as Healy was swept up in controversy over offensive accents and insensitive jokes made about the rapper Ice Spice on a popular comedy podcast.

Taylor's fans were quick to come for Matty Healy on the internet, urging Taylor to dump the 1975 frontman.

In early June of 2023, the two were reported as no longer together.

Not even a year later, The Tortured Poets Department dropped, with multiple songs hinting at the pair's brief love story, as pointed out by fans.