When Taylor Swift announced her Encore version of her twelfth studio album, The Life of A Showgirl, Swifties went ballistic. The album’s one-year anniversary is right around the corner, and after all of the speculation from her Emmys appearance, theories were confirmed to be right when Swift revealed on Sept. 22 that she was releasing a new song called “Patient Zero.” (One day later, she announced the Encore deluxe album in a heartfelt post to her fans.) With the title revealed, Swifties were in a new pickle: who could “Patient Zero” possibly be about? Now that the song is released and the lyrics are out, Swifties think they’ve found their answer: Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas. Let me explain.
Swift and Jonas dated back in 2008 during Taylor’s Fearless era for a few months, and it is largely speculated that many of the songs on that particular record are about him. As for Jonas and Sophie Turner, the pair first started dating in 2016, and got married in 2019. In 2023, after four years of marriage, Jonas and the Game Of Thrones star split, and Swift and Turner became good friends in the aftermath. (If you’ve seen those paparazzi shots of the pair getting dinner in New York after the split was announced, you already know this. Plus, Turner apparently lived in Swift’s NYC apartment after the breakup.)
In “Patient Zero,” Swifties found these lyrics telling: “If you wanna party with somebody who might know / About the devil on his shoulder under his halo.” If Swift is talking about inviting a woman who shares an ex with her out for drinks, it’s very possible it could be Sophie Turner. In the lyric, “I bet he burst into your life like fireworks,” the specific usage of the word “fireworks” is also very telling, considering it is very Fearless-era coded.
But could the song also pay homage to Turner and Swift’s friendship? Based on some of the lyrics, I’d think so. Swift sings, “If you’re sick of him, I got you, I was patient zero,” and, “So if you wanna kick it, then I’m with it, I’ve been there.” It’s giving being the best girl’s girl you can be in a bad situation for a friend who just happens to be going through something you’ve gone through, too.
Swift is slated to appear at the 2026 MTV VMAs on Sept. 27, where she will be live-debuting her music video for the song, and receiving the inaugural award for Artist Director Honors. Once the music video is out, it is likely that she will give some subtle hints (with Easter eggs, of course) about whether or not her fans were right about this theory.