The insane security machine behind Taylor Swift during Nova Red Room appearance on Hamilton Island
SECURITY for Taylor Swift is so tight during her tour of Australia that she has 17 personal bodyguards assigned to her alone.
Nova 969’s Fitzy and Wippa spoke to news.com.au after their Red Room coup with Swift on Hamilton Island last night, where just 100 people were invited to see her perform a very private gig.
The radio duo, the only media outlet in the world to secure an interview with Swift during her 1989 tour, said there was a “machine” behind the singer working to make sure her security and privacy is maintained at all times.
“We were sitting backstage waiting for her to arrive and it was just like the president had entered the building,” Wippa said of the moment Swift arrived backstage with her security in tow.
“I thought I’d seen it all with One Direction. When they came into the Nova building there was security on every level, they changed the traffic lights so the boys could get straight through the city, but this was even bigger, 17 personal security guards with her, just on her.”
Fitzy said there was one of her personal security guards assigned to every door she needed to walk through as well as three security guards watching to see if anyone had their phones out during the gig.
“It was a big operation and obviously there was a paparazzi everywhere,” he said. “Taylor Swift is probably the number one brand in the world at the moment and I can understand why they want to protect it, but she is so big that you do need 17 security guards just to lead the life she wants to lead, that personal life that she wants to keep private.”
Wippa said her security posse was almost “intimidating”.
“All the phones had to be handed in so no photos until after the show, but it was all very The Bodyguard, speaking in earpieces, a lot of whispering and talking into wrists and hands over mouths. One security guard had this big scar on his arm and you couldn’t help but think ‘oh gee that’s what happened when the last person attempted to take a selfie with Taylor’. It looked like he’s been attacked by a crocodile.”
Wippa said he was told there were 83 people that had flown to work full-time on the tour with Swift on top of the 140 more for the arena shows.
“From the word go yesterday it was all a process and we only saw half of it because the Nova team were working behind the scenes on the finer detail. We had to be there earlier in the day to go through the routine and how it was all going to work. I knew it was serious when Fitzy said ‘I don’t think I should have any more beers before the show’ I thought ‘hang on a minute’, Australia’s biggest bogan is taking this seriously.”
The boys and the Nova team had worked for months behind the scenes to get everything fed through multiple people on Team Swift before it got the go ahead — and there was very much a list of rules to abide by.
“You have to get approval for everything and that’s not approval from one person, it’s approval from four people,” said Fitzy.
But all that preparation didn’t stop Wippa from committing the ultimate Taylor Swift faux pas — calling one of her cats by the wrong name.
“The questions we asked had all been approved, (no personal questions and nothing about her love life) and that changes it from the normal flow of a conversation and knowing that there was only limited questions and limited time, for me to get the name of one of the cats wrong was just a devastating moment. I felt like one of those cyclists in the Olympics that have trained for four years and then their foot slips off the pedal at the start of the race and you go ‘oh I did all that work and I got it wrong’. What a mess. What a mess.”
Despite the total media ban and privacy of Hamilton Island, the boys said Swift had lamented that she couldn’t totally relax during her stay.
“She spent most of her time in the room at Qualia unfortunately,” said Wippa, “she said she loved it and it was great to recharge but she said ‘I couldn't even walk outside because there were boats everywhere with paparazzi on them.’”
SECURITY for Taylor Swift is so tight during her tour of Australia that she has 17 personal bodyguards assigned to her alone.
Nova 969’s Fitzy and Wippa spoke to news.com.au after their Red Room coup with Swift on Hamilton Island last night, where just 100 people were invited to see her perform a very private gig.
The radio duo, the only media outlet in the world to secure an interview with Swift during her 1989 tour, said there was a “machine” behind the singer working to make sure her security and privacy is maintained at all times.
“We were sitting backstage waiting for her to arrive and it was just like the president had entered the building,” Wippa said of the moment Swift arrived backstage with her security in tow.
“I thought I’d seen it all with One Direction. When they came into the Nova building there was security on every level, they changed the traffic lights so the boys could get straight through the city, but this was even bigger, 17 personal security guards with her, just on her.”
Fitzy said there was one of her personal security guards assigned to every door she needed to walk through as well as three security guards watching to see if anyone had their phones out during the gig.
“It was a big operation and obviously there was a paparazzi everywhere,” he said. “Taylor Swift is probably the number one brand in the world at the moment and I can understand why they want to protect it, but she is so big that you do need 17 security guards just to lead the life she wants to lead, that personal life that she wants to keep private.”
Wippa said her security posse was almost “intimidating”.
“All the phones had to be handed in so no photos until after the show, but it was all very The Bodyguard, speaking in earpieces, a lot of whispering and talking into wrists and hands over mouths. One security guard had this big scar on his arm and you couldn’t help but think ‘oh gee that’s what happened when the last person attempted to take a selfie with Taylor’. It looked like he’s been attacked by a crocodile.”
Wippa said he was told there were 83 people that had flown to work full-time on the tour with Swift on top of the 140 more for the arena shows.
“From the word go yesterday it was all a process and we only saw half of it because the Nova team were working behind the scenes on the finer detail. We had to be there earlier in the day to go through the routine and how it was all going to work. I knew it was serious when Fitzy said ‘I don’t think I should have any more beers before the show’ I thought ‘hang on a minute’, Australia’s biggest bogan is taking this seriously.”
The boys and the Nova team had worked for months behind the scenes to get everything fed through multiple people on Team Swift before it got the go ahead — and there was very much a list of rules to abide by.
“You have to get approval for everything and that’s not approval from one person, it’s approval from four people,” said Fitzy.
But all that preparation didn’t stop Wippa from committing the ultimate Taylor Swift faux pas — calling one of her cats by the wrong name.
“The questions we asked had all been approved, (no personal questions and nothing about her love life) and that changes it from the normal flow of a conversation and knowing that there was only limited questions and limited time, for me to get the name of one of the cats wrong was just a devastating moment. I felt like one of those cyclists in the Olympics that have trained for four years and then their foot slips off the pedal at the start of the race and you go ‘oh I did all that work and I got it wrong’. What a mess. What a mess.”
Despite the total media ban and privacy of Hamilton Island, the boys said Swift had lamented that she couldn’t totally relax during her stay.
“She spent most of her time in the room at Qualia unfortunately,” said Wippa, “she said she loved it and it was great to recharge but she said ‘I couldn't even walk outside because there were boats everywhere with paparazzi on them.’”
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