Olivia Rodrigo was “very surprised” to learn that some of her fans believed “Vampire,” her latest No. 1 single, was about Taylor Swift, as she explained to The Guardian in an early September interview. “I mean, I never want to say who any of my songs are about,” she told the UK publication. “I’ve never done that before in my career and probably won’t. I think it’s better to not pigeonhole a song to being about this one thing.”
Well, Rodrigo almost gave us all a very big clue as to who the inspiration could be behind “Vampire” or any of her world-beating songs. (As an aside, she joked that “Drivers License” is “100 percent” about Adam Driver in the promo for Saturday Night Live, where she will serve as musical guest tomorrow, December 9.)
“I try to follow zero people because it helps me be off my phone and off of social media,” Rodrigo said on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night (December 7). “But I had this very embarrassing encounter once where I was stalking my ex — as one does, sue me, sorry — and I accidentally followed him because I was stalking him, and I was just following one person, so it was super obvious that I was following him.”
My hands are getting clammy just typing this. Rodrigo continued, “My friend ran into my room and was like, ‘Oh, my God! Did you mean to follow him? Unfollow him!’ And I went and I grabbed my phone. I’m like, ‘Oh, shoot! Oh, my God!’ And I went to open the Instagram app, and the second that I opened the app, my phone died. I couldn’t find the charger, so I was just following my ex for a while.”
Fallon asked if anybody ever found out, to which Rodrigo admitted that people assumed she’d been hacked, and she did not go out of her way to correct them. (“I’m like, ‘Yeah, you guys, be safe! Get your two-factor authentication, you guys.’”) She also shared that she has a Finsta, also known as a fake Instagram that allows celebrities to like, follow, and comment without scrutiny.
Fans in the comments claim to remember Rodrigo strangely and briefly following Joshua Bassett, the heavily rumored inspiration behind “Drivers License,” but Rodrigo already told us that she will never confirm that. And why would she? Admitting everyone’s worst nightmare is brave enough.
Watch Rodrigo and Fallon’s full Tonight Show chat above.