Taylor Swift’s old pal Tyler Hilton shares rare details from early stardom

Taylor Swift and Tyler Hilton met as teenagers and he still remembers being impressed by her talent in early career.

The 41-year-old singer, who is currently on a promotional tour for his new children’s book, shed light on his bond with the pop superstar.

“I was doing an interview with a country magazine and they were talking about this girl Taylor Swift that just came out who was, like, 15. I heard her song Tim McGraw and I was so into it. That first record was so good to me,” Hilton told Us Weekly, who was in his early 20s at the time.

He recalled, “I told [the magazine], ‘Oh, by the way, that little thing you did on that new girl Taylor Swift, I’m actually a huge fan of her song. She’s such a good songwriter. … How many 15 year olds are actually good songwriters?’”

With a sweet turn of events, Hilton learned that Swift was a “big fan” of his and her manager invited him to her show after the magazine interview which she was “freaking out” about.

Hilton attended the show and even got signed for his next collaborative project, “She literally corners me on stage and goes, ‘I didn’t want to ask you backstage ’cause I was afraid you’d say no, but would you be in my next music video?’ … That’s how I ended up in the Teardrops On My Guitar music video."

Hilton went on to share that he got close to the Grammy winner and her family when he moved to Nashville, and got to hear her songs right out of the diary they were written in.

“She was playing me songs in her bedroom out of her diary for her second record. She was playing me White Horse and it was crazy because I’m in her bedroom and I’m like, ‘Whoa, this girl is actually, like, princess, fairy, unicorn girl.’ It’s not an act — she actually had her songs written in, like, a fluffy diary and she is that nerd, you know what I mean? That’s what’s so sweet about her and I think is responsible for her longevity — it’s not an act. She’s actually that much of a nerd and it’s so endearing.”