Professional wrestler Jeff Jarrett has heaped praise on Taylor Swift in a new interview, where he revealed that the singer helped his family during a “very, very dark period.”
The 56-year-old star explained that Taylor was there for his young children after his wife was diagnosed with cancer, and would hang out with them as though she were their “big sister.”
Jeff married his high school sweetheart Jill Gregory in 1992, and they welcomed three daughters, Joslyn, Jaclyn, and Jerlyn, before Jill tragically died of breast cancer in May 2007.
Taylor — who released her debut album in 2006 — would have been just 17 years old at the time, but Jeff said that she was a shining light for his family.
During a recent appearance on WREG, Jeff was asked if the rumor that Taylor used to “babysit” his children was true or not, and he was more than happy to clear up the confusion.
“Y’know, that story has really extrapolated out, but she’s a friend of the family,” he began. “She was very good to my family during a very, very dark period.”
“My wife got sick, and she passed away,” Jeff explained. “But Taylor was like a big sister and came over and took the girls, baking cookies, and just kind of hung out at the house. I can’t say enough good things about Taylor.”
“She’s such a sweetheart,” the star went on, noticeably proud of how far she has come. “I still call her ‘our girl.’”
But Jeff went on to clarify that it wasn’t “technically” babysitting as Taylor never expected payment for the time that she spent with the girls.
“I can tell you this right now,” he told the host. “She was never on the Jeff Jarrett payroll, so technically not a babysitter.”
Taylor even remained close with the Jarrett family as her career took off, with Jeff’s daughter Jaclyn even appearing in the music video for Taylor’s 2010 single “Mine.”
In 2021, Jeff opened up about this exciting experience on Instinct Culture, where he said: “The ‘Mine’ video is so creative, and my daughter, Jaclyn, looked like a little Taylor.”
“Taylor, being as bold as she always is, just said, ‘I want Jaclyn in the video,’” Jeff recalled at the time, saying that the whole family headed to Maine for the production, which was a “good experience for the kids.”
