- - Taylor Swift Backup Singer Got Cancer Diagnosis on Eras Tour. She ‘Finished Radiation and Got on a Plane’ to Perform Again

Jack IrvinDecember 20, 2025 at 1:26 AM

0

Jeslyn Gorman/Instagram

Taylor Swift and Jeslyn Gorman -

Two new episodes of Taylor Swift's The End of an Era docuseries are out now on Disney+

In the third episode, backup singer Jeslyn Gorman opens up about receiving a cancer diagnosis in the midst of the shows and returning to the stage post-treatment

Swift described the experience as "the first blow that the tour family experienced emotionally"

Taylor Swift's backup singer Jeslyn Gorman is resilient.

In the third episode of Swift's The End of an Era docuseries on Disney+ chronicling behind-the-scenes moments of the pop superstar's blockbuster Eras Tour, Gorman opens up about receiving a cancer diagnosis in the midst of the shows and returning to the stage post-treatment.

"Most of the people I’m out here on the road with have known me since high school. But also there are people that I just got to know in this phase of my life," explained Swift, 36, in the series. "Jeslyn is one of the most talented, resilient, loving people I’ve ever been around. She was the newest addition to our backups singers."

Gorman then recalled first working with Swift on the Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018. "I had never done a stadium tour before, and so the first show was just like, ‘Whoa, this is a lot of people,’” she said.

2025 TAS Rights Management

Taylor Swift (center) and the Eras Tour crew

The Eras Tour marked their second major run of shows together, "and when Jeslyn got sick, it was the first blow that the tour family experienced emotionally," said Swift. "It was like, completely unfathomable to us."

The backup singer explained she was "diagnosed with breast cancer" during the Eras Tour, "and obviously it was devastating, but every weekend we had a show."

She continued, "So I still flew to the next city, did a show with everyone, and in the middle of the week when we weren’t doing shows, I would fly back to LA and just had biopsies and just poked and prodded to learn really what I had to do, treatment-wise and then hopped back on stage and pretended like nothing was happening."

Eventually, Gorman shared the news with her fellow performers on the tour. "I’ll never forget when she told us, everyone was just in shambles, and it’s the not knowing," said Swift.

When it came to informing the "Karma" singer herself, Gorman recalled, "she came storming in with hugs and crying and just saying, ‘I’m so sorry.’ And her mom [Andrea] said, ‘You just take care of you, and we’ll be here when you’re ready.’"

"So, six months I had to take off and go through chemo, surgery. I had edema. I had, like, skin issues," explained Gorman. "I usually have all this curly hair. I lost about 75 percent of my hair. I felt and looked completely different, and just kind of watched my friends on live streams of the show."

After hearing news of her diagnosis, Swift said, "We just wanted her to know that no matter what, under any circumstances, if she wanted to come back, she could."

Gorman then asked her doctor how soon she could return to the stage after completing radiation. "My doctor said, ‘That night. But you have to get back into shape,'" she recalled.

Another backup singer then said of Gorman, "She literally finished radiation and got on a plane."

Kevin Mazur/Getty

Taylor Swift in March 2023

So, that's what she did — and it was worth the hard work. "Just coming back to this joy-filled show and these people just emphasized even more how much we’re a family," she said.

Swift was taken aback by Gorman's dedication through such a difficult circumstance. "I cannot believe that she was back in a few months. The will to come back and do the hardest show ever. None of us could believe it. I still can’t," she said.

At one point in the End of an Era episode, Gorman is seen getting ready for the first Eras Tour show at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium on Oct. 18 and putting on a ponytail extension after losing so much hair during chemotherapy.

In a huddle with the other performers before one of the Miami shows, Gorman expressed love and gratitude for everyone on the tour — and shared a story about Swift. "I admire many things about you, but there’s one thing that I’ll never forget," she began.

Emma McIntyre/TAS24/Getty

Taylor Swift (second from left) and backup singers including Jeslyn Gorman (right) in November 2024

"I came to your birthday last year, and I actually tripped on the sidewalk," said Gorman to Swift. "I fell on my face, like in front of paparazzi that were outside. So I was dealing with side effects and stuff, but when you introduced me to everyone, you said, ‘Guys, this is Jeslyn, we sing together.’ I said, ‘Mmm, that’s a way to put it, it’s fine.’"

She continued, "No one says that, and it just says something about who you are and how humble you are and how you like to shed light on people and make them feel bigger than they think they are. And in that moment, I needed that. It’s never a ‘me,’ it’s always a ‘we.’ And I think that it just makes you feel like we are the only ‘we’ that will ever be on the biggest f---ing tour in the world."

The third and fourth episodes of The End of an Era premiered on Friday, Dec. 19. The final two episodes will hit Disney+ on Dec. 23.

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”