Inside Taylor Swift's Most Bizarre Christmas Chart Battle Yet — With Mom of Ex She Dissed as 'Smallest Man Who Ever Lived'

Taylor Swift is facing one of her strangest year-end showdowns yet, as she squares off with Denise Welch in a Christmas chart battle shaped as much by old relationship drama as by new holiday releases.

OK! can reveal the clash centers on both stars' bids for the U.K.'s coveted Christmas No. 1 spot, coming two years after 35-year-old Swift's brief 2023 romance with Welch's son, Matty Healy, 36, sparked a swirl of fan speculation, lyrical decoding and family-side-eye.

Swift's tracks "Opalite" and "Elizabeth Taylor," neither of which has reached No. 1, are being lined up as contenders by the Official Charts Company, while Welch, 67, is pushing her unapologetically camp single "Slayyy Bells" – billed as "the hyper-pop Christmas banger of 2025."

The showdown follows fans insisting Swift alluded to Healy in her song "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived," in which she is said to be accusing him of "ghosting" her and questioning the sincerity of their relationship.

She is said to be singing about him when she mentions a man in a "Jehovah's Witness suit," trying to buy drugs from friends of hers, and eventually asking if their past together was just a "sparkling summer" he wanted to ruin.

It also comes after Welch made comments about Swift's relationship with her son when she appeared on Andy Cohen's podcast this summer.

Welch was asked by Cohen what she thought of the fallout following her 1975 star son's relationship with Swift.

She sneered: "Not being her mother-in-law is a role that I'm glad that I lost."

Welch added: "Not that I have anything against her at all. It was just, you know, it was tricky. But, listen, you're not allowed to say anything, but then she writes a whole album about it?"

That album, The Tortured Poets Department, arrived in April 2024 and was widely read by critics and fans as a lyrical excavation of Swift's time with Healy, with songs such as "Guilty as Sin?" and "The Black Dog" interpreted as nods to him.

Welch, who once posed cheerily for selfies with Swift during the pop phenomenon's short-lived romance with her son, had largely avoided speaking publicly about the breakup until that podcast appearance.

Now, the pair are unexpectedly aligned in a high-stakes holiday music scramble. Welch's "Slayyy Bells" – complete with tongue-in-cheek lines such as "We're serving looks, not turkey" and "It's time to put the slay in sleighbells" – is aiming squarely at the novelty-hit lane that has previously propelled acts such as LadBaby to No 1.

Announcing the single on Instagram, British actress and TV host Welch told fans: "My message to you is, however you spend your holidays, have lots and lots of fun, hun."

Industry sources say Swift will be paying close attention to how Welch's song does.

One music insider said: "Taylor will be raging that anyone thinks Denise has a shot against her in the charts, but she's far from scared. "Denise has nothing on her musically, and Taylor knows it."

Another source close to the chart campaign echoed the sentiment, saying: "Taylor doesn't take competition lightly, especially not at Christmas. But she's focused, and she's confident Denise can't touch her in a real chart race."

While neither "Opalite" nor "Elizabeth Taylor" is a Christmas song, Swift is believed to have filmed a festive video in the U.K. in recent weeks, a move analysts say could give her the seasonal boost she needs over the festive season.

The singer has a history of holiday releases, including her 2019 hit "Christmas Tree Farm" and her 2007 EP The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection, which featured covers of "Santa Baby" and "Last Christmas."

With both Swift and Welch mobilizing fanbases from starkly different corners of pop culture, the contest is shaping up to be one of the year's most unpredictable chart battles.

A source said: "Whether Swift's global firepower or Welch's novelty-pop charm wins out, the unusual duel has already ensured one thing: the holiday chart race has rarely looked this chaotic – or this entertaining."