My mum woke me to ask if I'd support Swift

Taylor Swift has five new supports acts for her latest Wembley gigs. Robbie Griffiths talks to one, the 19-year-old Sofia Isella

- Robbie Griffiths

ONE day last spring, when 19-year-old Sofia Isella was fast asleep, her mother came into her room and asked her if she wanted to support Taylor Swift at Wembley. "I was sleeping... my mom slammed open my door early and was like ‘Sofia. Sofia.’” Isella says about the request from the world’s biggest pop star. “While I was half asleep, she asked: ‘Do I wanna open for Taylor at the Eras Tour?’”.

Isella’s mother was laughing, and soon the young musician was too. First of all, the answer was “obvious” (yes, of course), but they both found it “hilarious on multiple levels” to say out loud, and the idea has felt unreal since. “I just keep repeating ‘wow’,” Isella says. “It didn’t register as real then and it still hasn’t.”

Isella’s mother isn’t like everyone else’s: she’s involved in her daughter’s career and assists her on stage, working on the backing tracks. The rest of the Isella clan help with the show too, assisting with visuals and photos. That means they will all be there helping play Wembley tonight, by far the biggest gig of her life so far.