Taylor Swift surprised fans when she revealed there’s one part of her body she skips washing during her showers.
Everyone has their own shower routine — some scrub from head to toe, while others focus on specific areas. Personally, I start with shower gel on my legs and work my way up before rinsing it all off.
But the 35-year-old singer’s approach is a little different, and her confession has stirred up quite a debate online. Some fans found it shocking, while others admitted they have the same habit.
It’s been a whirlwind year for the 14-time Grammy winner — from her headline-making engagement to Travis Kelce to the buzz surrounding her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl.
However, it was actually during a 2019 appearance on The Ellen Show that Taylor Swift first gave fans a glimpse into her personal hygiene routine.
During the interview, Ellen DeGeneres hit Swift with a surprisingly relatable question: “Do you wash your legs in the shower?”
Swift laughed and replied, “I do — but only when I shave.”
She added with a grin, “The shaving cream is like soap, right?” prompting Ellen to nod in agreement.
DeGeneres then chimed in, “I think that’s why most women wash their legs — because we have to, since we shave them.”
The clip quickly went viral, sparking a wave of mixed reactions across social media.
Some fans were amused, while others were downright baffled by the pop star’s confession.
“Taylor Swift said she doesn’t wash her legs but she shaves them—girl, that is not the same thing, wtf,” one user commented.
Another joked, “I’m confused… isn’t the shower supposed to be the place where you wash everything?”
However, some people actually defended Swift’s minimal approach.
Dr. Joshua Zeichner, director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, told Women’s Health that skipping a leg wash isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
According to him, cleansing your legs isn’t as essential as many assume — especially if you’re not visibly dirty or sweaty.
“Unless your legs are visibly dirty, there’s no real need to scrub them with cleanser,” Dr. Zeichner explained. “The soap that runs down your body while rinsing is usually enough to remove the day’s dirt and sweat.”
That said, he added one important exception — your feet should always be thoroughly washed.
While some might consider skipping a leg scrub unhygienic, dermatologist Dr. Julie Russak of Manhattan told The New York Post that many experts actually advise against showering every single day.
According to Dr. Russak, bath soap can “really remove and destroy the skin’s microbiome,” which she described as “extremely important for maintaining the body’s overall health.”
In 2020, physician James Hamblin explored this very topic in his book Clean: The New Science of Skin, detailing his own decision to stop showering altogether.
Speaking to the BBC, Hamblin explained that people who “mock” those who shower less frequently “are betraying a profound ignorance of the skin microbiome.”
