The Real Reason 13 Is Taylor Swift's Lucky Number

Celebrities are already fairly lucky people given their fame and fortune, but some of them still can't help but subscribe to superstitious traditions. Some carry good luck charms at all times, while others admit to doing strange rituals to ward off bad juju.

For instance, Heidi Klum once admitted to toting around a bag of baby teeth with her. Growing up, she said that she didn't experience the tradition of having a tooth fairy, so she carried it well into adulthood. "I carry around a little bag of my teeth," she said in an interview with Jay Leno in 1998. "We don't have a tooth fairy (in Germany), so I put them in a little bag. Little ones, big ones. Those were like, wisdom ones. I don't know if it's good luck, it's just a crazy thing that I do." Kim Kardashian also confessed to having traditions like stepping into an airplane with a specific foot first. "My family and I always step onto the place with the right foot first," she told CR Fashion Book in August 2018 (via People). "Another superstition is that whenever we hear an ambulance, we always touch our hair. I also say a prayer that the person will be okay. I'm big on prayer and superstition together."

There's really nothing wrong with being a bit superstitious, but in Taylor Swift's case, what's lucky for her is deemed unlucky by everyone else: she loves the number 13.

Taylor Swift is borderline obsessed with the number 13, and not just because she was born on December 13. She started the tradition of writing the number 13 on her hand during shows, and when asked why she adores that particular number so much, Swift said it's because it's strongly linked to many of her career milestones.

"I paint this on my hand before every show because 13 is my lucky number; for a lot of reasons. It's really weird," she told MTV in 2009. "I was born on the 13th. I turned 13 on Friday the 13th. My first album went gold in 13 weeks. My first #1 song had a 13-second intro. Every time I've won an award I've been seated in either the 13th seat, the 13th row, the 13th section or row M, which is the 13th letter." Most perceive the number 13 as something relating to bad luck, but for the singer it's all about positive experiences. "Basically whenever a 13 comes up in my life, it's a good thing."

She doesn't love it enough to have it tattooed on her body, though. In fact, Swift has quite the aversion to body ink. "I don't think I could ever commit to something permanent," she told Taste of Country in 2012. "If I was going to get something, it would be a 13, but I just, ugh... I don't want to get a tattoo."

Fans of Taylor Swift know that the singer is notorious for dropping easter eggs in, well... basically everything. Those who are keen enough to do detective work have noticed that she often references the number 13 in teasers and songs up to this day.

For example, in her album "Red," the 13th song is titled "The Lucky One," which has a 13-second intro and the word "lucky" is mentioned 13 separate times. Meanwhile, her "...Ready For It?" video had a not-so-subtle reference to the number, as 13 can be seen written in big numbers in frame 0:20. And in 2020, when she teased the album "evermore," she said she had been excited about it because it's her 31st birthday treat to fans. "Ever since I was 13, I've been excited about turning 31 because it's my lucky number backwards," she said at the time.

But perhaps her most notable reference to 13 happened at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards, when she wore a dress similar to what she wore at the same event in 2009 — the night she was interrupted by Kanye West. She wore the sparkly dress 13 years after the infamous moment happened, and the stars aligned for her as she brought home the Music Video of the Year award. She also announced the release of her newest album the very same night. Talk about iconic!