Taylor Swift made our part of London look super cool - the reality is it's a ghost town

When Taylor Swift’s new music video dropped earlier this month, local residents could hardly believe their eyes. There she was, one of the biggest pop stars on the planet, gliding down an escalator in Croydon’s Whitgift Shopping Centre, transformed for the cameras with an entirely different décor. Lush green plants lined the walkways, vacant units were transformed into vibrant storefronts and eateries glowing with bright lights, and the 1970s interior was reimagined as a playful, retro and nostalgic backdrop. 

For a few glittering minutes on screen, the shopping centre which officially opened back in 1970, looked almost magical, filled with colour and life. The reality, however, is different. Built between 1968 and 1970, it was once considered one of Greater London’s flagship indoor shopping destinations. Today, the area of the shopping centre where Taylor Swift filmed has been left with barely any shops at all and most storefronts closed up. As you arrive at the North End entrance, several nearby stores have closed or are holding closing-down sales. Stacks, for example, has “last day” signs in its shop windows, while H&M has closed, with a window message reading: “We want to thank you for shopping with us all these years. We'll miss being in Croydon Whitgift Centre.”

In the video, Swift goes down an escalator alongside Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson, her on-screen love interest, before entering a shop reimagined as the fictional ‘Opalite’ spray store, actually the Clarks store, with talk show host Graham Norton making a surprise appearance.

The 90s-inspired video came out on Friday, February 6, and it's the second music video from her 2025 album The Life of a Showgirl. It also featured celebrity cameos from Cillian Murphy, Greta Lee, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Lewis Capaldi.

Sarah Jones, Labour MP for Croydon West, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on the day of the video's release: “Not every day Taylor Swift films a video in Croydon’s Whitgift Centre!"

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The Claire’s store is currently holding a “closing down” sale, with “everything must go” signs and discounts of up to 50% plastered across the shop and its windows. The chain recently collapsed into administration once again, putting more than 1,000 UK jobs and over 150 stores at risk.

Plans to turn the Whitgift Centre into a Westfield mall have been in development for over a decade. The planning application has been repeatedly delayed, with developers Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield not expected to submit it until later this year. If approved, construction is expected to begin in 2028.

To mark the release of her new video, Swift shared on Instagram the inspiration behind the retro-themed clip, which opens with a commercial for ‘Opalite’ spray, a product designed to turn people’s problems into happiness.

She wrote: "My favorite part about writing is that first spark of an idea. It can happen at any time, for any reason. The idea for the Opalite music video crash landed into my imagination when I was doing promo for The Life of a Showgirl. I was a guest on one of my favorite shows, @TheGrahamNortonShowOfficial. For those of you who aren’t familiar, it’s a UK late night show where Graham Norton (the insanely charismatic and lovable host) invites a random group of actors, entertainers, musicians, etc to be on his show and we all sit there and chat like it’s a dinner party.

"They even serve wine. Anyway. I remember thinking I got ridiculously lucky with the group I was paired with. Cillian Murphy, Domhnall Gleeson, Greta Lee, @JodieSmith, and @LewisCapaldi. All people whose work I’ve admired from afar. When we were all talking during the broadcast, Domhnall made a light hearted joke about wanting to be in one of my music videos. He’s Irish! He was joking! Except that in that moment during the interview, I was instantly struck with an *idea*.

"And so a week later he received an email script I’d written for the Opalite video, where he was playing the starring role. I had this thought that it would be wild if all of our fellow guests on the Graham Norton show that night, including Graham himself, could be a part of it too. Like a school group project but for adults and it isn’t mandatory.

"To my delight, everyone from the show made the effort to time travel back to the 90’s with us and help with this video. You might even recognize some friendly faces from The Eras Tour. I got to work with one of my favorite people in the world, @rpstam, again! I had more fun than I ever imagined - Made new friends, metaphors, and fashion choices. It was an absolute thrill to create this story and these characters. Shot on film. The Opalite video is out now on Spotify & Apple Music."

When news broke that Taylor Swift was filming her latest music video in Croydon, local residents Maisie Quigley and Dixie Howland couldn’t believe it.

Dixie Howland, 21, told the Express: "I thought it was fake."

Her friend, Maisie Quigley, also 21, agreed: "I loved the video, I thought it was fake when my sister told me. She said Taylor Swift went to Croydon- I was like, what are you talking about? But she actually was!"

Both were in shock, calling it “crazy” that the global pop star would pick Croydon. “Why would she pick Croydon?” they wondered. The pair said it was particularly surprising that Swift chose the Whitgift Shopping Centre, which they described as run down.

Ms Quigley said: "There's barely anything now." They added that they would have expected her to film in more "trendy" or high end areas, like Mayfair, or in Hackney and Stoke Newington including the Mildmay Club, where part of the video was also shot which they said feels much more fashionable than Croydon.

Ms Quigley also shared her sister’s reaction, who is a big Taylor Swift fan: "She was over the moon. I think she actually cried when she found out."

Both have grown up in the area and have been visiting the shopping centre their entire lives. They said it has become “a lot more rundown” over the years, with far fewer shops than when they were younger.

Charlotte McReynolds, who grew up in Croydon, has been a Taylor Swift fan for years. She attended the Eras Tour five times and  has several tattoos referencing Taylor Swift songs, including Long Live, Long Story Short, Out of the Woods and Peace, each holding personal meaning for her.

Talking about the shopping centre, Charlotte McReynolds, 29, said: "When I was a teenager, this is where everyone came. After school, we would come down, there was a milkshake shop, and everyone would always go in there. There were loads of shops. It was packed. And then over time, all the shops have just shut down."

However, she added: "All the articles online were like 'Taylor Swift filmed in an abandoned shopping centre,' but it’s not abandoned, it’s just really run down and needs a lot of love."

Ms McReynolds explained that Taylor Swift likely chose a largely empty shopping centre because it gave her room to set up all her creative elements. In the video, many of the shops were named after her songs, with hidden "Easter eggs" and subtle references for people to discover.

Kaila Ryan, 25, from Australia, lived in Croydon for three years before recently moving. She described Taylor Swift filming in the area as “the biggest shock of all,” explaining that many people didn’t believe the rumours because “nobody believes that Croydon has the potential to host a music video.”

She added that the town “has such a bad reputation at the moment, and it’s really trying to come out of it,” noting that “everyone knows Taylor Swift, but not many people know Croydon,” which made the news even more surprising. Ms Ryan also highlighted that Rebel Wilson recently filmed at the Whitgift Centre for her upcoming movie Girl Group.

Even in the space of three years, Ms Ryan said she’s seen more stores close in the shopping centre. She said: "In Australia, the shopping centres are so developed, and I had never seen a shopping centre like that. When I first visited, I honestly thought I was in the wrong place. It was a really big shock to me and I thought this was normal.

"And so it was sad to see, and, everyone, no matter who you talk to—locals, friends—they all say the same thing: no, it used to be booming.”

However, she said that it has been positive that two big stars have filmed in Croydon within the last year, creating employment opportunities and bringing some life back.

Ms Ryan said: "I don't know why Croydon's become a hotspot, but it's nice that it's bringing some life back."

She added that it would be nice to see some more positivity about Croydon: "I think Croydon's been very disregarded as part of the borough of London when it very much is in fact, Croydon's one of the biggest boroughs in London. It's got a lot of potential, it just needs the right people driving it."

Anne Sullivan has lived in Croydon for about 45 years. She said she was pleased that Taylor Swift chose the shopping centre for her video and admitted she was surprised by the choice, adding that she enjoys Swift’s music.

She said it's a "shame" the shopping centre is so "run down" but hopes it will bring some attention and life back it. 

Anne Sullivan, 73, said: "Hopefully it will brighten up and bring something back to it.

"The way it's gone really you'd expect a person like that to go somewhere more upbeat. But then again, I suppose it brings people to talk about Croydon and maybe think about coming and having a look."

She described how the centre has changed over the years, from "vibrant" to the "rundown" state it is in today. 

"It was lovely when I first came here."

Ms Sullivan said there were plenty of shops before and described it as "really vibrant" in its glory days. 

"Most of the ones that are closed, I used to go to regularly." She recalled a big British Home Stores as well as a Poundland, which she said closed about a year ago.

Another local resident said Croydon often gets a bad reputation, but she believes it’s not as bad as people think.

She said: “I’ve lived here all my life, but I don’t hate Croydon. Croydon’s not that bad. It’s really sad when you think about it because now we have a bad reputation because of people coming in from other areas to cause trouble."

The local resident claimed that gangs sometimes travel into Croydon, which puts the area “in the limelight again” and damages its image. Regarding Taylor Swift’s video, she noted that filming there might have been more cost-effective but expressed hope that it would help improve Croydon’s unfair reputation. In her opinion, other areas like Peckham or Lewisham are worse. She added: "I think there’s a lot of worse places to live.”

When you look at the shopping centre, it’s clear it has seen better days, but its potential is undeniable. Unlike the ultra-modern shopping centres found elsewhere, Whitgift retains grand balconies, iconic square-patterned flooring, and a distinctive 70s charm, which also helps explain why filmmakers and artists are drawn to it.

Many shops remain boarded up and parts of the centre feel deserted, yet there is also some hope that high-profile projects like Taylor Swift’s video can help restore some vibrancy and positivity to Croydon.