Simu Liu got a romantic assist from Taylor Swift
And he said, Marry me, Allison Hsu, you’ll never have to be alone
Simu Liu was on The Tonight Show the other night to promote his upcoming “spy-fi” series The Copenhagen Test, which actually looks pretty cool. But, whatever the professional purpose for his sit-down with Jimmy Fallon, the takeaway had less to do with his new show and everything to do with Taylor Swift.
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It’s well-established at this point that Liu is a Swifty. The Kim’s Convenience star turned Marvel superhero Shang-Chi was spotted swapping friendship bracelets at the Eras Tour. He joined Team Taylor by way of his long-time girlfriend, Allison Hsu, who schooled him in the ways of the Swift-o-verse as part of their courtship. So, when Liu decided he wanted to propose, he figured it might be time to call in a favour.
“I reached out to Taylor through her publicist and asked, ‘Is there any way that I can convince you to do a two-second video just to say congrats?'” Liu told Fallon. Liu explained that he had met Swift “a couple of times” and that he thought it was worth a shot. If there’s a broadly applicable lesson here, it’s that you miss 100 per cent of the Taylor Swift favours you don’t ask for, because—just two days later—Swift responded.
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Liu and Hsu announced their engagement back in May via a joint Instagram post that included evidence of the Paris location (the Eiffel Tower after dark) and several shots of the ring. But there was no mention of Swift’s Cupid cameo, a reveal Liu opted to save for his late-night show appearance. Which was frankly savvy from a publicity perspective—suddenly, millions of Swifties are reading about a sci-fi spy thriller that may not have otherwise crossed their algorithms. (Liu did not give any specifics on what Swift said in the video. Some things are private and/or better saved for future audience engagement efforts.)
The only remaining question is whether Travis Kelce reached out to Liu before his proposal with any fiancé-to-fiancé advice. It seems unlikely, but we CanCon-craving Swifties can always dream.
Courtney Shea is a freelance journalist in Toronto. She started her career as an intern at Toronto Life and continues to contribute frequently to the publication, including her 2022 National Magazine Award–winning feature, “The Death Cheaters,” her regular Q&As and her recent investigation into whether Taylor Swift hung out at a Toronto dive bar (she did not). Courtney was a producer and writer on the 2022 documentary The Talented Mr. Rosenberg, based on her 2014 Toronto Life magazine feature “The Yorkville Swindler.”
