Grandpa surprises granddaughter with Taylor Swift tickets after Vienna show canceled
A devoted grandpa flew across the country to surprise his granddaughter with Taylor Swift tickets after their plans to attend her Vienna concert in August were canceled due to a foiled terror plot.
John McLaughlin told "Good Morning America" he and his 9-year-old granddaughter Ella Knowles had tickets to attend Swift's Eras Tour concert in Vienna, Austria, earlier this summer, but less than 24 hours before they were set to leave for Europe, they were told the concert had been canceled due to an alleged terror plot.
"It was pretty heartbreaking for both of us," McLaughlin recalled. "Ella had been counting the days and making her bracelets and counting the sleeps and learning the songs. So it's pretty hard for a little 9-year-old girl to have to hear that the whole thing [is] over."
Earlier this week, McLaughlin shared a heartwarming video on TikTok documenting his journey to surprise Ella with new Eras Tour tickets.
McLaughlin said he traveled across the country from New Brunswick to Edmonton, Alberta, to deliver the exciting news in person that he had secured tickets for them to attend Swift's Eras Tour concert in Vancouver on Friday night.
In the second part of the video, McLaughlin is seen arriving at Ella's house, where she greets him with a big hug.
To break the news, McLaughlin playfully gets down on one knee and sings his own version of Swift's hit song "22" while placing the iconic "22" hat on Ella's head.
"I don't know about you / but I am feeling Eras Tour / everything will be all right / I got two tickets for Friday night," he sings.
Ella's reaction in the clip is pure joy as she jumps up and down in excitement before embracing her grandpa.
"The Big Reveal!!" McLaughlin wrote in the caption. "Surprising my #Swiftie granddaughter with #erastour tickets. From #vienna to #vancouver."
Reflecting on the surprise, Ella told "GMA" on Thursday, "In that exact moment, I was feeling like, 'Wow, is this actually happening?' I thought I was dreaming right then, but when I woke up the next day, I realized, 'Wait! I'm not dreaming. This is real life.'"
Speaking about her grandpa, she added, "I think that he is so kind, so sweet and so caring to everyone, so to hear this news come out of his own mouth, his own words, like, I am the luckiest kid on earth."
Swift's final three Eras Tour shows are set to take place at BC Place in Vancouver from Dec. 6-8. She first announced the tour on "GMA" in November 2022 and kicked it off in March 2023.
