Taylor Swift gets talk-show grilling over love life

The 20-year-old singer was put firmly on the spot during her interview this afternoon over her rumoured romance with 29-year-old actor Jake Gyllenhaal.

'Are you optimistic about love? How do you feel about love right now?' host DeGeneres asked.

Swift answered: 'I'm always optimistic about love… always, sometimes.'

DeGeneres asked again: 'But right now you are?'

The chart-topping songstress fumbled with her dress, before coyly replying: 'Well, why wouldn't anyone be?'

'Especially if your boyfriend is Jake Gyllenhaal, because he is very handsome,' DeGeneres teased. 'Y'all are just hanging out though, right?”

Keeping her head down, Swift acknowledged that she and the Brokeback Mountain star were spotted together in New York together last week, saying: 'You have a picture of us on the [TV] screen, don't you?'

DeGeneres continued: 'But it's just y'all hanging out – this does not prove anything. I'm just saying he's adorable and I like him very much, and so if that is the case that he's your boyfriend, I think that's fantastic.”

Swift and Gyllenhaal, who split from Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon last November, were reportedly spotted having lunch in Brooklyn last weekend.

They went on to attend a taping of Saturday Night Live, which was hosted by Swift's friend, actress Emma Stone.