A last-minute decision to change into a comfy shirt ended up leading to one of the best moments of "Law & Order: SVU" fan Taylor Colson's life.
On Monday, March 20, "SVU" star Mariska Hargitay shared a photo of a woman wearing a T-shirt with her iconic character, Olivia Benson, and fan-favorite character Elliot Stabler (Chris Meloni) on the front to her Instagram story. Hargitay posted the photo with no text or context, which had fans on Twitter wondering: Who is "shirt girl"?
The next day, "shirt girl" revealed her identity and shared her story in a video on her TikTok account.
"WHEN YOU ARE WEARING YOUR SVU SHIRT & OLIVIA BENSON IS ON YOUR FLIGHT," Colson wrote.
She shared photos from the flight and screengrabs of text messages with friends set to Meghan Trainor's song "Mother."
"mariska is my mother," Colson wrote at the end of her caption, along with the hashtags #svu and #dreamsdocometrue.
So, what did Hargitay say to Colson when she saw her in the "SVU" shirt? Colson tells TODAY.com: "'The universe could not have made this happen more.'"
The singer-songwriter was about to leave her house to catch her flight when she was "so uncomfortable" wearing "a little baby tee," she opted to "put on something baggy" and switched into her "SVU" shirt.
"I almost didn't even wear it," she recalls.
The 27-year-old from Los Angeles says she's been a "Law & Order: SVU" fan "forever" and has "seen every episode probably 20 times."
Colson first spotted Hargitay boarding the plane and couldn't believe she was about to be on the same flight as the actor while wearing her "SVU" shirt.
"I started freaking out, and normally I would never go up to anybody," she explains. "I'm in the music business, and I would never go up to someone. She was with her whole family."
Colson adds that because she happened to be wearing the shirt, she thought if she saw Hargitay on the plane, "It's meant to be."
Once on board, Colson saw Hargitay already sitting and happened to end up standing next to her.
"I was like, 'OK, I just have to tell you — this is too funny,' and I pointed at the shirt," she says. "She's like, 'Oh, my God!' She's like, 'No way.' And I'm like, 'Yeah, it's so nice to meet you.'"
Hargitay then told Colson she had to take a picture and said she had "never seen anybody wearing a shirt like this in real life."
Colson then told Hargitay, after the actor asked, that she got the shirt on Etsy.
"She made me turn around and show her kids," Colson says.
Hargitay shares three children with husband Peter Hermann: August, 16, Amaya, 11, and Andrew, 11.
"Then she took a photo of me," Colson adds, "and then she's like, 'We have to take a photo when we land. You deserve it.'"
After Colson found her seat, she thought, "Great, how am I going to make it through a 3 1/2-hour flight right now?"
She began texting friends about the experience, and they said, "Imagine if she posts you on her (Instagram) story."
True to her word, Hargitay took a photo with Colson after the plane landed, and the two had "a great conversation."
"She was so, so nice," Colson says of Hargitay.
"When I saw her after the flight, she's like, 'Did you see that I posted you on my story?'" Colson recalls of her conversation with Hargitay, saying she responded she had not because she hadn't been on Instagram.
"She's like, 'I think I posted it, let me check.' And she pulled out her phone, and she went on her Instagram. She's like, 'Yep! Look, it's here,' and showed me."
Colson says Hargitay then asked her why she was in Nashville, and she explained she works in music and also told her her name.
She recalls Hargitay responding, "Oh, Taylor! That's a great name for what you want to do." (This could possibly have been a reference to Nashville staple Taylor Swift, who tapped Hargitay to be in her 2015 music video for "Bad Blood.")
Colson says she also told Hargitay that her old manager has been trying to get her on an episode of "SVU," as he was the head of Ice-T's record label. Ice-T has starred alongside Hargitay on "SVU" for over 20 years, and Hargitay recently honored Ice-T with a moving speech during his Walk of Fame ceremony.
"I told her that, and I was like, 'See, so you might be seeing me soon,' and she's like, 'I would love that.'"
Since Colson's shirt had both Benson and Stabler on it, we had to ask her if she wants the duo to take their relationship to the next level with a romance.
"I'm all for it," she says. "I really would love to see an Olivia/Elliot make-out happen."
Same.
