Former Triple J presenter Angela Catterns has retracted the claim she made on Monday

Catterns, sounding contrite but defiant, opened her 2UE afternoon show on Wednesday by saying she "may have spoken too soon, that hasn't happened yet ... that's not my call" about the alleged disqualification of Swift because a "fast food chain" has been endorsing the American pop star for the countdown.

Angela Catterns believes it's a "corruption" of Triple J's poll if Taylor Swift features. Credit:Simon Alekna

KFC posted a Facebook entry last Thursday with a photo of Swift (holding a gift voucher) emblazoned with the hashtag #tay4hottest100. That hashtag was used to group together comments about the campaign to encourage people to vote for Swift in the Triple J poll, even though the station had not played her music in 2014. Catterns said on ABC TV's The Drum that the commercial deal had ruled Swift out of appearing in the countdown no matter how many votes she received.

Catterns' about-face came after she realised she'd assumed that - incorrectly. Triple J managment has stoically refused to confirm or deny whether votes for Swift – most likely for her worldwide chart-topping hits Shake It Off and Blank Space – will be counted. So we do not know if she will feature, and speculation is mounting that we may not know until the Australia Day countdown is over.