It’s no secret that Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift are a romantic item. Kelce has made one thing very clear: He’s pretty smitten with the pop star.
While the Kansas City Chiefs tight end’s feelings for the singer are well known — he often shares his thoughts on his “New Heights” podcast, which he co-hosts with brother Jason Kelce — we are hearing from Swift herself for the first time.
The pop star opened about their relationship in an interview in which she was named Time’s 2023 Person of the Year.
She revealed that after Kelce “put me on blast” on his podcast, the two started “hanging out.”
“So we actually had a significant amount of time that no one knew, which I’m grateful for, because we got to get to know each other,” she said. “By the time I went to that first game, we were a couple. I think some people think that they saw our first date at that game? We would never be psychotic enough to hard-launch a first date.”
As their love story continues to unfold, here’s a list of everything Kelce and Swift have said about each other so far.
July 2023: Travis Kelce says on his podcast that he tried to give Taylor Swift his number at her concert
Kelce’s Chiefs play their home games at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. When Swift’s “Eras Tour” stopped by Arrowhead in July 2023, Kelce was in attendance and he hatched a plan to give the singer his phone number.
Inspired by a song lyric, friendship bracelets were a staple at the “Eras Tour,” with people handing out custom versions. Kelce explained he made a friendship bracelet with his digits on it on the July 26 episode of “New Heights,” but she didn’t receive it.
“I was disappointed that she doesn’t talk before or after her shows because she has to save her voice for the 44 songs that she sings. So I was a little butthurt I didn’t get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her,” he said.
Despite his disappointment, Kelce said he still had a blast at the concert.
“She doesn’t meet anybody or at least she didn’t want to meet me, so I took it personal. But it was an unbelievable show,” he said.
August 2023: Travis Kelce talks about Taylor Swift during an interview
On Aug. 2, 2023, an NFL Network reporter asked Kelce about Swift during an interview. The tight end began laughing.
“I said what I said,” he replied, referencing his previous comment about the friendship bracelet. “And I meant what I said when I said it.”
Kelce then played coy and declined to comment on any rumored romance.
“You know, what? It is what it is. I’m not going to talk about my personal life. I know what you writers want to hear. And you want to hear more about that, and I’m not going to give you anything,” he said.
September 2023: Travis Kelce invites Taylor Swift to a football game & gives her props for showing up
Kelce appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Sept. 21 and revealed that he’d invited Swift to attend a Kansas City Chiefs game.
“I threw the ball in her court. I told her, I’ve seen you rock a stage in Arrowhead and you might have to come see me rock the stage at Arrowhead,” he said. “We’ll see what happens in the near future.”
She ended up coming to the Sept. 24 game, the first of many stadium appearances. During the Sept. 27 episode of his podcast, Kelce applauded Swift for showing up to his football game over the weekend.
“Shout out to Taylor for pulling up that was pretty ballsy,” he said. “I just thought it was awesome how everybody in the suite had nothing but great things to say about her. You know, the friends and family. She looked amazing. Everybody was talking about her in a great light and on top of that, the day went perfect for Chiefs fans, of course.”
October 2023: Travis Kelce says he’s ‘on top of the world’ as relationship rumors ramp up
When asked about the time he’d been spending with Swift and how he’s handling all the paparazzi attention during a press conference Oct. 6, Kelce offered the following response
“As all the attention comes, it feels like I was on top of the world after the Super Bowl and right now, even more on top of the world. So it’s fun,” he said.
Kelce added that he’s “rolling with” all the increased attention from fans and members of the media alike.
“We’re learning with the paparazzi just taking photos from all over the place. But at the same time, it comes with it,” he said. “You got a lot of people that care about Taylor for good reason. You just got to keep living and learning and enjoying the moments. At the end of the day, I’ve always been pretty good at compartmentalizing and being able to stay focused in this building.”
October 2023: Travis Kelce talks about his dad’s first encounter with Taylor Swift
During one of Swift’s appearances at a Kansas City Chiefs game, Kelce’s father spent some time in the box with the pop star. The tight end talked about their encounter on his podcast and said he was nervous.
“This is a terrifying conversation,” Kelce joked about dad talking to Swift. “I felt terrible. I felt terrible for Taylor.”
All teasing aside, Kelce said he has the “best f— dad in the world” and explained that his father was “just absolutely pumping (Swift) up.”
“He started listening to her music a little more,” he said.
October 2023: Travis Kelce talks about feeling ‘protective’ over Taylor Swift
During one of his New York City outings with Swift, Kelce was seen taking over for a security guard and opening the singer’s door. Social media users were quick to debate if the football player had pushed the guard or gently nudged him. Kelce addressed the topic during an episode of his podcast.
“I didn’t push him,” he said. “I placed my hand on the gentleman’s back to let him know I was behind him. If I would have pushed him, he probably would have turned around and tased me.”
Kelce went on to compliment Swift’s security team.
“I’ll tell you what — they’re great. They’re great. They’re good people,” he said.
Kelce added that he does like to protect whoever he’s dating.
“I feel like whenever I’m on a date I’m always having the sense of, like, I’m a man in the situation. I’m like protective. Yeah, for sure. You always kind of have that feeling or that self-awareness, I guess,” he said.
October 2023: Travis Kelce says his mustache has started to ‘disappear’ since meeting Taylor Swift
At a press conference on Oct. 20, Kelce suggested that he’s switching up his look now that he’s met Swift and said his mustache is “slowly starting to disappear.”
“I’ll tell you what, man, that ‘stache and the 87 jersey was pretty iconic there for a little bit, and I had it when I met Taylor for the first time,” he said.
Over the summer, Kelce also addressed his facial hair in the Aug. 31 episode of “New Heights.” At the time, he suggested that Swift would love his mustache.
“Yeah, we’re not going to bring up Taylor Swift in this episode, but something tells me she’s going to like it,” he said at the time.
November 2023: Travis Kelce reacts to Taylor Swift changing the lyrics of her song
Kelce flew to Buenos Aires to see Swift perform on the international leg of her “Eras Tour” in November. When she changed the lyrics to her song “Karma” to reference him, the football player had a memorable reaction.
Javi Gutiérrez, a reporter in Argentina, took a video of the moment and shared it with TODAY.com. In the clip, Kelce smiles, claps and blows a kiss at the stage after hearing the following lyrics: “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs / Coming straight home to me.”
During an episode of his podcast, Kelce addressed the viral moment.
“I had no clue — well, I might’ve had a little bit of a clue, but definitely, when I heard it come out of her mouth, it still shocked me,” he said. “I was like, ‘Oh, shh,’ she really just said that, alright.”
Kelce also spoke highly of Swift’s performance during the podcast episode.
“I was enjoying myself down there in Buenos Aires. The show was even more electric knowing that I had a little bit more to enjoy it for, and yeah, Taylor absolutely ripped it. She killed it and it looked like she was having some fun out there,” he said.
November 2023: Travis Kelce talks about date night with Taylor Swift in Argentina
When Swift had to postpone one of her shows in Argentina due to weather conditions, she and Kelce dined at their hotel in Buenos Aires. During the Nov. 15 episode of his podcast, the Chiefs player shared some details about the meal they shared.
“It was the first night I was there. Really the only night we had a chance to go to dinner was the night the show got postponed,” he said. “So we didn’t want to just go and have a blast throughout the city like we didn’t care about the show, so we made sure we stayed in the hotel and kind of kept to ourselves.”
Kelce went on to say they ordered empanadas and steak.
November 2023: Travis Kelce says he’s ‘never dated’ anyone like Taylor Swift
Kelce opened up like never before in an interview with WSJ Magazine
Kelce lavished praise on Swift and called her “hilarious” and “a genius.”
“Obviously I’ve never dated anyone with that kind of aura about them. I’ve never dealt with it,” he said. “But at the same time, I’m not running away from any of it … The scrutiny she gets, how much she has a magnifying glass on her, every single day, paparazzi outside her house, outside every restaurant she goes to, after every flight she gets off, and she’s just living, enjoying life. When she acts like that I better not be the one acting all strange.”
Kelce also shed light on the origin of their relationship, saying “somebody playing Cupid” within Swift’s family, without naming, exactly, who.
He also shared some details about their first date.
“When I met her in New York, we had already kind of been talking, so I knew we could have a nice dinner and, like, a conversation, and what goes from there will go from there,” he said.
While commenting on her lyrical talent, Kelce offered the following thoughts on Swift.
“I’ve never been a man of words. Being around her, seeing how smart Taylor is, has been f—ing mind-blowing. I’m learning every day,” he said.
November 2023: Travis Kelce thanks Taylor Swift and fans for making his holiday song go viral
Kelce recently teamed up with his brother, who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles, to record a holiday song titled “Fairytale of Philadelphia.” It quickly went to the No. 1 spot on the iTunes chart and Kelce thanked Swift’s fans for helping propel the song to such success.
“Thanks, Taylor,” Kelce said. “Appreciate you and thank you to the Swifties. Thank you.”
December 2023: Taylor Swift speaks publicly about their relationship for the first time
Though Swift hasn’t been quiet about her fandom of Kelce — she did change the lyrics to her song “Karma” when the tight end attended one of her Argentina shows to be “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs, coming straight home to me” — the pop star hadn’t really publicly addressed their burgeoning relationship until she was named Time’s 2023 Person of the Year.
She said they’ve been happy to be out in the public, supporting each other. (In contrast, when Swift dated actor Joe Alwyn, the two were very secretive about their relationship and almost never seen together.)
“When you say a relationship is public, that means I’m going to see him do what he loves, we’re showing up for each other, other people are there and we don’t care,” she said. “The opposite of that is you have to go to an extreme amount of effort to make sure no one knows that you’re seeing someone. And we’re just proud of each other.”
