Travis Kelce Recalls Moment He Started to “Really Fall” for Taylor Swift
Travis Kelce is opening up about his relationship with Taylor Swift and when he began falling for the superstar.
While appearing on the latest episode of Barstool Sports’ Bussin’ With the Boys podcast, released June 25 (recorded on June 19), the Kansas City Chiefs tight end reflected on the start of their relationship, the media storm that followed and what he has admired about the singer-songwriter.
More from The Hollywood Reporter
Charli XCX Urges Fans to Stop "Taylor Swift Is Dead" Chant at Her Gigs: "I Will Not Tolerate It"
Taylor Swift Brings Travis Kelce Onstage During Eras Tour Surprise in London
Taylor Swift Brings Gracie Abrams Onstage for Surprise Performance of "Us"
“Nobody knew what was going on, really all over the place. We kind of kept it between us as much as we could,” he explained, adding that things changed once Swift attended a Kansas City Chiefs game.
He recalled her attending her first Chiefs game and him telling her he could help get her set up with security, but she just “walked right through the front door.” “She really won me over with that one,” Kelce said, recalling Swift wanting to “be around family and friends, and experience this with everybody.
“She’s very self-aware. She understands situations like that. And I think that’s why I really started to really fall for her, was how genuine she is around friends, family. It can get crazy for somebody with that much attention and she just keeps it so chill and so cool. I can admire it, for sure,” he said.
Despite there being a media frenzy surrounding Swift at all times, Kelce explained that he’s “proud” of his relationship and can maintain privacy while still being open about the fact that they’re a couple: “You want to keep things private, but at the same time I’m not here to hide anything. That’s my girl, you know what I mean? That’s my lady. It’s like, I’m proud of that. So I’m not sitting here trying to juggle, like, how can I keep this under wraps? You just don’t want to let everybody into your personal life and be able to comment on it, knowing that everything she does is getting a headline.”
When further reflecting on the attention, Kelce said that “it’s a different demographic than the NFL” and it has “been cool to kind of dabble in that and see her following.” He added, “The Chiefs fans have turned into a lot of her fans or her fans have turned into Chiefs fans. I’ve had fun with just about every aspect of it. It’s just when you’re at home, you want privacy and you don’t always get that.”
This past weekend, Swift and Kelce surprised everyone when Kelce made an appearance during Swift’s Eras Tour in London. While performing at London’s Wembley Stadium, Swift brought her boyfriend out during a performance of “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.”
Afterwards, Swift took to Instagram to reflect on the show, writing, “Wembley Stadium round one was so surreal. Looking out into crowds of 90,000 fans each night and hearing that VOLUME … Those were some of the loudest crowds I’ve ever heard. Acoustic sections went OFF. I got to sing ‘Castles Crumbling’ with @yelyahwilliams for the first time — hadn’t performed with her since 2011 and man my heart was just so full of love for her and our friendship. Then the impossibly gifted and wonderful @gracieabrams came and surprised the crowd with the first performance of our song ‘us.’”
As for Kelce’s appearance, Swift wrote, “And I’m still cracking up/swooning over @killatrav’s Eras Tour debut. Never going to forget these shows.”
Kelce has been a regular attendee on Swift’s tour, which he described as “electric.” “She’s having fun up there, so I can enjoy seeing her in her element, killing it onstage. I love the show. She’s got bangers,” Kelce said on the podcast.
“I really started listening to Taylor’s music when she came out with 1989,” the Kansas City Chiefs tight end said. “Like, I knew who she was before that, we were the same age, so through high school and everything I knew who Taylor was and she was, like, getting her career started.”
When asked to rank his top three favorite Swift songs, Kelce chose “banger” “Blank Space” as his No. 1 pick, “Cruel Summer” as his second choice and “So High School” as his third, given it has “sentimental meaning” and is about him.
“You know to ball, I know Aristotle,” Kelce said with a smile as he referenced lyrics in the song.
Best of The Hollywood Reporter