Did Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce just hard launch a relationship over the weekend?
On Oct. 15, the "Cruel Summer" singer and football star were photographed holding hands outside of Waverly Inn in New York City.
This comes a day after Swift and Kelce made cameos on the Oct. 14 season premiere of "Saturday Night Live" and were seen walking hand in hand within hours of the show.
The 34-year-old Kansas City Chiefs player has been linked to the “Midnights” singer since July when he attended one of her “Eras Tour” concerts. He tried to make a move on the singer and give her his phone number.
A source close to Swift previously confirmed to NBC News that she and Travis Kelce are hanging out and that it is still in the early stages.
Read on for a breakdown of their connection so far.
Taylor Swift confirms she's an Eagles fan
In 2020, Taylor Swift, who was born in Pennsylvania, released the song "Gold Rush," which features the lyrics, "My Eagles T-shirt hanging from the door."
During her Philadelphia stop on the "Eras Tour" in May, Swift cleared up speculation about the lyrics by revealing that she was referring to the NFL team, not the "Hotel California" band.
“Guys, like, c’mon. I’m from Philly. Of course it’s the team,” she said onstage in a video shared by the NFL.
In February, Swift's team lost to the Kansas City Chiefs at the 2023 Super Bowl. The game made headlines for being the first time brothers played against each other in the championship game.
Enter: Travis Kelce.
Travis Kelce attends the “Eras Tour” in July
Travis Kelce, on the heels of his Super Bowl victory over brother Jason Kelce, attended one of Swift’s “Eras Tour” concerts like millions of fans this summer. But while Swifties were looking forward to hearing some of the musician’s biggest hits, he arrived with a plan to get Swift’s attention.
The athlete shared on his “New Heights” podcast, which he co-hosts with his brother, that he created a friendship bracelet with his phone number and wanted to give it to Swift at one of her Arrowhead Stadium shows in Kansas City.
“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,” Travis Kelce explained on the podcast July 26.
He was disappointed, but he still appreciated Swift’s impressive performance. “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.
Jason Kelce chimed in and joked, “She probably just hasn’t gotten over the Super Bowl yet. She’s a big Eagles fan, so maybe she just made something up and just didn’t want to talk to you.”
Travis Kelce’s dating life becomes the talk of the NFL
Travis Kelce's public attempt at courting Swift stoked rumors that the two might be romantically linked.
As a result, NFL commentators took every opportunity to link the pair together, even while Travis Kelce was playing on the field.
“Touchdown, Travis Kelce! Kelce finds a blank space for the score,” commentator Ian Eagle said during the Kansas City Chiefs’ game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, Sept. 18, making a reference to Swift’s song “Blank Space.”
Rich Eisen, host of the “Rich Eisen Show,” also took part in the fun on his show, according to a TikTok compilation of several Swift song puns he was able to sneak into his program.
“Even though that bone bruise and the injury one would think is delicate, he’s been able to shake it off,” Eisen said of Travis Kelce, referencing Swift’s songs “Delicate” and “Shake It Off.”
NFL Network reporter Andrew Siciliano also reposted an Aug. 2 interview on Instagram in which he asked the Kansas City Chiefs tight end about the pop star.
As soon as Siciliano mentioned the “Anti-Hero” singer’s name in the video, Travis Kelce started laughing. The journalist then started to ask about his previous attempt to get Swift’s attention.
“I said what I said,” Travis Kelce replied. “And I meant what I said when I said it.”
He continued, “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.”
Siciliano pressed on, wondering if Swift reached out to Travis Kelce.
“And that’s going to wrap it up here at NFL training camp,” he playfully said before the clip ended, skirting the question.
Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift reportedly hang out in New York
Swift's headline-making appearance at Travis Kelce's game Sept. 24 was the not the first time the rumored couple spent time together.
A source close to the situation confirmed to TODAY that the pair hung out in New York more than a month before the Chiefs-Bears game. This puts their hangout sometime before the end of August.
Jason Kelce addresses dating rumors involving brother Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift
In September — two months after Travis Kelce said he tried to make a move on Swift — the dating rumors stayed strong, and Travis Kelce’s brother, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, weighed in on several occasions.
“No one actually knows what’s going on, especially when you got Jason Kelce on live television telling people both sides, he doesn’t know, it’s true, it’s this and that,” Travis Kelce said Sept. 21.
“The guy is absolutely ridiculous, can’t stay out of the freaking headlines,” Travis Kelce added. “... Please everybody, stop asking my brother about my love life.”
After Philadelphia defeated the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 14, analyst and retired NFL star Tony Gonzalez slipped in a Swift question while interviewing Travis Kelce’s brother, Jason Kelce, and Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts in a postgame appearance.
“Tony kind of blindsided me with that question on Thursday night,” Jason Kelce told 94 Wip in an audio clip posted to Instagram on Sept. 20.
“It’s hard to answer because I don’t really know a lot about what’s happening with Travis’ love life,” Jason Kelce continued. “His business is his business. I stay out of that world. But having said that, I think he’s doing great. I think it’s all 100% true. I hope that this s--- goes a mile.”
Some outlets reported Thursday afternoon that Jason Kelce said he was joking in the interview. TODAY.com reached out to SportsRadio 94 WIP for clarification and were told that the audio was nearly impossible to hear after his initial comments.
“There’s no way to tell,” a representative told TODAY.com.
In the Sept. 14 postgame interview Sept. 14, Jason Kelce and Hurts were expecting to break down how they clinched the victory, but Gonzalez unexpectedly referenced Swift, couching the question with his 15-year-old daughter is “a big fan of a certain pop star and you have a family member, a brother, and I’ve been hearing rumors that there’s ... can you comment?”
Some of the other six people at the interview table appeared to briefly express that it was an inappropriate question to ask while Gonzalez was still getting the question out.
“I’ve seen these rumors,” the 35-year-old responded. “I cannot comment.”
He added, “Ever since ‘Catching Kelce,’ everybody’s been infatuated with Travis’ love life, so I don’t really know what’s going on there. I know Trav is having fun and we’ll see what happens with whoever he ends up with,” before laughing.
Travis Kelce’s search for love was documented on the E! reality series “Catching Kelce” in 2016. At the end of the show, he chose to pursue a relationship with contestant Maya Benberry, and they split shortly after.
Most recently, he dated on-air sports reporter Kayla Nicole, but he revealed during an interview on “The Pivot” podcast in January that he was single.
Travis Kelce addresses the dating rumors
Her attendance at the game came after Travis Kelce reacted to the dating rumors when he stopped by “The Pat McAfee Show” on Sept. 21. He called the recent headlines about him and the singer “hilarious.”
Travis Kelce then hinted at Swift visiting Arrowhead Stadium.
“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,” Travis Kelce said in the interview. “We’ll see what happens in the near future.”
McAfee, correctly, took this to mean that Swift would appear at an upcoming game. However, some of the show’s crew were left confused about the status of the rumored relationship.
“All right, so we got to the bottom of it,” McAfee said after the interview.
“Did we?” a co-host asked.
Taylor Swift attends 1st Kansas City Chiefs game
During the game Sept. 24, Swift enthusiastically cheered for Travis Kelce and his Kansas City Chiefs while seated next to his mom, Donna Kelce.
In clips shared on ESPN’s social media pages, Swift wore a red and white jacket and sported her signature red lipstick for the game.
Swift and Donna Kelce, Travis Kelce's mom, seemed to share a few laughs throughout the game.
The Fox broadcast also captured Swift throwing her hands in the air and celebrating when Travis Kelce scored a touchdown in the third quarter. The Grammy-winner appeared to shout, “Let’s f------ go!” before excitedly banging her hands on the glass in the player’s box.
The “Lavender Haze” singer continued to wave her hands and clap throughout the game as the Chiefs dominated the Chicago Bears, beating them 41-10.
During the game, Fox announcers repeatedly chimed in about the possible romance between Swift and Travis Kelce in between plays.
“I mean, I think the secret’s out,” one NFL commentator said.
Travis Kelce says his personal life will stay out of the spotlight
In the latest episode of “New Heights,” Travis Kelce’s podcast with his brother, Eagles player Jason Kelce, he reacted to the Taylor/Travis post-game mania.
“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,” he said on the Sept. 27 episode of his “New Heights” podcast. “Everybody was talking about her in a great light and on top of that, the day went perfect for Chiefs fans, of course.”
He said the experience marks “a game I’ll remember.”
“To see the slow-motion chest bumps, to see the high fives with mom, to see how Chiefs Kingdom was all excited that she was there, that s--- was absolutely hysterical,” Travis Kelce said. “It was definitely a game I’ll remember, that’s for damn sure.”
“And then we just slid off in the getaway car at the end,” he added, using a Swift song title to reference the viral photos of them leaving Arrowhead Stadium together in a convertible.
But he also clarified that going forward, he will mainly comment on football, rather than his personal life, in interviews and appearances.
“What’s real is that it’s my personal life and I want to respect both of our lives,” he said. “She’s not in the media as much as I am."
“So everything moving forward, I think me talking about sports and saying, ‘Alright now,’ would have to be kind of where I keep it,” he said.
Taylor Swift attends Chiefs-Jets game in New Jersey Oct. 1
Swift attended at her second Chiefs game in a row on Oct. 1 — this time at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where the Chiefs won 23-20 over the New York Jets.
Swift was spotted at the game with an entourage of famous friends, including Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Sophie Turner, Hugh Jackman, Brittany Mahomes and more.
The night before the game, the singer was spotted grabbing dinner with her girlfriends and Mahomes, the wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Swift performed at MetLife Stadium May 26, 27 and 28 on the "Eras Tour."
Travis Kelce thanks Erin Andrews for asking Taylor Swift to go on a date with him
The day after the Chiefs-Jets matchup, Kelce commented on sports reporter Charissa Thompson's Instagram post, where she and fellow sports commentator Erin Andrews urged Swift to go on a date with Kelce during an episode of their podcast, "Calm Down with Erin and Charissa," back in August.
“Taylor, I don’t know what you are doing in your life right now besides rocking the world," Andrews began in the clip, which Thompson said was recorded on Aug. 3. "Please try our friend Travis. He is fantastic."
She continued, "Taylor, I know we’re not the best of friends — we’re not even friends — but I consider you one. Take us up on this, go on a date with this guy. Do it for America.”
Thompson responded saying she was about to say the same thing.
“I was just gonna say, do it for yourself, do it for us and do it for the people, because there is no one that would give you a better time than this guy,” Thompson said.
Kelce commented on the post on Oct. 2 with two laughing emojis.
“You two are something else!!” he said, adding two raising hands emoji. “I owe you big time!!”
Donna Kelce addresses romance rumors, reveals what she hopes for Travis in a partner
While appearing on TODAY on Oct. 6, Donna Kelce discussed how life has changed since being spotted with Taylor Swift at the games while rumors of a relationship continue to swirl.
“Every week it’s like something new, like really? It truly feels like I’m in some kind of an alternate universe,” Kelce said. “It’s just really, really strange, but it’s fun. It’s a great ride.”
With Donna Kelce in Studio 1A to chat and snack on her famous cookies, co-anchors Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb couldn't help but ask about the possible romance.
“It’s fairly new, so I don’t like to talk about it,” she told the co-anchors. “It’s just one of those things where you know, obviously everybody saw me. I was in the boxes with with her and it’s just another thing that’s amped up my life.”
Donna Kelce added, “I honestly can’t tell you. It’s just too new.”
While speaking to TODAY.com, she NFL mom said she's seen some of the people son Travis Kelce has dated, but she doesn't think much about the kind of person he'll end up with, adding "it's up to him."
"I want to see that smile on his face, the brightness, the sparkle in his eyes, like Jason has," she said, referring to son Jason Kelce's love for wife Kylie. "That’s what I want to see, and I hope I’ll see that some day."
Travis Kelce says he's 'even more on top of the world' amid Taylor Swift relationship buzz
During a press conference Oct. 6, the Chiefs tight end addressed the adjustment to the newfound fame and attention amid Swift's latest appearances, despite already being in the limelight following the 2023 Super Bowl.
“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.
Travis Kelce then said he's "rolling with" the constant attention from paparazzi and attempting to separate work and play.
“We’re learning with the paparazzi just taking photos from all over the place. But at the same time, it comes with it,” he continued. “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.”
Taylor Swift attends Chiefs-Broncos game
The Kansas City Chiefs are officially 3-0 — with Taylor Swift in attendance.
Fresh off her red carpet appearance at the premiere of the “Eras Tour” concert film in Los Angeles, Swift was spotted back in the player’s box at Arrowhead Stadium Oct. 12 as the Chiefs took on the Denver Broncos.
Wearing a black tank top and a red Chiefs jacket from Erin Andrews' brand, Swift cheered on rumored beau Travis Kelce’s team alongside his parents, Donna and Ed Kelce, and Brittany Mahomes, wife of quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
During the game, Swift was photographed chatting with Donna Kelce, who sported a TODAY friendship bracelet, as well as Ed Kelce. She was also seen hugging Brittany Mahomes.
While Travis Kelce was initially listed as "questionable" to play in the "Thursday Night Football" game after a non-contact ankle injury sustained Oct. 8 against the Minnesota Vikings, he had a season-high record game with nine catches for 124 yards.
The Chiefs won 19-8.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce make "SNL" cameos
From Los Angeles, to Kansas City to New York. Swift and Travis Kelce stepped in Manhattan Oct. 14 for dinner at Nobu and a "Saturday Night Live" surprise. The pair both appeared onscreen during the Season 49 premiere and were photographed walking hand-in-hand when they arrived and left the show.
Photos and videos from paparazzi show that Travis Kelce held the door for Swift and helped her step out of the car. The two then interlocked fingers and went on their way.
During the Oct. 14 episode of "SNL," Travis Kelce made a cameo at the end of the a sketch poking fun at the NFL's recent spotlight on the rumored relationship. While the commentators at first emphasized they were only going to focus on football during the show, the football-broadcast skit descended into madness as they discussed which concerts they went to and if they think Traylor/Swelce is a real relationship.
At the end, Kenan Thompson's character announces, "When we get back, we're going to speak with someone who actually wants to talk football."
The camera then pans to Travis Kelce, who shouts, "Yes, please!"
Taylor Swift also briefly appeared onscreen to introduce musical guest Ice Spice. Swift and the rapper collaborated earlier this year for a remix of "Karma," released as part of a deluxe edition of Swift's 10th studio album, "Midnights."
On Oct. 15, the singer and football star showed another public display of affection the day after their “SNL” appearances.
Swift and Kelce were photographed holding hands outside of Waverly Inn in New York City that Sunday night.
