Photo: Getty
In her life, Taylor Swift has done things way greater than dating the boy on the football team, but that won’t stop people from speculating about her rumored new romance with Travis Kelce.
It all started when the 33-year-old NFL player revealed that he attempted to give the 33-year-old pop star his number via friendship bracelet during a stop on the Eras Tour. “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,” Kelce said during a July episode of his New Heights podcast, which he hosts with his brother, Jason Kelce. “So I was a little butt-hurt I didn’t get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her.”
He added, “She doesn’t meet anybody, or at least she didn’t want to meet me, so I took it personal.” Well, according to the celebrity rumor mill, Taylor Swift wasn’t averse to meeting Travis Kelce after all. She accepted his offer to attend a Kansas City Chiefs game on September 24, and things have moved fairly quickly from there. Here is a complete timeline of the dating rumors, in reverse chronological order.
October 20, 2022: Kelce advises Swifties on how to achieve the perfect Traylor couple costume. “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, so I guess my ‘stache,” he says during a press conference, per Page Six. Kelce also suggested wearing friendship bracelets, for obvious reasons.
October 18, 2023: Kelce dispels rumors he “pushed” Swift’s security guard out of the way to open to door for her during their post-SNLouting. “I didn’t push. 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,” he tells his brother on New Heights, per Page Six.
He also describes himself as “protective,” telling Jason, “I feel like whenever I’m on a date, I’m always having the sense [that] I’m a man in the situation.”
October 15, 2023: (Part II): The evening after their SNL appearances, the couple are photographed engaging in “weird hand-holding poses” outside the Waverly Inn. Katy Perry approves.
Photo: Getty
October 15, 2023: Immediately following Saturday Night Live, the pair are photographed holding hands and being all-around adorable as they arrive at Catch Steak NYC for the after-party. You can see more photos here, but enjoy this taste of chivalry:
Photo: Gotham/GC Images
Photo: Gotham/Getty
October 14, 2023: According to TMZ video footage, Swift and Kelce go to dinner at Nobu before attending the live taping of Saturday Night Live in New York City. Both Kelce and Swift make surprise cameos during the show, with Swift introducing musical guest Ice Spice and Kelce appearing in a sketch about the NFL’s obsessive Traylor coverage.
🫶 @taylorswift13 @icespicee_#SNLPremiere pic.twitter.com/0gXEcvWQDS
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) October 15, 2023
October 12, 2023: Swift attends her third Kansas City Chiefs game, this time wearing some meaningful merch.
Photo: Getty
October 11, 2023: Kelce does not join Swift at the premiere of The Eras Tour concert movie in Los Angeles. Beyoncé was there, though!
Photo: Getty
October 6, 2023: In the morning, Donna Kelce played it coy when asked about Swift on Today. “It was okay,” she said of their time together. As for her son’s relationship with the pop star: “It’s fairly new, so I don’t like to talk about it. It’s just one of those things where you know, obviously, everybody saw me. I was in the boxes with her and it’s just another thing that’s amped up my life.”
Later in the evening, Travis Kelce spoke about his mindset amid all this media whirlwind. “As all the attention comes, it feels like, you know, I was on top of the world after the Super Bowl and right now I’m even more on top of the world,” he said at a press conference.
To the delight of Swifties, he continued, “We’re learning with the paparazzi just taking photos from all over the place, but at the same time, it comes with it. You’ve got a lot of people that care about Taylor, and for good reason. You just have to keep living and learning and enjoying the moments. At the end of the day, I have always been good at compartmentalizing and being able to stay focused in this building. I will just keep rolling with that.”
October 4, 2023, later that day: Amid everyone getting just a little tired of this whole thing, the NFL says that changing a banner or a bio doesn’t detract from the football of it all. In a statement to People, the league says:
October 4, 2023: Travis Kelce admits that the NFL might be leaning a little too hard into all the attention his new relationship with Taylor Swift is getting. On his podcast, New Heights With Jason and Travis Kelce, which he cohosts with his brother and fellow NFL player Jason, Kelce acknowledged that the NFL is overdoing it a bit with the constant cuts to Swift watching the games from her VIP box or changing their official Instagram bio to “chiefs are 2-0 as swifties.”
“They’re overdoing it a little bit for sure, especially my situation. [But] I think they’re just trying to have fun with it,” Kelce said, per People. “’Cause you never know you get caught you know just throwing a big ol’ cheeseburger in and you look like an idiot you know what I mean, there’s just certain things… You just don’t want to be on TV at all times.”
October 1, 2023: According to Page Six, Travis Kelce is seen leaving Swift’s apartment on October 1 and even shared “good morning” pleasantries with witnesses. Still, it’s unclear that he slept over, as one source tells the publication that the football player “stuck to the team’s strict 11 p.m. curfew.” Perhaps he simply came back over for breakfast?
Anyway, let’s get to the important stuff. That evening Swift is joined at MetLife stadium by a gaggle of famous faces, including Blake Lively, Sophie Turner, Brittany Mahomes, Ryan Reynolds, and Hugh Jackman, to name just a few.
Photo: Getty / Kevin Sabitus
Throughout the Chiefs’ nail-biting game against the New York Jets, Swift seemingly found time to jokingly troll the tight end and share a sweet moment with his mom, Donna Kelce.
Photo: peacock
Honestly, it looks like she had a really great time.
Photo: Getty
September 30, 2023: Not a lot going on at the moment…. You know, other than Travis Kelce reportedly being spotted outside of Taylor Swift’s apartment wearing what fans believe to be another Swift-coded outfit.
Photo: Gotham
Later in the evening Taylor Swift has a girls night out with Brittany Mahomes, who is married to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes joins Swift, Blake Lively, and Sophie Turner at SoHo restaurant Emilio’s Ballato less than a week after reportedly hitting it off with the pop star at the postgame party.
Photo: Getty
Photo: Gotham
September 27, 2023: Kelce gives fans the update they’ve been waiting for. “Shout-out to Taylor for pulling up,” he says on his podcast, New Heights. “That was pretty ballsy.” The tight end goes on to compliment Swift by saying, “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.”
@newheightshow The stache really complimented Trav’s pregame fit
Regarding the interest in their relationship, he acknowledges that he was the one who made his personal life “not so personal,” admitting to his brother, “I did this to myself, Jason, I know this.” However, he plans to keep himself more tight-lipped from here on out.
“What’s real is that it’s my personal life and I want to respect both of our lives,” he says later in the podcast, per Today. “She’s not in the media as much as I am doing this show every single week and having fun during the NFL season on other guys’ shows…. So everything moving forward, I think me talking about sports and saying, ‘All right now,’ would have to be kind of where I keep it.” Smart move.
Of course, that doesn’t mean everyone is keeping quiet. Later in the evening, TMZ published a photo from Sunday night’s post-game party that featured Swift with her arm wrapped around Kelce’s neck.
During the podcast the Kelce brothers also acknowledge rumors that the pair met through Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, stating that Reid “had met the Swift family before” and has been referring to himself as Cupid.
September 26, 2023: Us Weekly reports that Swift and Kelce met through a mutual friend and are “getting to know each other.” As one source tells the publication, “They have been on a few dates, and Taylor is smitten with him. It is not serious, and Taylor is having fun right now.”
The source notes that Swift “isn’t looking for anything serious” as her schedule is pretty packed with her world tour. “But anything is possible,” they say. “They’re getting closer and closer every day.”
Another supposed insider tells Us Weekly that neither Kelce nor Swift “want to rush” the relationship but that “Taylor had such a blast and got along great with his mom and friends too.”
September 24, 2023: Taylor Swift is spotted cheering on the Chiefs with Kelce’s mother, Donna Kelce.
Taylor Swift is HERE for the Chiefs game 👀 pic.twitter.com/46SW4gEodz
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 24, 2023
The pair are then seen leaving the game together before reportedly heading to dinner. According to a TikTok user, Swift paid for all the guests at a local restaurant to quickly wrap up their meals so that the two could dine together alone. At some point in the evening, Swift and Kelce are photographed in a convertible, with Kelce at the wheel and Swift ridin’ shotgun with her hair undone in the front seat of his car. Talk about a rom-com-worthy moment…
September 21, 2023: Kelce says he “threw the ball” in Swift’s “court” during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. “I told her, you know, ‘I’ve seen you rock the stage in Arrowhead [Stadium], you might have to come see me rock the stage in Arrowhead and see which one’s a little more lit,’” Kelce said. “So we’ll see what happens in the near future.”
Kelce also speaks out about all the media attention, saying, “It’s hilarious how much traction this has actually gotten, right now it’s like a game of telephone. No one actually knows what’s going on, especially when you got [my brother] Jason Kelce on live television telling people both sides—he doesn’t know, it’s true, this and that.”
Meanwhile, a source tells E! that the pair have met in person only once in NYC. “They’ve been texting and talking here and there but [have] no set plans to see each other again,” the source said. “It’s been very low-key as he’s been in season.”
September 20, 2023: Amid rumors that the two have been “hanging out,” which neither camp has addressed, Jason, also an NFL player, is asked about the story on a morning radio show. It’s hard to answer because I don’t really know a lot about Travis’s love life,” the elder Kelce answered, per People. “I try to keep his business kind of his business, stay out of that world.”
But he continued, “Having said that, man, I think they’re doing great and I think it’s all 100% true, and I hope this thing goes a mile—no, I’m joking, I don’t know what’s happening.”
September 14, 2023: NFL Network’s Andrew Siciliano reposts an interview with Kelce from August 2, in which he asks about Taylor Swift.
When asked whether he really tried to give her a friendship bracelet with his number, Kelce replies, “I said what I said. And I meant what I said when I said it. And you know what, it is what it is. I’m not gonna talk about my personal life. I know what you writers wanna hear, and you wanna hear more about that and I’m not gonna give you anything.”
He completely shuts down further questions on the subject when asked whether Swift “reached out,” telling the camera, “And that’s gonna wrap it up here….”
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Meanwhile, Jason is asked for an update on September 14. “I’ve seen these rumors. I cannot comment,” the Philadelphia Eagles player tells retired NFL player Tony Gonzalez before plugging his brother’s 2016 reality dating series.
“Ever since Catching Kelce, everybody’s been infatuated with Travis’s love life,” Jason says during Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night Football postgame panel. “I don’t really know what’s going on there, but I know Travis is having fun and we’ll see what happens with whoever he ends up with.”
September 12, 2023: A source tells Entertainment Tonight that the professional athlete and the Midnights singer are not officially dating following reports that the pair are “quietly hanging out.”
“Taylor and Travis have been quietly hanging out,” a source tells the Messenger earlier in the day. “She saw him when she was in NYC a few weeks ago.”
July 26, 2023: Kelce discusses attending the Eras Tour on his New Heights podcast. You can watch him discuss his personalized friendship bracelet on TikTok.
July 7 and 8, 2023: Taylor Swift performs at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium.
This post may be updated.
Originally published on Glamour.com
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