It’s been two years since Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift began their romance and the NFL star still remembers falling in love like it was yesterday.
In a new interview with GQ, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end looked back on the whirlwind beginnings of his relationship with the Grammy winner and shared how they keep their romance from waning as it progresses.
“Whenever I’m with her, it feels like we’re just regular people,” Kelce told the outlet. “When there is not a camera on us, we’re just two people that are in love. It can be perceived as something else because of how much it is talked about and how much we are tracked whenever we do go out, but I would say that it’s as normal of…. It happened very organically even though from a media standpoint it was being tracked. It still happened very organically.”
David Eulitt/Getty
Kelce and Swift have been romantically linked since September 2023, after the three-time Super Bowl champ shared that he attended the pop star’s tour stop in Kansas City over the summer and attempted (but failed) to hand her a friendship bracelet with his number on it. Swift attended Kelce’s game at Arrowhead Stadium in September, resulting in pandemonium among Swifties and the NFL.
The crossovers didn’t stop there. Kelce became a regular guest during Swift’s never-ending Eras Tour, even getting in on the action and appearing on stage to perform as one of the singer’s dancers.
Kelce told GQ that he enjoyed being Swift’s “sidekick” and plus-one. “I get to go and be that fan. Because I am a fan. I’m a fan of music. I’m a fan of art. And it’s so cool that I get to experience her being that plus one for me on the football field,” he said. “I feel that same enjoyment every time she comes to my shows. I sort of made her a football fan… She knows what the injury reports look like. She understands what special situations are, third and short–all these things because she just naturally loves to hear about my job.”
Although their industries are different, the fact that they both understand what it’s like to live under the limelight is what bolsters their relationship, Kelce shared.
“I hadn’t experienced somebody in the same shoes as me, having a partner who understands the scrutiny, understands the ups and downs of being in front of millions,” he explained. “That was very relatable, seeing how exhausted she would get after shows. She may not think of herself as an athlete. She will never tell anyone that she is an athlete. But I’ve seen what she goes through. I’ve seen the amount of work that she puts on her body, and it’s mind-blowing.”
Despite speculation that their romantic meet-cute was manufactured for PR, Kelce told GQ that “nothing” he’s ever done has been “a controlled, organized process.”
Gareth Cattermole/TAS24/Getty
He added, “When I say it was so organic, we fell in love just based off the people we were sitting in a room together with. We are two fun-loving people who have the morals to appreciate everyone for who they are. We share all those values. It kind of just took the f— off.”
The couple continues to involve one another in their projects; on Tuesday, Swift announced her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl by sharing a clip from Kelce’s New Heights podcast, which he hosts with his brother, Jason. The released clip shows Swift revealing the cover for the album — which is conveniently blurred out — as the brothers freak out.
It was revealed on Monday that Swift would be on the latest episode of the podcast, which is set to drop Wednesday.
The Life of a Showgirl marks the first new record for Swift since she revealed in May that she’d successfully bought back the full rights and masters to her first six albums, therefore making her the owner of her entire discography.
Her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, was released in April 2024 in the midst of her massive, world-spanning Eras Tour, which ended that December.
