Travis Kelce has lifted the lid on his whirlwind romance with Taylor Swift and how being in a relationship with the pop star has changed his life.
The NFL star, a two-time Super Bowl winner with the Kansas City Chiefs, has encountered a whole new level of fame since he started dating Swift this year, with things turning official when she turned up at Arrowhead Stadium for the first time to cheer him on in late September.
Speaking to Wall Street Journal magazine to J. R. Moehringer, the ghostwriter of Prince Harry’s autobiography Spare, Kelce revealed that someone in Swift’s team helped set them up after he opened up on his failed attempt to give her his number after her an Eras show in Kansas City.
‘There were definitely people she knew that knew who I was, in her corner [who said]: Yo! Did you know he was coming? I had somebody playing Cupid,’ Kelce said.
It didn’t take long for them to arrange a first date but even for Kelce, who usually exudes confidence on the football field, there were some nerves.
NFL star Travis Kelce has opened up on his whirlwind romance with Taylor Swift
Kelce, who usually exudes confidence on the field, admitted to having first date nerves
But they hit it off in person – thanks in so small part to who Kelce called ‘a cupid’ in Swift’s team
Kelce describes Swift as ‘hilarious’ and ‘a genius’ – saying her intellect is ‘f***ing mind-blowing’
Kelce describes the build-up as: ‘Everybody around me telling me ‘don’t f*** this up’ and me sitting here saying ‘yeah, got it’.
‘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 he was worried about making a mis-step in those early days: ‘That was the biggest thing to me: make sure I don’t say anything that would push Taylor away.’
But they clearly hit it off and Kelce describes Swift as ‘hilarious’ and a ‘genius’.
‘Being around her, seeing how smart Taylor is, has been f***ing mind-blowing. I’m learning every day,’ he said.
Kelce also said that he and Taylor sang ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ together at a late night party at his house in Kansas City.
‘There was some wine involved, for sure,’ he joked.
Kelce also admitted that Swift’s fame has inevitably had an impact on his own life and it is something he is adjusting to.
Kelce is happy to deal with the extra attention that comes with dating someone like Swift
Kelce admitted he had friends joking at him ‘not to f*** this up’ before his first date with Taylor
Travis and Taylor pictured together in New York in October when their relationship was public
The happy couple have been pictured together out in Kansas City on other occasions
‘Obviously I’ve never dated anyone with that kind of aura about them…. I’ve never dealt with it,’ Kelce explained. ‘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.’
Tonight, Kelce’s parents are expected to meet Taylor’s for the first time as he plays for the Kansas City Chiefs against the Philadelphia Eagles – the team Swift and her dad support.
Taylor has met Travis’s mom Donna and father Ed – the first time she was at a Chiefs game, she was alongside Donna in the family suite.
Soon after, Donna was on the TODAY show and asked about her son’s relationship with Swift when, in an effort to downplay the attention, simply said watching a game with her was ‘OK’.
Travis and Taylor pictured sharing a kiss after her recent show in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Kelce said that he and Swift share the same values when it comes to being family orientated
On Monday night, Travis and the Chiefs will play against his brother Jason and the Eagles
Travis also spoke out on an awkward interview his mom Donna gave about the happy couple
As the internet questioned if she was really a fan of Taylor, Travis called her to tell her she had done a great job on her television appearance.
Taylor will not be there for Monday night’s game – a rescheduled Eras date in Brazil prevents her from making it to Kansas City.
But reports on Monday morning suggested that both sets of families will spend Thanksgiving together in Kansas City.
‘Everybody knows I’m a family guy,’ Kelce said. ‘Her team is her family. Her family does a lot of stuff in terms of the tour, the marketing, being around, so I think she has a lot of those values as well, which is right up my alley.’
Travis met Taylor’s dad, Scott, in Buenos Aires recently when he traveled to Argentina to see her play a show on her Eras tour.
He gifted him a Chiefs lanyard, even though he is a lifelong Eagles fan and Scott wore it to the show the following day.