Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce: A timeline of the pop powerhouse and football star’s relationship

This story was first published on August 27, 2025. Due to recent events, we are republishing it with updated information.

It’s often said that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship is like two giants in American pop culture coming together. 

Taylor is a global pop star whose Eras Tour had set the record for the highest-grossing music tour in 2023. She had also become the most-streamed artist in a single day in Spotify history following the release of her album 1989 (Taylor’s Version), among many other achievements in her nearly two-decade-long music career. 

Meanwhile, Travis is a professional football player, renowned as one of the best tight ends in the sport’s history, winning a total three Super Bowl rings with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Football, being a huge part of American culture on its own, sees families and groups of friends plan out watch parties and celebrations, with the league’s halftime show being a fixture among each year’s long-awaited events in the US. 

Even if you aren’t a fan of Taylor Swift or don’t tune into American football, it’s quite easy to tell that these two individuals make a power couple. 

The pair, both born in 1989, got married on July 3 — standing as a milestone not just for the couple, but also for the Swifties who bore witness to the singer’s love story over the years.

Here’s a look back on the key moments of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship:

July 2023: Friendship bracelet saga

The start of the newly engaged couple’s romance dates back to the Eras Tour’s Kansas stop at the GEHA Field of Arrowhead Stadium. 

Travis attended the show held at his team’s home stadium. He later reveals in an episode of New Heights, his podcast with his brother, the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jason Kelce, that he actually planned on asking the pop superstar out with a friendship bracelet with his number on it. 

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Friendship bracelets are a staple in Taylor’s concerts, with attendees trading them with each other and coming home with an armful of the beaded accessories. 

“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’d made for her,” he says on the podcast.

“She doesn’t meet anybody, or at least she didn’t want to meet me, so I took it personal,” Travis quips.

The pair begins to be surrounded by relationship rumors. 

August 2023: Childhood celebrity crush?

In a video posted on the Chiefs’ official TikTok account, the team’s members take turns answering the question: “Who was your celebrity crush growing up?” 

During Travis’ turn, he stops to think for a few seconds until another teammate off-camera jokingly asks, “Taylor Swift?” 

Travis merely responds with a nervous giggle and proceeds to name singer Christina Aguilera as his childhood celebrity crush. 

September 2023: Taylor‘s first Chiefs game appearance

In early September 2023, the now-defunct American news website The Messenger reports that Taylor and Travis are “quietly hanging out.”

On September 24, 2023, Taylor makes her way back to the GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium not to perform but to watch a football game between Travis’ team, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Chicago Bears. 

She is seated in one of the private suites in the stadium alongside Travis’ mother, Donna. Her appearance sends fans into a frenzy, further fueling speculations that there is a budding romance between them. 

On September 24, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri, Taylor Swift reacts while watching the Kansas City Chiefs vs Chicago Bears game during the first half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Photo by Denny Medley/USA TODAY Sports/Reuters

There is even a “Taylor Swift effect” on American football as spending in the industry and spectatorship among female audiences see a significant boost when the then-33-year-old singer graced the games with her presence. 

Sales for Travis’ jersey also see a 400% increase, according to Fanatics, the NFL’s official e-commerce partner. 

October 2023: Holding hands

In October 2023, Taylor is spotted at a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New York Giants alongside other celebrities. 

“As all the attention comes, I feel like I was on top of the world after the Super Bowl, and right now, even more on top of the world,” Travis tells the press in a post-game interview when he is asked to comment on his relationship with the award-winning singer. 

The pair is then spotted holding hands in New York in the evening. 

November 2023: Post-show kiss

Rumors of their relationship are sealed with a kiss, as the pair is spotted locking lips in Buenos Aires, Argentina, right after Taylor wrapped up her show in the country’s capital. 

The moment is captured on video by a fan. In the clip, Taylor is seen running toward the football star, throwing her arms around him, and kissing him on the lips before they go into her tent. (READ: Hard launch around the corner? Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce kiss at Argentina ‘Eras’ concert)

November to December 2023: Travis and Taylor’s ‘Lover’ era

Between November and December 2023, the pair separately speaks about the details of their relationship, sharing what they think of each other, and how they began dating.

Travis reveals in his cover story on the Wall Street Journal that someone from Taylor’s side played Cupid for him, prompting the singer to contact him directly.

“She told me exactly what was going on and how I got lucky enough to get her to reach out,” he tells the Wall Street Journal. “She’ll probably hate me for saying this, but…when she came to Arrowhead, they gave her the big locker room as a dressing room, and her little cousins were taking pictures…in front of my locker.” 

Meanwhile, when she is chosen as TIME Magazine‘s Person of the Year, Taylor tells the American news magazine that she and Travis started hanging out after Travis spoke about her on his podcast.

“So we actually had a significant amount of time that no one knew, which I’m grateful for, because we got to get to know each other. By the time I went to that first game, we were a couple,” she tells TIME.

January 2024: New Year’s kiss

At a private party in Kansas, Taylor and Travis are captured sharing a kiss when the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Day 2024. 

Lyric Sheree, one of the party’s attendees, tells American news outlet Entertainment Tonight that the pair seemed to be very happy at the event — taking many photos with friends and grooving it out on the dance floor. 

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February 2024: Travis’ romantic Super Bowl victory celebration

In February 2024, the Kansas City Chiefs win the annual Super Bowl, and it isn’t just his teammates that Travis celebrates the victory with. 

Present at the Chiefs’ winning game is Taylor, who excitedly shares hugs and kisses with the tight end when his team is declared the league’s champions. 

At this point, Taylor has already attended 12 of the Chiefs’ games from the time she was first spotted in September 2023. 

March to June 2024: Showing up for each other

Between March and June 2024, the pair continuously shows up to support each other, hanging out when they have downtime, and Kelce attending a few more of Taylor’s Eras Tour stops — including Singapore.

June 2024: From the field to the stage

Travis even makes a surprise appearance on stage during the Eras Tour in London, carrying the singer while dressed in a top hat and suit during the Tortured Poets Department era of the show. 

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Travis later reveals in his podcast that he floated the idea of a cameo to the singer, telling her how funny it would be for him to come on stage on a bike. He says that Taylor laughed at the idea and asked if he was actually up for it, to which Travis responded with an absolute yes. 

In the end, they went with the safest option — for Travis to literally sweep Taylor off her feet between the songs “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” and “I Can Do it With a Broken Heart.”

June 2024: Private, but not secret

In the same month, Travis says in an episode of the podcast “Bussin’ With the Boys” that he is proud of his relationship with Taylor. 

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“You wanna keep things private, but at the same time, I’m not here to hide anything. That’s my girl, that’s my lady. I’m proud of that,” he says. 

June 2024: Travis’ royal appearance on Taylor’s page

Travis then makes an appearance on Taylor’s Instagram page, in a photo where they are both smiling alongside Prince William, Princess Charlotte, and Prince George.

July 2024: New Heights-official

In July 2024, things become “podcast-official” between the NFL star and the music powerhouse when Travis refers to Taylor as his girlfriend in an episode of New Heights. 

Travis speaks about how amazed he is at Taylor’s talent and how happy he is to be able to support “his girlfriend.” 

September 2024: Love on the sidelines

Keeping their relationship strong, Taylor and Travis attend the US Open together in New York. 

On September 8, 2024, singer Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce are seen ahead of the US Open men’s final match between Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Taylor Fritz of the US. Photo by Mike Segar/Reuters

July 2025: Instagram-official on Travis’ page

In July 2025, Taylor makes her first appearance on Travis’ Instagram page, where he posts a compilation of some of his off-season moments. Taylor is in 7 out of the 13 photos in the post. 

August 2025: Baby, she said yes!

Surrounded by greenery, the pair gets engaged in Lee’s Summit, Missouri — announcing it in a joint Instagram post on August 26 (or for Filipino Swifties, in the wee hours of August 27). 

“Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” the pop star captions a series of photos from their special moment. 

Travis’ dad, Ed, however, reveals that the pair actually got engaged two weeks before they shared the news on social media. 

“They were about to go out to dinner, and he said, ‘Let’s go out and have a glass of wine….’ They got out there, and that’s when he asked her, and it was beautiful,” Ed Kelce says. “They started FaceTiming me and their mother and her folks to make sure everybody knew. So, to see them together is great,” Ed tells News 5 Cleveland WEWS. 

Taylor’s engagement comes just weeks after she announced her 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl, and after she made her first appearance on New Heights. 

Following her guesting on the podcast, New Heights sets a Guinness World Record for the most concurrent views on a podcast on YouTube.

July 2026: Wedding bells ring

Taylor and Travis tie the knot in a grand celebration at the Madison Square Garden in New York on July 3, the “Opalite” hitmaker’s publicist announces.

It is a star-studded affair, with comedian-actor Adam Sandler officiating the ceremony, and celebrities such as Ed Sheeran, Jimmy Fallon, Ethan Hawke, and Jennifer Lopez seen entering the venue. The long-awaited union between the pop star and NFL champ is even dubbed “America’s royal wedding.”

As Taylor and Travis celebrate married life, Swifties are already eagerly anticipating the songs the award-winning artist will release about their love story. – with reports from Christa Escudero/Rappler.com