It began on the 30-yard line and led to the announcement of their engagement on Tuesday. Here’s a look back at their two-year romance
It’s a love story; she said yes. Taylor Swift, not long ago hailed as the world’s most famous “childless cat lady”, is tying the knot. She announced her engagement to footballer Travis Kelce, her partner of two years, on Instagram on Tuesday. The post was liked more than 14.5m times in just two hours, and reportedly crashed the platform for many users.
Kelce is a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs. He and Swift publicly debuted their relationship in September 2023, when she attended the Chiefs’ game against the Chicago Bears in Kansas City, Missouri. (The Chiefs won.) The fact she popped up in Kelce’s private suite alongside his mother, Donna, and other friends and family, and left with him for a private afterparty, led fans to speculate that this wasn’t their first date.
Swift and Kelce had in fact been publicly linked since the summer of 2023, but this was no tabloid gossip-mongering – the source of the speculation began with Kelce himself. Attending her Eras concert at Arrowhead Stadium in July 2023, Kelce tried to get backstage to meet Swift and give her a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it. He later told the story on New Heights, the podcast he hosts with his brother Jason, saying he was “disappointed” and “a little butt-hurt” to miss out on the introduction.
