Before you start reading, say out loud: “Alexa, play ‘So High School’ by Taylor Swift.”
Two icons, one in pop music and one in football, just announced their engagement, and honestly, no one who’s chronically online could be happier for our blonde queen. The same girl who used to write songs about unrequited love, like “The Prophecy” on her latest album The Tortured Poets Department, has finally gotten her fairy-tale ending.
Today, we bring you a quick timeline of Taylor’s Swift and Travis’s Kelce very own “Love Story” so you, just like her, can also believe love really is possible for all of us!
How It All Started: The Eras Tour Show
In early July 2023, Taylor celebrated the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) at the Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, and guess who showed up to cheer her on? Travis.
The athlete, who also co-hosts the podcast New Heights with his brother Jason Kelce, revealed in an episode that after the show, he tried to meet Taylor to give her a bracelet with his phone number on it. But he soon learned he couldn’t talk to her before or after the performance.
Fans got the bracelet reference instantly. But for the non-Swifties: it’s a nod to “You’re On Your Own, Kid,” where Taylor sings, “so make the friendship bracelets, take the moments and taste it, you’ve got no reason to be afraid.” Fans turned that lyric into a tradition of swapping handmade bracelets at her shows.
By August, fans began speculating something might be happening between the two, especially after Taylor’s name came up again on the Kelce brothers’ podcast.
Jason teased Travis about his new mustache-only look, asking what Swift would think. Travis laughed and replied, “Something tells me she’s gonna like it.”
Taylor at the Chiefs Game
In September 2023, gossip pages started buzzing that Taylor and Travis were quietly seeing each other, texting to get to know one another better. At the same time, Entertainment Tonight reported they weren’t officially dating yet, though Travis had had a crush on her for a while.
Later that month, on The Pat McAfee Show, Travis said he told Taylor he’d seen her “rock the stage at Arrowhead” and that she’d have to see him “rock the field at Arrowhead to find out who’s really rocking more.” He added: “We’ll see what happens in the future.”
Well, Travis, us from the future (October 2025) can confirm: you two rocked way harder than you imagined back in 2023!
On September 24, Taylor celebrated a Chiefs win next to Travis’s mom and left the stadium with him. The next day, sources confirmed to People that they were officially dating, and that it was the first time Taylor met both his parents.
“They share similar values. She loves that he pursued her and things have been easy and exciting for both of them. Taylor’s enjoying her time off before the tour picks up again, and hanging out with Travis has been fun,” a source told Entertainment Tonight. “She wants someone career-focused with his own thing going on but who also supports and understands her. Travis checks all those boxes.”
On the next New Heights episode, Travis laughed about leaving the game with Taylor, saying: “We just made a getaway in the getaway car at the end,” referencing her song “Getaway Car.”
Taylor: The Chiefs’ Biggest Fan
Taylor was spotted at another Kansas City Chiefs game in October 2023, joined by Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Sabrina Carpenter, Sophie Turner, her brother Austin Swift, and more.
That same month, the two were seen having dinner in New York, holding hands and hugging. “Travis and Taylor looked like they were having the best time, kissing throughout the night,” Page Six reported, citing someone at the SNL after-party the couple attended post-date.
Travis: The Eras Tour’s Biggest Fan
Just as Taylor showed up for Travis’s games, he turned up at the second Eras Tour show in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in November 2023.
That show was iconic for us fans (and probably for Travis too!) because it was the first time she changed a lyric in “Karma” to shout him out: “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs, coming straight home to me.”, originally being: “Karma is the guy on the screen, coming straight home to me”.
Going Public
In December, Taylor spoke about her relationship with Travis publicly for the first time after being named TIME’s Person of the Year. She revealed they’d been dating since September 24, when she first went to the Chiefs game.
“When I went to that first game, we were already a couple. Some people thought they saw our first date at that game? We’d never be psycho enough to hard-launch like that on a first date,” she said, adding they started dating right after the podcast mention. “We actually had a significant amount of time when no one knew, and I’m grateful for that because it let us get to know each other.”
During her early NFL appearances, she faced criticism that she was “taking the focus” off the sport by being shown too often on TV. “I’m just there to support Travis. I’m not aware if I’m on camera too much, annoying some dads, Brads, and Chads,” she joked.
Chiefs Win & Taylor on the Field
In January 2024, Taylor went down to the field to celebrate the Kansas City Chiefs’ AFC Championship win. Fans noticed adorable details, like Travis thanking her for coming to games and telling her he loved her. Her bracelet with “TNT” (Taylor & Travis’s initials) and her ring with his No. 87 jersey number also caught attention.
The Tortured Poets Department
In April last year, Taylor released the first song written about Travis on “So High School”, a track about dating a football player. “Are you gonna marry, kiss or kill me? It’s just a game, but really, I’m betting on all three for us two,” she sings.
She also released “The Alchemy”, which references the NFL, since she sings “So when I touch down, call the amateurs and cut ’em from the team”.
Travis on Stage at The Eras Tour
Finally, in July 2024, Travis proved he’s the ultimate Eras stan when he shared on New Heights that he’d suggested joining Taylor onstage during the 1989 set. She laughed at first but then found a way to make it happen.
“I’ve seen the show plenty of times. It was time to put me to work,” Kelce joked. He appeared before “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” during The Tortured Poets Department segment.
Travis said he was blown away by the crowd’s reaction at Wembley Stadium in London. “When everyone realized it was me, it took a second, but it was a wild moment,” he recalled.
Thanking Travis at the VMAs
In September, Taylor won Video of the Year for “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone at the VMAs and used her speech to thank her boyfriend for his support during filming.
“After every take, I’d hear someone cheering on the other side of the studio. That person was my boyfriend, Travis”, she said at the VMAs stage. “Everything this man touches turns into happiness, fun, and magic. I want to thank him for bringing that into this shoot.”
TAylor at the new heights podcast
The blonde also surprised everyone by appearing on Travis’s podcast, New Heights. During the conversation, the two reminisced about their relationship, declared their love for each other multiple times, and talked about the past 2 years of their lives.
Taylor also took the oportunity to announce her newest album: The Life of a Showgirl, which will be released on October 3, surprising everyone who expected her to stay on the quiet side this year after releasing an album a little over a year ago.
“Your English Teacher and Your Gym Teacher Are Getting Married”
In August, our blonde icon finally achieved her biggest dream: being proposed!
On August 26, she posted their engagement on Instagram with the caption: “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” melting our hearts and sending the internet into a frenzy.
The life of a showgirl
With the release of the new album, fans are hoping she’ll drop more songs for her lover and about their relationship. Do you think that’s coming?
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This article above was edited by Brisa Kunichiro.
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