Travis Kelce Revealed How He and Taylor Swift Started Dating

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Travis Kelce totally manifested his relationship with Taylor Swift.

Like, he took steps to meet her when he went to see the Eras Tour, and when that didn't immediately work, he left it in the hands of the universe. That's the definition of manifesting.

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end and global superstar have been dating for about two months now, and Kelce just gave a cover interview to The Wall Street Journal in which he revealed how their relationship got started. (Also, just as a fun tidbit, the NFL pro was interviewed by Prince Harry's ghostwriter for this one. Kinda random!)

As you may know if you've been following this lovely, lovely romance, Kelce first tried to give his phone number to Swift after one of her concerts in Kansas City in July—having threaded it onto a friendship bracelet. Sadly, her team wasn't allowing visitors that day for whatever reason.

After that, the football player recounted that story on his podcast with brother Jason Kelce, New Heights, which drew lots of attention from sports fans and Swifties. Soon after that, the two appeared to have begun dating—which the athlete has now hinted may have been thanks to some of Swift's younger cousins.

"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."

It sounds like he eventually got a text from the singer. "She told me exactly what was going on and how I got lucky enough to get her to reach out," he explained.

He continued, "She’ll probably hate me for saying this, but…when she came to Arrowhead [Stadium, in KC], they gave her the big locker room as a dressing room, and her little cousins were taking pictures…in front of my locker." These are the people Kelce thinks might have facilitated things somewhat.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have dinner at Waverly Inn on October 15, 2023 in New York City.

The sports star also shared a little info about their first date.

"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.

Though Kelce himself wasn't too nervous, his loved ones were. "Everybody around me telling me: Don’t f*** this up! And me sitting here saying: Yeah—got it," he recalled.

Once their relationship had begun, the athlete knew to be a bit more discreet than he might usually be with the media, given how famous his new girlfriend is. "That was the biggest thing to me: Make sure I don’t say anything that would push Taylor away," he said.

Kelce also revealed that his mom Donna also knew to pull back a bit, which is why she might have sounded a bit "underwhelmed" when she was first asked about her son's new relationship on TV.

But Mama Kelce is now open about how happy she is for her youngest. "I can tell you this," she told WSJ. "He’s happier than I’ve seen him in a long time…. God bless him, he shot for the stars!" Yes ma'am, he did.

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Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.