Is there anyone in the universe who had a better 2023 than Taylor Swift? Not only did she have the biggest tour in music history, she was also Time magazine's Person of the Year and her concert movie broke box office records. And if that isn't enough, she also survived a breakup, a regrettable rebound fling (girl, we've all been there), and ended the year cheering in the stands for one of the hottest guys in the NFL.
Can we take a moment to collectively swoon over Travis Kelce? The dude is, to quote a Taylor song, "tall and handsome as hell" and he's great at his job, loves his mama, and seems thrilled to also come out and support Taylor when she's rocking arenas all over the world. We're into it. We've also been curious just how long this couple has been together and what their future holds, so we've put together a complete timeline of the couple we are totally rooting for!
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July 8, 2023: Travis Attends the 'Eras Tour'
Travis was one of the tens of thousands of people who rocked out at Arrowhead Stadium during Taylor's Eras Tour. Fans spotted him in his private box and even handing out friendship bracelets. As we would eventually learn, he had one special friendship bracelet in mind for Taylor but didn't get the chance to give it to her … yet.
July 26, 2023: Travis Calls Taylor Out on His Podcast
Travis and his older brother Jason Kelce (also a high-profile NFL player) have a wildly popular podcast called New Heights. While the podcast is mostly about sports, Travis took a few minutes on the July 26 episode to reveal that he'd been foiled in his attempt to slip the singer a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it.
Sometime in August 2023
Fans have been speculating for months about when Taylor and Travis first met and the singer finally dropped a big hint during her Time magazine interview. Taylor shared, "This all started when Travis very adorably put me on blast on his podcast, which I thought was metal as hell. We started hanging out right after that." The couple was able to enjoy some time getting to know each other before the world caught wind of their relationship.
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Mid-August 2023: Taylor and Travis Both Spotted in NYC
In mid-August, both Travis (who was on a break from training camp) and Taylor were spotted in New York City, though not together. Taylor was captured spending some time with some of her friends but we now suspect that she and Travis were having some secret dates as well.
September 14, 2023: Jason Plays It Cool When It Comes to Taylor Speculation
During a post-game interview, Jason was put on the spot about the growing speculation that Travis and Taylor were getting together. Like a good big brother, he didn't reveal too much, stating "I’ve seen these rumors. I cannot comment," which fans pointed out wasn't exactly proof that there wasn't a romance brewing.
September 17, 2023: The NFL Gets in on the Action
During a Kansas City Chiefs game, the television commentators couldn't help themselves and started sprinkling in Taylor song titles when talking about Travis, including that "Kelce finds a blank space for the score." Travis seemed to take it in stride and including commenting "well played" on Instagram in response to comments from sportscaster Rich Eisen.
September 20-21, 2023: Did Jason Spill the Beans?
During a radio interview Jason seemed to confirm that Taylor and Travis were a thing, but then quickly backpedaled. He joked, "I don’t really know a lot about what’s happening with Travis’ love life and I try to keep his business kind of his business and stay out of that world. But having said that, man, I think they’re doing great and I think it’s all 100% true," before correcting himself to say "No, I’m joking; I don’t know what’s happening."
The next day, Travis asked about Taylor in an interview and revealed that he had invited Taylor to watch him play at game, which instantly got everyone's attention and hopes up that Taylor might actually show up!
September 24, 2023: Taylor the Fan
It is hard to say who was more excited about Taylor making her first game day appearance to cheer Travis on: her fans or the NFL. Ratings for the game were huge and all of the sudden a whole new wave of fans got real interested in buying Kelce merch.
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September 27, 2023: Travis Talks About Taylor Being at the Game
We all have to appreciate that Jason wasn't afraid to use the podcast to put Travis on the spot following the big game appearance. Travis sweetly acknowledged that "What’s real is that it is my personal life and I want to respect both of our lives,” he noted. He also reflected that "She’s not into media like I am — doing this show every single week, and having fun during the NFL season on other guys’ shows, and any other show I go on from here on out. I am enjoying life and I sure as hell enjoyed this weekend, so everything moving forward, me talking about sports and saying ‘alright nah’ will have to be kinda where I keep it."
October 1, 2023: Taylor and Her Crew Show Up for Travis
Things seemed like they were really heating up by October, when Taylor came out for another of Travis' games and brought a pretty high-profile crew with her. She watched the Chiefs beat the Jets with friends including Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, and Sabrina Carpenter.
October 6, 2023: Travis Is 'On Top of the World'
During a press conference, Travis opened up about his feelings about Taylor, sharing that "right now I'm even more on top of the world" than he was after winning the Super Bowl in early 2023. He was also thoughtful about all the attention that comes with dating Taylor, saying "it comes with it. It comes with it. You've got a lot of people that care about Taylor, and for good reason." Awww! He's so totally smitten!
October 12, 2023: Taylor Gets Some Mama Kelce Time
After taking a few days to open her movie, Taylor was back in the stands for another Chiefs game and some more bonding time with Mama Kelce, who seems to be a Taylor fan (join the club!).
October 14, 2023: Tay and Travis at 'SNL'
Taylor and Travis both made surprise cameos on Saturday Night Live and then were spotted going to the afterparty together, holding hands and looking awfully cute together. Things seemed fully official be this point and some party guests reported that the pair were very smoochy during the party.
October 22, 2023: Taylor's Back in Travis' Box
Not only was Taylor keen to get in one more game before going back on the road for the international leg of the Eras Tour, cameras caught her bonding with Brittany Mahomes, wife of Chiefs quarterback (and Travis' good friend) Patrick Mahomes. Getting in good with friends is always a positive sign!
November 11, 2023: Concert Love
Travis took advantage of his bye week from the NFL season to head to Argentina to watch Taylor perform. The videos of him enjoying the concert (and getting to hang with Taylor's dad) were so cute, and Swifties lost their minds when the singer cheekily changed a song lyric to give Travis a shoutout, singing that karma is "the guy on the Chiefs, coming straight home to me."
November 11, 2023: THE KISS
As if the "Karma" callout wasn't enough to make Swifties squeal, Taylor running to Travis and giving him a big kiss backstage made all of us who are romantics swoon a little. Taylor just seems so happy and Travis looked so proud of her, we can't take it.
December 6, 2023: Taylor Opens Up About Travis
Taylor's Time magazine interview was filled with some juicy info about her relationship with Travis. She reflected on the start of the relationship and confirmed that they "started hanging out right after that. 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. I think some people think that they saw our first date at that game? We would never be psychotic enough to hard launch a first date."
She also talked about why she showed up for his game, simply explaining, "I’m going to see him do what he loves, we’re showing up for each other, other people are there and we don’t care. The opposite of that is you have to go to an extreme amount of effort to make sure no one knows that you’re seeing someone. And we’re just proud of each other."
December and Beyond
Taylor and Travis have had a busy December. Not only has Taylor attended two more Chiefs games, she was spotted wearing a big new opal ring on her right hand during her birthday party. Fans are anticipating that she'll be in the stands for Travis' Christmas Day football game, which means that they'll be spending the holidays together.
There is no doubt these two are together so there is only one question as we roll into 2024: Will Travis give her another ring at some point to wear on her left hand? Time will tell.
