Welsh people hit back at Jason Kelce today after he described them as ‘posh, rich, upper class, beautiful white people’ while talking with his brother Travis Kelce.
The brothers were speaking on their podcast New Heights this week about the move by Travis’s NFL team Kansas City Chiefs to sign the former Wales rugby player Louis Rees-Zammit, who has switched sports and joined the Super Bowl winners.
The American football stars both praised Rees-Zammit for his bravery in making the move, with Jason saying: ‘When I think of Welsh, I think British people call it ‘posh’.
‘I think of these rich, upper class, just beautiful white people. He is the running stereotype of what I would think of with a Welsh person. I don’t know if that’s an accurate stereotype but that’s certainly what I think of and he’s helping continue that trend in my mind. I’m excited to see what this guy does.
‘I know it’s gonna be a learning curve, but I hope this guy takes the world by f***ing storm. It will be electric. With a smile like that, this guy, if he works out, he’s going to be the most marketable player of all time.’
Jason – adjusting to his global fame off the back of his brother dating Taylor Swift – later admitted he was ‘very incorrect on this’ and ‘happy to be incredibly wrong’.
And people living in Merthyr Tydfil told that the Welsh see themselves as proud, passionate and down to earth – and Jason couldn’t have been more wrong.
Care worker Bethanny Jones, 23, of Merthyr Tydfil, said: ‘I’ll take the beautiful bit but I’m far from posh and definitely not rich’
Grandmother Pamela Williams, 76, from Blackwood, Caerphilly, said: ‘Rich? I don’t think so. I started off poor in a little village in the Valleys’
Welder Jordan Churchill, 27, from Merthyr Tydfil, said: ‘We are laid back, chilled people, and pretty down to earth’
Jason Kelce said on the New Heights podcast that he thinks of Welsh people as being ‘posh’
Civil servant Emma Collings-Winter, 40, said: ‘I don’t think we are posh and certainly not rich. Like any other country there are parts that are better off.
‘But people in the Valleys would be surprised to learn they are posh and rich. I think that description is based on a Welsh rugby player and he’s a real one off.’
Leon Woodcock, 31, who runs his own vehicle recovery company in Ebbw Vale, said: ‘We are proud of being Welsh and being polite, passionate people. We say hello to each other and to strangers, we are a friendly lot.
‘But we are not posh, not many people are well off enough to consider themselves posh.
‘We do take care of our appearance, we like a good tan and I’m off to Turkey soon to get my teeth done. Not that I’ll look like Rees-Zammitt afterwards!’
Dylan Thomas, 22, who is about to open up a wellbeing shop in Aberdare, said: ‘Us Welsh are ordinary people, down to earth and we like a pint. Some parts of Cardiff are well off but the Valleys are poor.
‘As for being beautiful, he’s basing that on Louis Rees-Zammitt, he’s hardly average. He’s one of the top guys around. I wish I had a smile like that.’
Grandmother Pamela Williams, 76, from Blackwood, Caerphilly, said: ‘Rich? I don’t think so. I started off poor in a little village in the Valleys, the sort of place where you could leave your front door open and everyone looked after each other.
Leon Woodcock, 31, of Ebbw Vale, said: ‘We are proud of being Welsh and being polite, passionate people. We say hello to each other and to strangers, we are a friendly lot’
Retired bank manager Sally Morgan, 66, from Ebbw Vale, said: ‘We are beautiful people as a race but we are not all like this rugby player. I’m working class, I don’t see myself as posh’
Dylan Thomas, 22, from Aberdare, said: ‘Us Welsh are ordinary people, down to earth and we like a pint. Some parts of Cardiff are well off but the Valleys are poor’
Civil servant Emma Collings-Winter, 40, said: ‘I don’t think we are posh and certainly not rich. Like any other country there are parts that are better off’
‘I’ve worked all my life and I’m a lot better off now, but I’m not rich and I don’t know anyone who is. My husband is an ex-miner, we struggled, I was a bus conductress and delivered milk around the village when I was young.
‘I don’t know where this man has got these ideas about the Welsh, we are helpful, friendly and working class.
‘He’s right about one thing though, we are all good looking.’
Retired bank manager Sally Morgan, 66, from Ebbw Vale, said: ‘We are beautiful people as a race but we are not all like this rugby player. I’m working class, I don’t see myself as posh.
‘There are some parts of Wales which are a bit more affluent, Abergavenny for example. People with money who moved there could be a bit snobby.
‘But look at what Ryan Reynolds has done at Wrexham, he loves it there and he’s done a lot for Wales.’
Care worker Bethanny Jones, 23, of Merthyr Tydfil, said: ‘I’ll take the beautiful bit but I’m far from posh and definitely not rich.
‘We are friendly with lots of passion – I don’t recognise any of the words this American footballer used to describe us.’
Welder Jordan Churchill, 27, from Merthyr Tydfil, said: ‘We are laid back, chilled people, and pretty down to earth.
Kelce was discussing new Kansas Chiefs signing, ex-Wakes rugby player Louis Rees-Zammit
Travis Kelce spoke of his respect for Rees-Zammit for changing careers at the age of 23
Jason Kelce is pictured with Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl in Las Vegas on February 11, 2024
‘I’m not posh, rich or upper class and I don’t look like Louis Rees-Zammitt, not many people do.’
It comes after Jason’s comments were picked up by Welsh people on social media.
One wrote: ‘I’ve grown to really like Jason Kelce in recent months, he’s such a character, but what’s on about? Granted, Rees-Zammit is a well-brought up Vale of Glamorgan boy, but I’m not sure the Welsh are considered posh.’
Jason, who retired last season from the NFL after playing for the Philadelphia Eagles for 13 seasons, replied: ‘Yea, I’ve come to understand, I was very incorrect on this.
‘Based on further assessment since these incorrect statements, not sure why I had these preconceptions in my mind, but I have found that the Welsh seem exactly like my kind of people. Happy to be incredibly wrong.’
Jason’s admission then prompted Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney to offer the brothers a true taste of Welsh life.
McElhenney responded to Kelce’s comments on social media, writing: ‘Yes, incredibly wrong. I should show you around someday. I might know a few people. See for yourself.’
The brothers seem open to the idea – with official New Heights account posting on X shortly after: ‘Outta the House: Wrexham Edition?’
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce kisses Taylor Swift after the Super Bowl in February
Travis Kelce warned his new teammate that the period of adjustment will be ‘humbling’
Former Welsh rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit, pictured in Tampa, Florida, on March 20
Louis Rees-Zammit pictured with his ex-girlfriend, Saffron Barker from Strictly Come Dancing
It comes after Rees-Zammit stunned Wales rugby by announcing his decision to pursue a career in NFL shortly before his country’s Six Nations campaign earlier this year.
Travis said to Jason that he has been in touch with the 23-year-old but warned he faces a steep learning curve to make the adjustments with the Chiefs.
‘It’s gonna be a humbling experience at first,’ Travis said. ‘It’s not easy to just make that jump, they’re two completely different games.
‘He is an athlete and that’s what the Chiefs saw. He’s a smart kid, a smart player. So he’s gonna be able to pick up the offense eventually.
‘But it’s gonna be a tough few months for him here while he’s getting acclimated to the NFL. We’ve been doing this since we were kids, so we’re gonna have those little instincts that we’ve built over the years that he’s got to catch up with.’
Despite admitting his initial concern for the new Kansas City arrival, Travis is already relishing the prospect of playing alongside Rees-Zammit in the future, while insisting he is ‘as suave as it gets’.
‘I really just enjoy the guy’s energy so far,’ he continued. ‘He’s super excited about the opportunity that he’s been given, knowing that not everybody gets these opportunities.
‘He was an absolute star in the European rugby league he was in. So for him to make the jump and try and go from Wales to Kansas City man… it’s a pretty ballsy move and a pretty bold move to be making man.’
Travis added: ‘The biggest advice I gave him was just try not to let it overwhelm you as much as it can, and know that everybody believes that you have the potential to be able to play. So absorb as much as you can, learn as much as you can in the short time you have before the season.’