The beginning of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s romance reads like something out of a Hollywood movie – or one of her many love songs.
It was the summer of 2023 when the NFL player made a public plea to meet the pop superstar, both now 36, during her stop off at his Kansas City football stadium in her blockbuster Eras world tour.
On his podcast New Heights, Kelce told how he had hatched a bold plan to give Swift a friendship bracelet – which are often worn by her super-fan Swifties – with his phone number written on it in beads.
When he wasn’t able to follow through, he told his listeners that he was left ‘disappointed’ – Swift, he said, ‘doesn’t talk before or after her shows because she has to save her voice for the 44 songs that she sings.’
Luckily for Kelce, however, where the friendship bracelets had failed, that rather humble admission of defeat on his podcast would prove enough to sweep Swift off her feet.
As she recalled last August: ‘This kind of felt more like I was in an 80s John Hughes movie, and he was just standing outside of my window with a boombox being like, “I want to date you!”‘
But, three years later and with a 10-carat ring on Swift’s finger, as the couple now prepare to tie the knot this summer, sources have told the Daily Mail how the fairytale America knows all too well almost failed to become anything more than a fling.
Swift and Kelce got engaged in August last year
For, once he eventually met Swift, we hear from multiple sources that Kelce allegedly had a ‘no-strings-attached’ mentality in those first few summer months.
‘He wasn’t looking for anything serious – that’s for sure,’ one insider said. ‘He was dating other people at the same time before they went public.’
A second source confirmed: ‘He was definitely still dating around [in the beginning].’
Our insiders are careful to note, however, that Kelce and Swift were not ‘exclusive’ until September 2023, when the Grammy winner made her debut at Arrowhead Stadium alongside Kelce’s mother, Donna Kelce – so there was no cheating involved on either side. Before Swift’s appearance in stands, the pair had only been dating casually, in secret.
Of course, part of the reason the Kansas City Chiefs tight end may have shown initial hesitation is because he had only been ‘on the market’ for a year when met Swift, following a 2022 split from model Kayla Nicole, Kelce’s girlfriend of five years.
One source suggested that Kelce initially thought the friendship bracelet move was more of a ‘joke’ and didn’t actually ‘think it was going to go anywhere.’ And three other insiders claimed that, in those early days, Kelce would be slow to respond to Swift’s texts at times.
‘[He wasn’t avoiding her], but you’re not going to be pressed onto something if you’re not looking for something serious,’ a source said. ‘He just wasn’t pursuing her heavily. He’s a football player!’
‘Travis wasn’t looking for anything serious and once you get into the Taylor world, it’s instantly serious,’ said another insider.
Indeed, it’s a practiced model: once a man is photographed on a date with Swift, swarms of paparazzi begin to follow her and this potential new suitor’s every move. Though it seems Kelce has ultimately embraced his newfound fame.
‘It’s the life I chose, I guess,’ he told CBS Mornings in September 2024 after a year of dating Swift. ‘I have fun with it, it comes with the territory of wanting to do fun stuff like this and signing up for cool sponsorships like this and endorsements.’
Prior to Swift, Kelce dated model Kayla Nicole, seen here, for five years until 2022
Swift is pictured during her first appearance at Kelce’s Arrowhead stadium in September 2023
Swift herself has said she had reservations about dating a pro athlete
And to Swift’s credit, she too has admitted to being on the fence about dating the football star.
‘I had been very non-athlete,’ she said in her December documentary, Taylor Swift: The End of an Era. ‘Because I’m not one, and I’ve always just been like, “Well, what would we talk about?”‘
In fact, it was Swift’s mother Andrea who gave her daughter the nudge to make of go of things with Kelce. Andrea, 68, has told how she rang her cousin, who was familiar with the NFL player and sang his praises, saying: ‘He’s the nicest guy… and he really loves his mom.’
‘I thought it was the sweetest thing in the world that he came to your show, he brought you something from your world,’ Andrea said in Swift’s documentary. ‘To me, that really said a lot. So, I thought that was really sweet, and I liked it.’
Read More
EXCLUSIVE
Truth about Taylor's 'hookups' with ex Matty Healy as his new fiancee is accused of kinky stunts
But Swift’s mother apparently wasn’t the only one involved in the matchmaking. Two insiders claim that Swift’s former friend Keleigh Teller, wife of actor Miles, played a key role.
Keleigh, 33, had been close with the singer for nearly a decade in 2023, and she was also friendly with Kelce through her husband. As such, she acted as a ‘go-between’ for the new couple in the early days of their romance, one source claimed.
Eventually, of course, Swift and Kelce fell head over heels, and needed no help in pursuing each other more deeply.
‘Taylor continued to be a real presence and the family got to know her in the different football suites, and then they started socializing in the off season,’ a source said. ‘I think it was just time together that brought them closer.’
Indeed, the lovebirds were soon spotted hand-in-hand on date nights around the globe, with Swift often supporting Kelce at his Kansas City Chiefs games and he at her Eras Tour shows.
Now, the pair are set to marry on July 3.
A source has previously told the Daily Mail that New York City’s Madison Square Garden arena is likely to be the venue, though the A-list couple have largely been successful in keeping much of their planning under wraps.
We hear that even some guests have been kept in the dark about specifics.
But if one thing’s for sure, when they both wholeheartedly say ‘I do’ next week, it will be clear that any pangs uncertainty have well and truly been forgotten.
The Daily Mail has contacted Swift and Kelce’s representatives for comment.