They have been one of showbiz’s most celebrated couples over the last year – but earlier this month, an alleged ‘contract’ recently spread around the web that claimed Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce were going to announce a split on September 28, 2024.
This would mark a year since the pair confirmed their highly-publicised romance with the world – when the Cruel Summer songstress attended her first Kansas City Chiefs game on September 24, 2023.
The document outlined a detailed plan to release an official statement regarding their breakup at the end of the month, and was written by what appeared to be Kansas City athlete Kelce’s PR company.
Travis’ team has since branded the contract – which was first posted on Reddit – as ‘entirely false and fabricated,’ and claimed that they had brought in lawyers to try to find whoever created the ‘unlawful and injurious forgery of documents’.
And indeed, the breakup date stipulated in the alleged contract has now passed without any fanfare, and without any news about a split.
While the exact date that they got together is unknown, whispers of a possible romance first began circling the couple in July 2023, when eagle-eyed fans spotted Kelce attending Swift’s Eras Tour at Arrowhead Stadium.
Speaking later, on his podcast New Heights with his brother Jason Kelce, the NFL heartthrob revealed how he tried – and failed – to make a move on Swift at her concert.
He said he had his phone number inscribed on a bracelet, which he planned to present to the popstar.
However, when he attended one of Taylor’s concerts in Kansas City, he was unsuccessful in his attempts to meet her backstage.
‘So she doesn’t meet anybody and she doesn’t – or at least she didn’t want to meet me, so I took it personal,’ he quipped.
He said he was ‘disappointed that she doesn’t talk before or after her shows because she has to save her voice for the 44 songs that she sings, so I was a little butthurt I didn’t get to hand her one of the bracelets I’ve made for her.’
‘If you’re up on Taylor Swift concerts, there are friendship bracelets, and I received a bunch of them being there, but I wanted to give Taylor Swift one with my number on it.’
Although he was unable to meet with Taylor face-to-face, he had nothing but warm words for her performance, which he hailed as ‘an unbelievable show.’
However, back in September 2023, further rumours emerged on the 12 of that month, when The Messenger reported that the two were ‘quietly hanging out’.
Then on September 14 that year, Travis’ brother Jason addressed the rumours about the pair dating.
‘I’ve seen these rumours. I cannot comment,’ Jason quipped while speaking with Prime’s Thursday Night Football panel.
‘Ever since Catching Kelce everybody’s been infatuated with Travis’ love life,’ he added, referring to his brother’s former reality dating show.
‘I don’t really know what’s going on there, but I know Travis is having fun and we’ll see what happens with whoever he ends up with.’
On September 20, Jason commented further on the rumours while appearing on DeCamara & Ritchie on Audacy’s SportsRadio 94 WIP.
This time he said they were ‘100 per cent true.’
However, straight afterwards he added he was ‘joking’.
‘It’s hard to answer because I don’t really know a lot about Travis’ love life. I try to keep his business kind of his business, stay out of that world,’ he explained.
He continued: ‘Having said that, man, I think they’re doing great and I think it’s all 100 per cent true, and I hope this thing goes a mile — no, I’m joking, I don’t know what’s happening.’
Speaking the next day, after his brother’s interview, Travis Kelce set the record straight on The Pat McAfee Show, revealing that he had invited the pop superstar to watch him play a game for the Kansas City Chiefs.
‘I threw it out there, I threw the ball in her court. I said, “I’ve seen you rock the stage in Arrowhead, you might have to come see me rock the stage in Arrowhead, and see which one’s a little more lit”.
‘We’ll see what happens in the near future.’
Then just days later, on September 24, 2023, the popstar was spotted cheering on the Chiefs’ tight end from the VIP suite at Arrowhead Stadium.
She was seen watching the game from Kelce’s suite alongside his mother Donna as they faced off against the Chicago Bears.
After the game, the two were seen walking out together, with Swift rocking Kansas City Chiefs gear, before leaving in his vintage convertible.
After that, they became inseparable; she was photographed at many more of his games, they were caught holding hands on numerous date nights, and he jetted off to see her perform on more than one occasion once her tour resumed soon after.
On September 27, 2023, Kelce said Swift looked ‘amazing’ while attending the Chiefs game, and heaped praise on the ‘ballsy’ musician for sticking to her word and turning up.
Speaking alongside his brother Jason on their popular New Heights podcast, Travis said: ‘Shout out to Taylor for pulling up. That was pretty ballsy.
‘I just thought it was awesome how everyone in the suite had nothing but great things to say about her. The friends and family. She looked amazing, everybody was talking about her in a great light.’
‘To see the slow motion chest bumps, to see the high fives with mom, to see how the Chiefs kingdom was all excited she was there, that s*** was absolutely hysterical, it was definitely a game I’ll remember, that’s for damn sure,’ Travis added. ‘And then we just slid off in the getaway car in the end…’
‘Shout out to Taylor for coming through and seeing me rock the stage.’
It was far from the only appearance Swift would make at one of his games: just weeks later on October 1 that year, she was spotted at MetLife Stadium as she cheered the Kansas City Chiefs for a second time, as they faced off against the New York Jets in New Jersey.
The Bad Blood hitmaker brought along her A-list entourage to help support her new beau, including Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds and Sophie Turner.
A few days later, on October 4, Travis Kelce discussed the NFL’s coverage of their romance on his New Heights podcast.
‘Let’s get to it, is the NFL overdoing it?’ His brother Jason asked.
‘I think it’s fun when they show who was at the game. I think it brings a little bit more to the atmosphere, brings a little bit more to what you’re watching. But at the same time I think…’
‘They’re overdoing it,’ Jason finished the sentence for him.
‘They’re overdoing it a little bit for sure, especially my situation. [But] I think they’re just trying to have fun with it,’ Travis concluded.
His mother Donna also commented on the relationship, sharing insights about her time spent with the Love Story star in private box seats on October 6.
During an appearance on the Got It From My Momma podcast, she said, ‘I feel like I’m in an alternate universe, because it’s something I’ve never been involved with before.’
‘I thought it would be over at that point, but it seems to just continue, and every week just seems to trump the week before,’ she said on the podcast, before adding, ‘So it’s really kind of wild, a wild ride.’
Donna also confessed that she finds it ‘petty cool’ that some of Swift young female fans are now taking an interest in NFL football now that their hero, Swift, has taken to the game of late.
The same day, Kelce said his new romance with Taylor left him feeling happier than when he won the Super Bowl.
‘As all the attention comes, it feels like, you know – I was on top of the world after the Super Bowl and right now even more on top of the world now,’ he said.
‘You have got a lot of people that care about Taylor, for good reason. Got to keep living and learning and enjoying the moments.
‘We’re learning with the paparazzi taking photos all over the place but it comes with it.’
On October 2023, one day after attending her Eras Tour film premiere in Los Angeles, Swift flew out to Kansas City to watch Kelce play at Arrowhead Stadium once again.
The superstar was pictured with Brittany Mahomes and both of Kelce’s parents.
Then on October 14, both Taylor and Travis made surprise appearances on Saturday Night Live.
Swift introduced Ice Spice as the musical guest, while Kelce appeared in a skit about the NFL and their never-ending Taylor Swift coverage.
After the show they were spotted holding hands while attending an SNL afterparty at Catch Steak.
‘Taylor and Travis were there all night and they were so smiley, they were so happy,’ a source told People at the time.
‘They were always connected throughout the night. They were super comfortable with each other. They were very cuddly: they weren’t awkward. She was really comfortable with him, and he was a total gentleman.’
The next day they stepped out in New York again. The pair had dinner at the Waverly Inn restaurant, and were seen holding hands as they left.
Swift was spotted at her fourth Kansas City Chiefs game on October 22, 2023.
The Karma singer wore a vintage 1990 red Chiefs sweatshirt from Ellie Mae Vintage and a short, black, pleated skirt with a brand-new accessory.
She ditched her usual 13 friendship bracelet for one with Kelce’s jersey number, 87, on it.
The number beads were surrounded on both sides by beads with hearts on them while the rest of the beads on the bracelet were gold.
After the game Swift and Kelce hung out with his teammate Mecole Hardman Jr. and his girlfriend Chariah Gordon.
Gordon shared a number of photos with the group on Instagram, including one of Swift sweetly kissing Kelce on the cheek.
On November 11, Kelce supported his girlfriend at her Eras Tour stop in Argentina.
He was pictured with his dad Ed Kelce dancing and singing along in the VIP section.
Swift sweetly changed the lyrics of her song ‘Karma’ to mention her beau, as she sang, ‘Karma is the guy on the Chiefs coming straight home to me.’
After the show, she was seen running into Kelce’s arms backstage and giving him a kiss.
On December 3, the popstar was snapped supporting her boyfriend once more, attending the Kansas City Chiefs’ game against Green Bay Packers in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Swift stunned in bright red coat as she sat next to Patrick Mahome’s wife.
It was just days later, on December 6, that Swift opened up about her relationship with Travis, revealing the power couple began their love story long before she made headlines by attending his games.
‘This all started when Travis very adorably put me on blast on his podcast, which I thought was metal as hell,’ she told TIME magazine, after being named Time Magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’.
‘We 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.’
‘When you say a relationship is public, that means 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,’ she added.
‘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.’
On December 10, Swift showed up to support Kelce as the Kansas City Chiefs took on the Buffalo Bills.
She wore a vintage red-and-black Chiefs sweatshirt from the ’90s from local Kansas City retailer Westside Storey.
Then just days later, on December 13, 2023, Swift enjoyed a PDA-filled pre-birthday celebration with her beau.
Kelce ensured his girlfriend’s final days as a 33-year-old would be unforgettable as they partied up a storm until 2am at a holiday bar in Kansas City.
Despite losing his game against the Buffalo Bills just hours ahead of the pop star’s pre-birthday celebration, he did not let his disappointment stop him from showering Swift with love in front of his mother, Donna, teammates and mutual friends.
As they enjoyed Christmas cocktails under hanging twinkly lights, the couple did not shy away from being publicly affectionate as they mingled with loved ones.
His mother was reportedly the first to leave the holiday pop-up bar, around 10:45 pm, while Swift’s new best friend Brittany Mahomes and her husband, Patrick, left at 1am in a party bus, according to TMZ.
On December 17, Swift continued to show support to Kelce as the Kansas City Chiefs faced off against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
She wore a grey Chiefs sweatshirt and a crochet beanie featuring Kelce’s jersey number.
Then on Christmas Day, Swift brought her family to cheer for Kelce, with her mother, father, and brother watching as the Kansas City Chiefs took on the Las Vegas Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium.
After the game, the couple was seen leaving the stadium hand-in-hand.
The couple spent the next big holiday – New Year’s Eve – together, sharing a passionate kiss as the clock struck midnight in Kansas City, with the loved-up couple celebrating the arrival of 2024 with a glitzy party surrounded by friends.
Video from the party surfaced across social media on New Year’s Day, with the singer and the NFL star caught on camera in a passionate embrace on a number of clips from the bash.
Kelce was wearing a sleek suit for the bash, while Swift was wearing a glittering dress for the occasion.
Their relationship continued into the new year, with Swift continuing to show her support for Kelce by attending the AFC Wild Card Playoffs between the Miami Dolphins and the Kansas City Chiefs on January 13, 2024.
She sported her boyfriend’s number by wearing a custom puffer jacket designed by Kristin Juszczyk.
Swift was back again supporting her beau on January 21, surrounded by Travis’ family during the AFC Divisional Playoff game between the Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills.
She was seen hanging out with Kelce’s brother Jason and sister-in-law Kylie.
A week later, on January 28, the couple passionately kissed on the football field after the Chiefs made it to the Super Bowl.
America’s most famous couple hugged and kissed on the field at the M&T Bank Stadium in the aftermath of a magnificent victory for the Chiefs over the Baltimore Ravens.
Kelce found his girlfriend as he waited for the AFC Championship trophy presentation in emotional scenes and Swift looked almost tearful as the couple had a moment to celebrate together with the eyes of the world on them.
