He didn’t want to miss it. On November 2, Travis Kelce headed to Indianapolis to catch his 15th Eras tour show. With his strict NFL schedule, it marked the tight end’s final opportunity to watch Taylor Swift dazzle a crowd before she wraps her epic concert tour in the coming weeks.
“I wanted to see Tay one more time before this thing got closed up,” Travis — who viewed the set at Lucas Oil Stadium alongside Taylor’s mother, Andrea Swift, and brother, Austin Swift — later said on his “New Heights” podcast. “I’ll tell you what, man, that thing was rocking. Absolutely rocking.”
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Then it was Taylor’s turn. She cheered Travis on — alongside his mom, Donna Kelce, and brother, Jason Kelce — as his Kansas City Chiefs beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in overtime at Missouri’s Arrowhead Stadium on November 4. As Taylor herself has explained, she’s no longer guarding her private life as fiercely as she did with past boyfriends.
“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 told Time last December. “We’re just proud of each other.”
Since falling for the three-time Super Bowl champion, 35, 15 months ago, Taylor, 34, “has felt like she’s had the best year of her life. Her relationship with Travis has strengthened so many parts of her and made her more confident and fearless,” a source exclusively tells Life & Style. “Finding a love like this has changed Taylor.”
Taylor Swift Is in Her Best Era
She’s transformed. “Taylor has always been a strong woman but she’s also battled self-doubt and feared criticism like anyone else,” notes the source. “She says getting older and being in a healthy, loving relationship has allowed her to let go of a lot of that.”
According to an insider, “With Travis, she doesn’t seem so concerned with what people are or aren’t seeing. It’s refreshing for everyone to witness her being so much more relaxed and authentic.”
Call it the Travis effect. “Taylor’s embracing his unfiltered personality and letting loose herself more, too,” adds the insider. “Everyone in her life has noticed how different she seems with Travis.”
He’s made it easy for Taylor to discover a new side. “For the first time, Taylor has a man who is super enthusiastic and unapologetic about showing his support and love for her,” explains the source, noting how her six-year romance with Joe Alwyn, which ended in early 2023, existed under the radar. The actor, 33, even told a reporter in 2022, “Our relationship isn’t up for discussion.”
Travis, meanwhile, seems to gush about the 14-time Grammy winner every chance he gets. When his Grotesquerie costar Niecy Nash told him on the October 30 episode of “New Heights” that people are always asking her about his romance, Travis — who early on publicly praised Taylor as “hilarious” and “a genius” — lit up.
“You know it’s real, and you know that me and Tay are absolutely happy,” he said, adding how much he appreciates Niecy, 54, “always making sure that everybody knows that.”
Looking Ahead
In one of the hit tracks off her 2017 Reputation album, Taylor famously sings to a lover, “I wanna be your endgame.” When she performs it now, she’s talking about Travis, says the source, who confirms that the couple “see marriage in their future” and that their families approve. In fact, Travis’ brother, Jason, didn’t flinch when sports analyst Pat McAfee referred to Taylor as the retired Philadelphia Eagles center’s “future sister-in-law” on ESPN on November 2.
Taylor’s father, Scott, supposedly couldn’t shut up about Travis on a recent plane ride, either. After sitting next to Scott, 72, on a flight in late October, travel agent Taylor Moore alleged on TikTok that the former investment banker spoke “about how much he loves Travis for [his daughter]” and said that “out of all of her boyfriends in the last 12 years … Travis has made the biggest impact.” She claimed proud Scott also praised the Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity host’s “phenomenal family.”
Recently, Travis talked “next steps” on his podcast. While he noted getting introduced to a partner’s relatives is “huge,” Travis insisted that learning each other’s “daily routines” is what “naturally” creates a “genuine connection.”
He and Taylor certainly seem to have established a rhythm that works with their busy schedules. Now, “friends expect an engagement announcement to come soon,” reveals the source. “Taylor wants to spend the rest of her life with Travis.”