Taylor Swift Reveals the Real Timeline of Her and Travis Kelce's Romance

In Taylor Swift’s cover story for TIME’s Person of the Year, she clarified when her relationship with Travis Kelce truly began—and how the couple handles the spotlight together.

By Olivia Evans Dec 06, 2023 2:29 PMTags
Watch: Taylor Swift Reveals Romance Timeline With Travis Kelce

Taylor Swift is doing things much greater than dating the boy on the football team, but she's still drawing hearts in the byline when it comes to Travis Kelce

The pop sensation was named TIME's Person of the Year on Dec. 6 and cleared up the relationship timeline she shares with the guy on the Chiefs.  

"Travis very adorably put me on blast on his podcast, which I thought was metal as hell," she recalled."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."

The New Heights podcast—during which Travis shared his failed attempt at meeting the singer during her Eras Tour concert—Taylor is referring to aired on July 26, which means the pair were dating for a few months when she appeared at the Sept. 24 Chiefs game. As Taylor clarified to TIME, "We would never be psychotic enough to hard launch a first date." 

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Taylor Swift Attends Kansas City Chiefs vs. Green Bay Packers Game

 The "Karma" singer also discussed the Lavender craze that's surrounded the couple.

"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 said of their public support for each other. "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."

Elsa/Getty Images

The newfound WAG went on to specifically address her screen time at NFL games. 

"There's a camera, like, a half-mile away, and you don't know where it is, and you have no idea when the camera is putting you in the broadcast, so I don't know if I'm being shown 17 times or once," she tells TIME. "I'm just there to support Travis. I have no awareness of if I'm being shown too much and pissing off a few dads, Brads, and Chads."

The 2023 Person of the Year seems to have changed her tune with her new man—as she's previously prioritized privacy with her ex-lovers.  

"It's really just trying to find bits of normalcy," she told Rolling Stone in 2020 of her song "peace" which she penned for ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn. "Whether that's deciding where to live, who to hang out with, when to not take a picture."

The new king of Taylor's heart has also addressed the public frenzy surrounding the couple—and the poise with which Taylor handles it all

"The scrutiny she gets, how much she has a magnifying glass on her, every single day, paparazzi outside her house, outside every restaurant she goes to, after every flight she gets off, and she's just living, enjoying life," Travis told the Wall Street Journal in an article published on Nov. 20. "When she acts like that I better not be the one acting all strange."

Keep scrolling to see some of Swelce's best (public) moments. 

Date Night Done Right

The stylish duo stepped out for dinner at NYC's Waverly Inn on Oct. 15.

Don't Let Go

For the evening out, the "Lover" singer wore a mesh Jean Paul Gaultier top paired with a leather skirt and boots.

Hand-in-Hand

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce arrived to Satuday Night Live's after-party in NYC following their cameos on the Oct. 14 episode.

Best Believe They're Still Bejeweled

The duo walked hand-in-hand into Catch Steak NYC.

They Never Go Out of Style

The NFL star and the 12-time Grammy winner have been sparking romance rumors since this summer.

A Total Touchdown

The pair appeared to confim the relationship speculation after she attended his Kansas City Chiefs game in late September.

Calling It a Night

The duo was photographed exiting the party early Oct. 15.

An Enchanting Evening

Oh, what a night!

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