Chiefs star, singer publicly confirmed their relationship in September
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce aren’t hiding their romance.
Swift’s decision to have a public relationship with the NFL tight end is something new she’s trying after dating indie actor Joe Alwyn for six years in private.
“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,” Swift told Time after being named the magazine’s Person of the Year.
“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,” she continued. “We’re just proud of each other.”
Swift has been known to keep her relationships extremely private, besides the lyrics she shares in her songs. The “Midnights” singer doesn’t typically speak about her romantic life in the press, and she’s been known to run from a car into an event with a boyfriend instead of allowing photographs from paparazzi.
In fact, the public knew very little about her six-year relationship with actor Joe Alwyn. The two began their relationship secretly in 2016, with Swift later revealing the timeline of their love affair in a diary entry included with the deluxe edition of her “Lover” album.
“I’m essentially based in London, hiding out, trying to protect us from the nasty world that just wants to ruin things,” the pop star wrote in an entry dated January 2017. “We have been together and no one has found out for 3 months now.”
In 2019, Swift explained why she chose not to share details of her time with Alwyn with the public, telling The Guardian, “I’ve learned that if I do, people think it’s up for discussion, and our relationship isn’t up for discussion.”
Alwyn’s creative side led Swift to collaborate with the actor, who used the pen name William Bowery, during their relationship. He’s listed as a co-author on songs from her albums “folklore,” “evermore” and “Midnights” – “exile,” “betty,” “champagne problems,” “coney Island,” “evermore” and “Sweet Nothing.”
Swift and Alwyn were also rarely photographed together. The “Conversations with Friends” actor was notoriously missing from the audience during Swift’s NYU commencement speech – where she was also given an honorary doctorate degree in fine arts.
Even the end of Swift’s relationship with Alwyn was shrouded in secrecy. The news was shared with the world in April, right after Swift kicked off “The Eras Tour,” but few details were shared.
“They had plenty in common and fell in love in a safe bubble while she was retreating from the world during ‘Reputation,’” a source told People magazine at the time. “Then, the pandemic hit, and they were locked down together and able to continue growing their relationship in this insulated way. But he didn’t really ‘know’ her yet outside of that bubble.”
The indie actor, who debuted his career in 2016 with “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” reportedly struggled “with Taylor’s level of fame and the attention from the public.”
However, she seems to have changed her tune with Travis.
Swift and Travis first publicly confirmed their relationship in September as the pop star attended the Kansas City Chiefs player’s football game against the Chicago Bears. Swift sat in Travis’ suite alongside his mother, Donna Kelce.
Since then, Swift has found herself back at stadiums, cheering on her man and often ending up on the big screen: “I don’t know how they know what suite I’m in,” she told Time magazine about the attention she receives from the NFL.
“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,” Swift added. “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.”
Swift confirmed she met Travis in July, shortly after Travis revealed he never got to give the singer-songwriter a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it while attending the Eras Tour stop in Kansas City. Travis opened up about his intentions on meeting Swift during an episode of his podcast, “New Heights,” which he hosts alongside his brother, Jason Kelce.
“This all started when Travis very adorably put me on blast on his podcast, which I thought was metal as hell,” Swift told Time.
“We started hanging out right after that,” she added. “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.
“While Alwyn seemingly struggled with the public’s obsession with Swift, Travis has a different take on the attention that comes with dating one of the world’s biggest artists.
“I was on top of the world after the Super Bowl, and right now even more on top of the world, so it’s fun man,” Travis previously told reporters during a postgame press conference about the attention he’s received since debuting his relationship.
“At the same time, [the attention] comes with it. You’ve got a lot of people that care about Taylor, for good reason. So … just got to keep living and earning and enjoying the moments.”
