Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are a couple of months into their relationship, and judging from The Kiss™ (and the several other PDA sessions they’ve had since), they appear to be completely smitten. But how did Travis and Taylor meet, you ask? Those of us who have been paying attention (read: obsessively updating Taylor Swift fan accounts for the latest news) know these two kicked things off during the Eras Tour, but there’s a ton of info to go over—including details from Travis about their first date—so let’s get into it.
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Travis Attended the Eras Tour on July 8, 2023
This was Taylor’s second performance at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium, and if you want a sense of the vibes, here’s a pretty epic view of her entrance:
Meanwhile, we have proof that Travis was in attendance via this unearthed fan video of people giving him friendship bracelets.
He (Unsuccessfully) Tried to Pass Taylor His Number
Due to having no chill to speak of, Travis revealed he went to the Eras Tour with a purpose: to give Taylor Swift his number via friendship bracelet. He tragically failed and cutely complained about the experience to his brother Jason Kelce on their podcast, New Heights. (Note: this episode dropped on July 26.)
“I 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,” Travis said. “So I was a little butt-hurt I didn’t get to hand her one of the bracelets I 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…. She doesn’t meet anybody—or at least she didn’t want to meet me, so I took it personal.”
‘Kay, so once again, this episode dropped on July 26. And outlets didn’t start reporting on Taylor and Travis potentially dating until September. However, we know what happened in August thanks to Travis being unable to help himself when it comes to dishing.
And It Seems Like They Were Talking by August 2
At least judging from Travis’ extremeeeeely cagey vibes in this video (filmed on August 2) about his friendship bracelet. Like, this is a man with something to hide! Plus, there’s the fact he has since he told the WSJ that in the early days of him and Taylor chatting, “That was the biggest thing to me: make sure I don’t say anything that would push Taylor away.”
We Know Travis Got an “Assist” From Taylor’s Team
According to Travis’ profile in the Wall Street Journal, he “received an unbidden assist” from Taylor’s team “soon after” his New Heights interview on July 26.
Here’s how Trav put it:
“There were definitely people she knew that knew who I was, in her corner [who said]: Yo! Did you know he was coming? I had somebody playing Cupid.”
And it sounds like Taylor ended up texting him—at least that’s the vibe we’re getting from the WSJ describing Travis as having “looked down at his phone and got the shock of a lifetime.” Either way, Taylor told Travis her side of their whole Arrowhead Stadium almost-meet-cute when they finally met up:
“She told me exactly what was going on and how I got lucky enough to get her to reach out,” he explained. “She’ll probably hate me for saying this, but…when she came to Arrowhead, they gave her the big locker room as a dressing room, and her little cousins were taking pictures…in front of my locker.”
Taylor also clarified their exact dating timeline during her TIME Person of the Year interview in December 2023. The Grammy winner said:
“This all started when Travis very adorably put me on blast on his podcast, which I thought was metal as hell. 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.”
Sooo, based on both their anecdotes, it seems that #Traylor went into effect in early August.
Their First Date Was in NYC
After Taylor reached out, she and Travis started talking and eventually decided to meet up for an official date. Travis didn’t confirm much about this, but he did say it took place in New York City.
“When I met her in New York, we had already kind of been talking, so I knew we could have a nice dinner and, like, a conversation, and what goes from there will go from there,” he said. “Everybody around me telling me: Don’t f— this up! And me sitting here saying: Yeah—got it.”
Just a few weeks later, Taylor and Travis would go public after his game at Arrowhead Stadium, and the rest is history!*
*History that we’ve gathered into a full timeline, so head right this way. 👇👇👇
