Taylor Swift was “getting a little antsy” in the days leading up to her engagement to Travis Kelce, the NFL star’s father has revealed.
The couple, both 35, announced their engagement on Tuesday in a joint Instagram post captioned: “Your English teacher and gym teacher are getting married.”
Swift, who often jokes about her bookish side, was referencing her career as a songwriter compared with Kelce’s life in professional sport.
The images show Kansas City Chiefs tight end Kelce, 35, on one knee in a flower-filled garden surrounded by cascading roses, hydrangeas and peonies as Swift leans down to embrace him.
Another shot captures the newly engaged couple, forehead to forehead, smiling through tears, while a further frame is a close-up highlighting the dazzling ring.
Speaking to Cleveland’s ABC News 5, Kelce’s father Ed said the footballer had been planning to wait before proposing but eventually decided to bring the moment forward.
“Travis actually did the proposal, maybe two weeks ago, not quite two weeks ago,” he explained. “He was going to put it off till this week.”
He added: “I think [Taylor] was getting maybe a little antsy, but he was going to put her off till this week, to make some grand thing, to make it a big special event.
Ed said he encouraged his son to keep the moment simple.
“I told him repeatedly, you could do it on the side of the road, do it any place that makes it a special event when you get down on one knee and ask her to marry you,” he recalled.
According to Ed, Swift’s father, Scott, was offering similar advice, reassuring Kelce that the proposal didn’t need to be an elaborate production.
Ultimately, Kelce chose to propose during what was supposed to be a quiet evening with Swift.
“He got her out there, they were about to go to dinner, and he said, ‘Let’s go out and have a glass of wine,’” Ed explained.
“They got out there and that’s when he asked her. It was beautiful. They started FaceTiming me and their mother and her folks to make sure everybody knew. So, to see them together is great.”
Ed added that he has “never seen his son happier” and confirmed the couple have not yet set a date for the wedding.
Swift’s engagement ring features an elongated cushion-cut diamond estimated to be between 7 and 9 carats, set in yellow gold. The design is both vintage-inspired and modern, with jewellery experts already valuing it in the high six-figure range.
It is understood Swift’s engagement ring is an Old Mine Brilliant Cut, and her jewellery was designed by Kindred Lubeck of Artifex Fine Jewellery.
The Instagram post racked up more than five million likes in less than an hour as Swift’s fans around the world were thrilled by the news.
The couple, who began dating publicly in late 2023 after months of speculation, have become one of the most talked-about pairings in pop culture.
Swift was frequently spotted at Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs games last season, where cameras captured her cheering alongside his family and friends. The Chiefs went on to win the Super Bowl in February, with Kelce crediting Swift’s support as “part of the magic.”
Their bond was cemented further earlier this year when Swift made a surprise appearance on New Heights, the podcast Kelce co-hosts with his brother Jason, in what fans described as one of her most intimate interviews to date.
On the show, Swift announced that her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, will be released this autumn.
The record marks her first release since 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department, with speculation already swirling that Kelce will inspire new material.
The singer is currently on a short break from her record-breaking Eras Tour, which resumes later this year in Asia, while Kelce has begun preparations for the new NFL season.
After years of writing about heartbreak, the award-winning songstress now appears to have found her fairy-tale ending.
