Taylor Swift has shared new insights into the early days of her relationship with NFL star Travis Kelce, while also confirming the release date of her upcoming album.
Speaking on New Heights, the podcast Kelce co-hosts with his brother Jason, the singer opened up about the moment their romance began.
Swift revealed that Kelce first tried to meet her after her Kansas City show in July 2023, hoping to pass on his phone number via a friendship bracelet.
When that plan fell through, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end made his interest public on the podcast.
Swift, 35, then joked that Kelce “threw a man tantrum” over not meeting her, but described his bold move as “such a wild, romantic gesture”.
“He threw a tantrum. He threw a man-tantrum,” she said. “It was such a wild romantic gesture to be like, ‘I wanna date you!’ This dude didn’t get a meet-and-greet and he’s making it everyone’s problem. That’s what I thought at first.”
Swift revealed Travis hadn’t even tried to go through official channels to reach her.
“He came with [Patrick Mahomes] and thought because he knows the elevator lady that he could talk to her about getting down to my dressing room. That’s how it works in 1973,” she quipped.
She likened the NFL star’s persistence to the iconic boombox scene in 1989’s Say Anything: “It felt like a modern version of standing outside my window with a boombox like, ‘I want to date you! Do you want to go on a date with me? I made you a friendship bracelet!’”
Admitting she was intrigued but cautious, Swift added: “I was like, if this guy isn’t crazy — which is a big if — this is the sort of thing I’ve been writing songs about since I was a teenager.”
Her instincts, she said, proved right: “It was wild, but it worked. I’m glad it worked. I’m just circling back to New Heights to say thank you for this,” she told Travis, cupping his face in her hands.
We hit a glitch but will be back shortly!!!
— New Heights (@newheightshow) August 14, 2025
The usually private star revealed the couple spent their early relationship “getting to know me in a way that’s very natural, very pure, very normal”.
Swift said that Kelce is a “vibe booster”, before adding: “He’s like a human exclamation point.”
Excitement for her podcast appearance reached fever pitch one hour and 44 minutes into the live YouTube premiere when the screen suddenly went black.
Moments later, the show’s official X account informed fans there had been a technical glitch, promising the episode “will be back shortly.”
The hiccup came as the stream peaked at around 1.3 million viewers, with the New Heights YouTube channel also gaining a surge in subscribers, jumping from 2.85 million to 2.91 million during the broadcast.
Elsewhere, Swift used the high-profile appearance to unveil her 12th studio album, which be released on October 3.
Arriving with a mint green briefcase emblazoned with her initials, she teased fans before revealing, “This is my new album The Life of a Showgirl.”
The Grammy winner described the record’s inspiration: “This album is about what was going on behind the scenes of my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant.”
