Taylor Swift blasts Travis Kelce into Hollywood stardom; romance a gamble for NFL star

Travis Kelce was a well-known name for football fans, but once he started his apparent relationship with Taylor Swift, he became a household name for Swifties.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter on X, formerly Twitter, Kelce gained 860,000 followers on Instagram, more than he did in the past three Super Bowls he’s played. 

NPR also reported that Kelce’s jersey had a 400% spike in sales since Swift’s first appearance Setp. 24 at the Kansas City Chiefs-Chicago Bears game.

Swift fans went wild seeing her at the game in a luxury suite with Kelce’s mom, Donna, and the rumored couple were seen leaving the stadium together.

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The "Shake It Off" singer appeared in the stands again Sunday, with a celebrity entourage that included Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Sophie Turner and Hugh Jackman, once again drawing the eyes of football and Swift fans to the NFL.

Neither Kelce nor Swift have confirmed the dating rumors, but Kelce did speak about her appearance at the September game on his podcast with brother Jason Kelce, "New Heights."

"Shoutout to Taylor for pulling up. That was pretty ballsy," he said. "I just thought it was awesome how everybody in the suite had nothing but great things to say about her — the friends and family. She looked amazing. Everybody was talking about her in a great light. And, on top of that, the day went perfect – for Chiefs fans, of course. It was just impressive."

However, he noted that going forward he will keep things more private.

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"So, yeah, I think it’s … what’s real is that, you know, it is my personal life. I want to respect both of our lives. She’s not in the media as much as I am doing this show every single week and having fun during the NFL season and on other guys’ shows like the ‘McAfee Show’ and any other show that I go on from here on out."

Some fans are already speculating about the possibility of football-themed lyrics on Swift's next album, but Kelce is not the first star to be made famous — or infamous — by having a connection with Swift. Here's a look at Swift's past romances, and the songs believed to be about them. 

Matt Healy

Matt Healy, lead singer of the band The 1975, reportedly began dating Swift this year after her breakup with her boyfriend of six years, actor Joe Alwyn.

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Google Trends showed an enormous spike in searches for Healy and his band, which does have a dedicated fan base of its own, but the rumored relationship put Healy in the spotlight as Swift was in the middle of her sold-out Eras tour.

Neither party ever confirmed the relationship. Representatives for Swift did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment at the time, and Healy’s team said they had "nothing to add."

Swift and Healy had been friends since 2014 and were occasionally photographed together at events.  

Just as quickly as they were rumored to have gotten together, they broke apart.

In June, People reported they had split, with a source telling the outlet, "She had fun with him, but it was always casual. They are no longer romantically involved."

Swift hasn’t released new music since the breakup, but time will tell if Healy will appear to be referenced in any of her lyrics.

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Joe Alwyn

British actor Joe Alwyn was quietly building a film career and starring in critically-acclaimed films like "The Favorite" with Emma Stone, but it was his relationship with Swift that made him a larger public figure.

The pair reportedly first met at the 2016 Met Gala when she was still with DJ Calvin Harris and were friends through her breakup. 

The following May, Swift and Alwyn began dating but remained very private, rarely being seen together or speaking about each other.

In 2019, Swift told The Guardian, "I’ve learned that if I do [talk about it], people think it’s up for discussion, and our relationship isn’t up for discussion.

"If you and I were having a glass of wine right now, we’d be talking about it – but it’s just that it goes out into the world. That’s where the boundary is, and that’s where my life has become manageable. I really want to keep it feeling manageable."

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Swift and Alwyn were able to remain low profile during the pandemic, when he also dabbled in songwriting on her album, "Folklore."

Working under the pseudonym William Bowery, he helped pen "Exile" and "Betty," and contributed to multiple works on the follow-up album, "Evermore."

"It was completely off the cuff, an accident," Alwyn told Vulture about writing the first verse of "Exile." 

Many Swift fans speculate many songs on her albums "Reputation," "Lover," "Folklore" and "Evermore"  are about Alwyn, with references to his blue eyes and British background.

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Calvin Harris

Calvin Harris, born Adam Richard Wiles, had been a prolific DJ, producer and singer/songwriter in the U.K. and European EDM scene before his brief relationship with Swift.

The pair dated from April 2015 to June 2016, which put a mainstream and pop spotlight on Harris.

Shortly after they broke up, Swift very publicly began dating Marvel star Tom Hiddleston, and, around the same time, it came to light Swift had written Harris’ hit single with Rihanna, "This Is What You Came For" under a pseudonym.

Harris fired off on social media in a series of deleted tweets after the news went public, saying it was "Hurtful to me at this point that her and her team would go so far out of their way to try and make ME look bad at this stage, though," referring to the confirmation of Swift’s songwriting credit.

In a later interview with British GQ, Harris said his social media rant was "completely the wrong instinct."

"I'm not good at being a celebrity. But when it ended, all hell broke loose," Harris added. "Now I see that Twitter thing as a result of me succumbing to pressure. It took me a minute to realize that none of that matters. I'm a positive guy."

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John Mayer

John Mayer, an already established star at the time, and Swift never publicly confirmed their romance, but any connection they did have is apparently immortalized in a scathing track from her 2010 album "Speak Now."

"Dear John" details a relationship with a significant age gap, not unlike Swift and Mayer, who were 19 and 32, respectively, at the time, with lyrics like "Don't you think nineteen is too young / To be played by your dark twisted games / When I loved you so?" 

Swift never declared Mayer was the subject, but he later criticized the song, saying it "humiliated" him. 

"I'm pretty good at taking accountability now, and I never did anything to deserve that," Mayer told Rolling Stone in 2012, assuming the song was about him. "It was a really lousy thing for her to do.

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"I know she's the biggest thing in the world, and I'm not trying to sink anybody's ship, but I think it's abusing your talent to rub your hands together and go, 'Wait till he gets a load of this!' That's bulls---," he added.

In 2023, Swift played "Dear John" in public for the first time since her "Speak Now" tour ended in 2012.

She discouraged fans from bullying anyone, telling the crowd at the show, "I’m 33 years old. I don’t care about anything that happened to me when I was 19 except the songs I wrote and the memories we made together.

"I’m not putting this album out so that you can go and should feel the need to defend me on the internet against someone you think I might have written a song about 14 billion years ago" she added, referring to "Speak Now" being re-released in July.

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Jake Gyllenhaal

Jake Gyllenhall was a well-established actor when he and Swift reportedly dated from October 2010 to January 2011.

Though brief, their relationship lives on in Swift’s most infamous breakup track, "All Too Well," from her 2012 album "Red."

A detail that struck a chord with fans is the mention of a red scarf left at the narrator’s ex’s sister’s house in the song, something that is said to have happened in real life.

When Swift re-recorded "Red" and released it in 2021, included on the album was a 10-minute version of "All Too Well" that included a myriad of lyrics rife for analysis of the relationship.

In the new lyrics, Swift highlights another age difference (Gyllenhaal is nine years older) and the impact it had on her.

"You said if we had been closer in age / Maybe it would have been fine / And that made me want to die."

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Fans also noted lyrics that show a disparity in attitudes in the relationship.

"The idea you had of me, who was she? / A never-needy, ever-lovely jewel whose shine reflects on you / Not weepin' in a party bathroom/Some actress askin' me what happened, you / That's what happened, you," Swift sings.

Swift has never confirmed that the lyrics on both versions are about Gyllenhaal, but the actor addressed the speculation in a 2022 Esquire profile.

"It has nothing to do with me," he said. "It's about her relationship with her fans. It is her expression. Artists tap into personal experiences for inspiration, and I don't begrudge anyone that.

"At some point, I think it's important when supporters get unruly that we feel a responsibility to have them be civil and not allow for cyberbullying in one's name," he added, addressing the issue of fans bullying him online.

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Joe Jonas

Joe Jonas and Swift dated for a few months in 2008 when they were both on the rise in their careers.

However, Jonas infamously called off their relationship with a 25-second phone call, and Swift reportedly wrote the songs "Last Kiss" on her album "Speak Now," and "Forever and Always" on "Fearless," about him.

In 2021, Swift released her re-recorded version of her 2009 album "Fearless" with the added song, "Mr. Perfectly Fine," which many speculated to be about Jonas.

Jonas’ impending divorce from Sophie Turner is made all the more public by Swift and Turner’s friendship, which has been on display in recent weeks, including the most recent Kansas City Chief’s game against the New York Jets.

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Harry Styles

Not all breakup songs about Swift’s exes paint them in a negative light. 

Swift and Harry Styles were rumored to have dated from November 2012 to January 2013 while he was still a member of the band One Direction.

Several songs from Swift are supposedly about Styles, including her hit "Style" and "Out of the Woods" from her "1989" album, and more recently the song "Question…?" from "Midnights" all of which have more positive lyrics about relationships.

Taylor Lautner

Swift and "Twilight" star Taylor Lautner dated in 2009 and appeared in the movie "Valentine’s Day" together while their respective stars were on the rise, but the relationship was short-lived. 

Lautner later confirmed her song "Back to December" from her album "Speak Now" is about their relationship, and Swift told Yahoo! Music in 2010, "Up until now, I haven’t really felt like I really needed to apologize to someone. It’s just necessary."

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This year, Swift re-released "Speak Now," and Lautner joked on "Today" about feeling "safe" from any new tracks about their relationship, compared to her infamous song about John Mayer.

Lautner even stopped by her Eras Tour stop in Kansas City and appeared in the music video for "I Can See You," a previously unreleased track added to the re-release of "Speak Now."