Why Taylor Swift Turned Down Travis Kelce’s Love — and the Rest Is History!

The football star tried to shoot his shot at Swift’s show in Kansas City, and the pair started dating a few months later

It’s been a year since Travis Kelce first shook it off at Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour!

On July 8, 2023, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, 34, saw Swift’s Eras Tour for the first time at Arrowhead Stadium — the home venue for his own football team. The pair, who have now been dating for nearing a year, then took the world by storm when dating rumors sparked several months later.

But before Swift, also 34, hit the stage for that fateful July 8 concert, she posted to Instagram to commemorate a Fourth of July celebration she had hosted at her Rhode Island waterfront home several days earlier with besties Selena Gomez, Este, Danielle and Alana Haim, Ashley Avignone and Sydney Ness.

“Happy belated Independence Day from your local neighborhood independent girlies,” the “Cruel Summer” singer wrote in the caption, adding, “See you tonight Kansas City.”

Why Taylor Swift Turned Down Travis Kelce’s Love — and the Rest Is History!

Then, at the July 8 show in Kansas City — the second of a two-night stint in town — Kelce was spotted watching from a private booth and trading friendship bracelets with fans inside the stadium.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Relationship Timeline
But there was one person he wasn’t able to give a bracelet — the “Bad Blood” singer.

A couple of weeks later, on his podcast New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce, the football star shared that he had tried — unsuccessfully — to meet the pop sensation backstage at her show and even had made her a bracelet with his “number on it.”

“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,” said Kelce, joking that he was “a little butthurt” at his inability to shoot his shot and “took it personal.”

It’s also worth noting that at the time, Swift was just three months out from when her split with longtime boyfriend Joe Alwyn was made public.

The Super Bowl winner was in luck, however, as Swift found the comments endearing. “This all started when Travis very adorably put me on blast on his podcast, which I thought was metal as hell,” the performer said of the genesis of their relationship in a TIME profile in December. “We started hanging out right after that.”

Several weeks after Kelce attempted to shoot his shot, the pair seemingly confirmed their relationship when Swift returned to Arrowhead Stadium, this time to watch Kelce play ball from his private suite alongside his family. A few months later, the pair even shared a celebratory kiss on the field when the Chiefs bested the San Francisco 49ers at the 2024 Super Bowl.

Kelce has had the opportunity to support his girlfriend as well, attending several more Eras Tour dates after his football season ended, including in Europe, South America and Asia.

In a full-circle moment, the tight end — who once dreamed about giving his number to Swift — made his Eras Tour stage debut earlier this summer in London when he joined the ranks of Grammy-winner’s background dancers, carrying Swift across the stage, pretending to touch up her makeup and even showing off a few of his signature dance moves to the Wembley crowd.

Talk about a true “Love Story” come to life!