Fans waiting to see what it looks like when Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce polish up real nice and hit the red carpet together for the first time will just have to keep waiting. Kelce won’t be able to attend Grammys 2024 with girlfriend Swift, who is nominated in six categories at the awards this year, he said in a new interview.
During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show Wednesday, Kelce confirmed that his work calendar conflicted with Swift’s, as he and the Kansas City Chiefs prepare to play in the Super Bowl on February 11.
“I wish I could go support Taylor at the Grammys, and watch her win every single award that she’s nominated for,” he said, “but I think I’ve got practice on Sunday.”
Actually, he clarified, practice Saturday, travel day Sunday, but still.
“Unfortunately, I’ve gotta get ready for this big old Super Bowl that we’ve got in a week,” he added.
Kelce underlined his commitment to his team and how important it is that people know that. Commentators from boldface names to the infamous dads, Brads, and Chads have implied that his relationship with Swift is a distraction from the game and may impact Kelce’s performance negatively.
“Everybody in this building knows my intentions,” he said of his priorities. “Football is my main focus right now. There’s a lot of people counting on me in this building and this city and this organization, so this is my number one focus at the time. On top of that, it’s in my heart to be able to pour everything I’ve got out on that field. There’s some perceptions, and people can perceive what they want, but I wanted to make sure that the guys, the men and women in this building, know that I’m focused on this team.”
One such time that he caught Swift-related heat was when he took the opportunity to see her Eras Tour in Buenos Aires, Argentina during a bye week for the Chiefs. He said that he spent “eight, nine hours” alone on a private jet for the weekend jaunt with Swift and her father, Scott Swift.
The criticism, however, doesn’t seem to get to the power couple. According to Kelce, the complaints are old hat for Taylor, and he seems to be abiding by his earlier “don’t be the one to act weird about attention” mentality in the relationship.
“She’s dealt with it forever,” he said of the naysayers. “We hear it, but we hardly ever talk about it.”
He also submitted another shred of evidence for sleuths looking to backfill the timeline of the two’s courtship, which began well before Swift’s first fateful appearance in the VIP box at a Chiefs game. Back in September, also on the Pat McAfee Show, Kelce addressed the then-unconfirmed rumors that he and Swift had been hanging out.
“I threw it out there, I threw the ball in her court,” he said at the time. “I told her, ‘I’ve seen you rock the stadium in Arrowhead, you might have to see me rock the stadium in Arrowhead.’ We’ll see what happens in the future.”
“The future,” as it so happens, came quickly, with Swift attending her first game just days later.
On this latest appearance, Kelce confirmed that, yeah, that wasn’t a random wish, throwing an invite into the wind.
“We had known each other close to a month at that point,” he said.
Swift, too, has said that they were “already a couple” by the time she donned that red windbreaker. “I think some people think that they saw our first date at that game?” she said in her Time Person of the Year interview in December 2023. “We would never be psychotic enough to hard launch a first date.”
Months later, we’ve seen PDA between the two, declarations of love, family holiday celebrations, the works.
“It’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it?” Kelce said of his relationship with Swift. “Hopefully everybody realize we’re two people in a relationship supporting each other and having fun with it, man, it’s nothing more than that. However much the world wants to paint the picture and make us the enemy, we just have fun with it and we enjoy every single bit of it. I love it when Taylor comes and supports me and enjoys the game with the friends and fam. It’s been nothing but a wonderful year, man.”
Though we now know that Kelce won’t be walking the red carpet at the Grammys, it remains to be seen whether Swift will make it to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas a week later.
A representative for Swift did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
