Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce confirm relationship holding hands in New York
The two were spotted having dinner in a Japanese restaurant, confirming what had been an open secret after the singer appeared at three of the NFL player’s games
What started with a plastic bead bracelet has ended up becoming one of the most talked-about romances of 2023. After a long round of celebrity breakups and divorces, hope has arrived for new love thanks to two of the world’s biggest stars: singer Taylor Swift, 33, who has become a sociocultural mass phenomenon thanks to her highly successful The Eras Tour, and American football player Travis Kelce, 34, who has been playing with the Kansas City Chiefs for a decade and is considered one of the best players in American football. The couple confirmed what was an open secret with a brief appearance Saturday on the streets of New York. The two were seen holding hands when they went to dinner together and then both appeared, separately, on the TV show Saturday Night Live (SNL).
Swift and Kelce were first spotted getting out of the same car in the center of New York, they held hands and walked slowly to the luxurious Japanese restaurant, Nobu, without hiding from the many photographers who were waiting for them. After dinner, they returned to the same car, again walking slowly hand in hand, and drove off.
After that, the couple made surprise appearances on SNL. Swift appeared very briefly — in just three seconds — to present the second performer of the night: singer Ice Spice, with whom she has covered one of her own songs, Karma. Kelce appeared for an even shorter time, starring in a parody about how much people are talking about his relationship with Swift during the broadcasts of Kansas City Chiefs games and in related football programs.
This is the fourth time Swift and Kelce have appeared at the same place, but only the second time they have been seen together. On Sunday, September 24, Taylor Swift was seen at a Travis Kelce game in Kansas City, Missouri, cheering him on in a box with the player’s parents. When the game was over, the two were seen leaving the stadium together and driving away in his 1970s Chevrolet.
The following week, Swift returned to the box, this time in New York, to see him along with her famous friends such as Hugh Jackman, Sophie Turner and Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. She was not present at the following game on Sunday, but she did attend the game on Thursday in Kansas, just one day after attending the premiere of the Eras tour concert film in Los Angeles.
Swift and Kelce, according to the U.S. press, stayed a few days together at the player’s house until flying to New York for SNL. These sources claim that they later went to an SNL party where they were showed public signs of affection.
The relationship between the two superstars has been made public, but it has been brewing for months. It was Kelce himself who revealed how it began. In early July, Swift brought her The Eras Tour to the Chiefs Stadium. The singer’s fans are known for exchanging friendship bracelets, with plastic beads spelling out the lyrics and titles of her songs. And Kelce wanted to give Swift his own friendship bracelet, with his phone number, but the plan didn’t work out.
“I was a little butt hurt I didn’t get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her,” Travis said in a recent episode of the New Heights podcast that he co-hosts with his brother, All-Pro Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce. “If you’re up on Taylor Swift concerts, there are friendship bracelets handed out. I received a bunch of them, but I wanted to give Taylor Swift one with my number on it.”
But it appears the story reached Swift, and perhaps the bracelet too. Last April, it was revealed that Swift had ended her relationship with Joe Alwyn, a British actor she had been dating for six years. The couple had kept a very low profile, fleeing from the press, avoiding being photographed (sometimes even running to their car to take refuge from the spotlight) and making very few public appearances.
However, the singer appears to be taking a different approach with her relationship with Kelce. Although she is maintaining her privacy, she is not hiding from the press. She doesn’t mind being photographed in the stadium or on the street, with her friends or his family. The athlete has also spoken about her openly and taken action that the powerful Swiftie community has approved up: from wearing a Swift-inspired friendship bracelet to warning the NFL that they’re “overdoing it” in exposing his relationship with the singer. For the moment, the spotlight will continue to seek out the famous couple, whether they are at the stadium or on the street.
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