THE romance rumours started before they were seen out together – and now Taylor Swift and NFL star Travis Kelce have finally ‘gone public’.

The Shake It Off singer sat alongside Travis’ mother Donna cheering him on as his team, Kansas City Chiefs, thrashed Chicago Bears 41-10 this weekend.

12

Taylor was seen leaving the match with TravisCredit: X/paytonsun

12

The star watched the game with Travis’ mum DonnaCredit: Getty
The pair were later seen leaving the Arrowhead Stadium together, with Taylor wearing a Chiefs jacket around her waist and grinning like the cat that got the cream.

The ‘date’ comes a week after Travis, 33, blasted older brother Jason, a Philadelphia Eagles star, as “ridiculous” for telling a chat show that rumours of the pair’s romance were “100 per cent true”.

“The guy is ridiculous,” Travis said. “He can’t stay out of the fricking headlines. Everyone, please stop asking my brother about my love life.”

But he admitted he had been chasing the 33-year-old pop star since seeing her play at the arena in July.

He told Pat McAfee: “I threw the ball in her court and told her, ‘I’ve seen you rock the stage at Arrowhead. You might have to come see me rock the stage at Arrowhead and see which one’s a little more lit.’

“We’ll see what happens in the near future.”

Having accepted the invitation Taylor, who split from The 1975 singer Matty Healy in June, might want to revisit one of her old lyrics – I Knew You Were Trouble.

From smoking weed at school to dating 50 women at once, we take a look at the chequered past of the $65million football player.

12

Travis during the game on SundayCredit: Getty

12

Travis, pictured as a youngster, has been open about his past troublesCredit: Instagram

Expelled from preschool

Growing up in Cleveland with an age gap of just 23 months, brothers Jason and Travis were always competitive and caused mum Donna a fair few headaches.

“It’s a lot of broken windows, a lot of, you know, crashes, a lot of fighting… and Travis was always the one that was the instigator because he wanted his brother’s attention,” banker Donna has said.

Jason – whose Eagles team was beaten by Travis’ in this year’s Super Bowl – has also opened up about their sibling rivalry, telling NFL Films: “Two-year age difference, so growing up, in typical younger brother fashion, Travis found all the other ways to get the upper hand — and that was the most annoying thing ever.”

Travis’s competitive streak got him in trouble at an early age, and saw him kicked out of preschool after refusing to share a draughts set.

“I kept winning and the teacher told me, ‘You know Travis, you have to share,’ and I was like, ‘That’s not how it rolls’,” Travis said, adding that he then “threw the chair I was sitting in at her.”

Drug rap

12

Travis with his mum DonnaCredit: Instagram

His brother Jason came to the rescue when he was kicked off his college football teamCredit: Instagram
Although he excelled at both football and baseball at school, Travis admits he failed multiple exams and was more interested in smoking drugs than studying.

“Just goes to show you, if you’re bad at school and smoke weed, you can win the Super Bowl twice,” he said.

But his drug habit almost put paid to his career in sport, after he followed his brother to the University of Cincinnati on a football scholarship.

In his first year in 2009, he was kicked out of the team after failing a drug test – but Jason stepped in, making Travis move in with him so he could “keep an eye on him”.

He persuaded the team coach to give him a second chance.

“I’ve never really asked how he got me back on the team,” Travis told Sports Illustrated. “That was my brother just being a big brother, looking out for me every step of the way and fighting for the success story.”

After signing for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2011, generous Jason bought his brother a new Ford F-150 – which was stolen less than 10 hours later as Travis hung out at a strip club in Cleveland.

“He didn’t tell me there was a spare key in the glove compartment,” Travis later admitted. “I had the key. I just didn’t lock the car. Strippers got me!”

NFL legend

12

Travis even landed his own reality show which followed his search for loveCredit: Catching Kelce

12

On Catching Kelce, women from 50 states vied for a date with himCredit: NBC
Signed up by the Kansas City Chiefs, Travis has become an NFL legend and is considered the best tight end – an offensive position – in the League, earning £53million over his 10 year career.

He has also revelled in his stardom with infamous celebration dances which have received millions of views on social media – he boasts 2.9million followers on Instagram.

He’s even had his own dating show, Catching Kelce, which saw him date 50 women at one time.

The 2016 E! show saw women from 50 states vying for a date with the player.

He eventually chose Maya Benberry, from Kentucky, despite calling her “arrogant” on the show.

He told her: “I have been attracted to women like that my entire life, and those relationships didn’t work because of that. I don’t want that anymore.”

But he clearly changed his mind and the pair dated for eight months before splitting at the end of 2016.

12

Travis dated Maya Benberry, who he matched with on his showCredit: Instagram

Cheating rumours

Travis quickly moved on with sports journalist and influencer Kayla Nicole, pursuing her on Instagram before they started dating.

But after he went public with the relationship in 2017, Maya accused him of cheating on her for a month, posting: “When you and your ex broke up five months ago but you find out via social media that he’s supposedly been in another relationship for six…”

She also claimed Travis had messaged her in early 2017 claiming he was still single.

Kayla and Travis split in 2020 amid rumours of his infidelity, which he strongly denied on social media, saying: “This is fake news… a lie… and not why Kayla and I broke up. Take all your hatred somewhere else please.”

The pair were quickly reunited with Travis gushing in November 2020: “She’s the best, she’s the absolute best.”

After splitting from Maya, Travis dated influencer Kayla NicoleCredit: Getty
But in 2022, shortly after Kayla told followers she was “ready to be a wife”, they split for good.

The pair quickly shut down rumours that the split was over his “50/50 rule” – which dictated his girlfriend had to split everything equally despite his millions.

Travis said she had a “financially stable life” but added: “You’ve got to be crazy if you’d think I would never have helped or gave her a couple thousand to grab some food, or she gave me some money to go get some food… we were in a relationship for five years.

“A hundred dollars here, a hundred dollars there wasn’t even thought about.”

Nicole tweeted: “Not sure where y’all got this nonsense from, but it’s absurd and very false.”

Despite the split, Kayla has remained close to Travis’ mum Donna, who once praised her as “one of the kindest, most thoughtful, and hard-working people I know”.

‘Secret plan’

While they have only been spotted in public this weekend, a US source said Taylor and Travis have been “quietly hanging out” for months after meeting in New York.

Fans of the Chiefs have jokingly suggested Eagles fan Taylor has a secret plan to sabotage the team, which will culminate in her playing the Super Bowl dressed in a blinged-up Eagles jacket.

But Taylor seems to have genuinely embraced the WAG role as she cheered him on at the Arrowhead Stadium.

Looks like it’s a case of Look What You Made Me do as the singer switches loyalties and throws her all behind the Chiefs.

12

Taylor looked every inch the Chiefs fan on SundayCredit: Getty