


Travis Kelce was ready for it.
The Kansas City Chiefs player explained how Taylor Swift’s recent surprise performance in Nashville, Tenn. came to be, admitting it had been “planned for a while.”
The couple decided to “have some fun with the athletes” attending the Tight End & Friends event in June, Kelce told “New Heights” podcast listeners Wednesday.
While the Super Bowl winner didn’t clarify exactly “when the idea came up,” he said Kane Brown’s “professional” presence as one of the event’s performers was a motivating factor.
“We knew … he could figure it out,” Kelce, 35, explained. “He’s a pro, he’s been onstage a million times, he’s not shy at all by any means.
“Tay just kind of went up to him and the band,” the “Catching Kelce” alum continued. “[She] said, ‘Hey if you guys are down, I’ll go up there and play a song and see if we can pop the roof off this place.'”
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He noted that Swift, also 35, is “so good with … making people feel comfortable” that Brown “sure enough” agreed to do a duet.
The pair went viral for their “Shake It Off” collab, with the country singer, 31, later joking that he was replaced as the “special guest.”
Kelce gushed on Wednesday that his girlfriend “absolutely rocked the stage yet again” in her “awesome” performance — despite not rehearsing.
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“[She] just went out there without practicing and was pitch perfect and just killed it,” he told listeners, noting that she prepped the band beforehand.
“She was, like, in the back doing musical notes, sheets of music,” Kelce said. “She was kind of writing out, I think, the high hats. Maybe? I don’t know, I’m not a musician.”
At the time, the NFL star was filmed rocking out to the “Shake It Off” rendition and singing along.
Kelce and Swift, who began dating in 2023, shared an intimate slow dance to that same song while at the Tight End University welcoming ceremony the previous day.
Since Kelce, George Kittle and Greg Olsen’s annual event wrapped on June 26, the couple have been spotted looking loved-up on two dates.
The pair held hands as they went to dinner at New York City’s San Vicente last week, and they lunched at JoJo’s Bar near Kelce’s Ohio hometown on Tuesday.