Taylor Swift is joined on stage by Travis Kelce. Gareth Cattermole/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
ICYMI, Travis Kelce recently traded in his cleats for dancing shoes at The Eras Tour in London, and he’s breaking down how that now-viral stunt came to be.
“It’s very unlike me. I’m not big, I don’t like going on stages. There were a lot of people out there, really didn’t feel at home,” Travis, 34, joked during the Wednesday, July 3, episode of “New Heights” after his brother, Jason Kelce, brought up the “magical” surprise.
Kelce flew across the pond to support his girlfriend, Taylor Swift, as she performed three sold-out shows at London’s Wembley Stadium from June 21 to June 23. He attended the first two concerts with Jason, 36, and sister-in-law Kylie Kelce, but the most memorable moment came on night three.
“I initially mentioned to Tay, I was like, ‘How funny would it be if I just rolled out on one of the bikes during the 1989 [section]?’ She started laughing, she was like, ‘Would you seriously be up for doing something like that?’ I was like, ‘What? I would love to do that, are you kidding me?’” Travis recalled on Wednesday. “I’ve seen the show enough, might as well put me to work here. And sure enough, she found the perfect part of the show for me to come in. There was no, like, bike in case I ran into somebody else or hit one of the dancers or anything. It was, like, the safest option.”
During Swift’s new Tortured Poets Department set, Travis appeared on stage alongside two of her dancers following her performance of “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.” Travis carried Swift down the catwalk as she pretended to throw a tantrum before singing “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.” In video that has since gone viral, Travis fanned himself as Swift changed into a new costume. Once she was ready to sing again, she blew her boyfriend a kiss and he beamed on stage.
“Kam and Jan, [in] part of the Tortured Poets era of the show, are trying to bring Tay back to life, right? Trying to bring her back to life, get her ready to perform the rest of the show, so to speak, knowing she can do it with a broken heart,” Travis explained on the podcast. “It’s such a fun, like, playful part of the show.”
Jason chimed in that the TTPD hit has become one of his favorites in Swift’s discography. “Even before this happened, that’s a great tune,” he said.
Taylor Swift is joined on stage by Travis Kelce. Gareth Cattermole/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
The interlude was the “perfect time” for Travis to hit the stage and “be a ham” with his girlfriend. “[I] just made sure I played with Tay and got her makeup right. It was a blast, I had so much fun,” he continued. “It was an honor being on stage, obviously, with Taylor, but even Kam and Jan, knowing Kam’s brother Kalen Saunders, we played together in KC, won two Super Bowls together. … [He’s] one of my all-time favorite teammates, so to be able to rock the field with him and now rock the stage with his brother, you already know … it was an absolute blast.”
Noting how grateful he was to share the stage with “three professionals” who happily played along with his antics, Travis said there was only one thing on his mind during the show.
“Listen, the one thing I told myself is, ‘Do not drop the baby. Do not drop Taylor on your way over [to] this damn couch,’” he joked. “The golden rule was, ‘Do not drop Taylor. Get her to the couch safely.’”
He gushed over Swift’s professionalism, adding, “You can do no wrong when Taylor’s on stage, she’s the best to do it. … Shout-out to Tay for letting me jump on stage with her. Who knows, might not be the last time.”
Travis’ big Eras Tour debut earned praise from his mom, Donna Kelce, who shared a clip of the surprise via Facebook after the show. Many of Swift’s backup dancers also celebrated the special moment, reposting memes and videos via their Instagram Stories after the show.
Swift, meanwhile, gave the Kansas City Chiefs tight end a social media shout-out on June 24 while recapping her weekend in London.
“Wembley Stadium round one was so surreal. Looking out into crowds of 90,000 fans each night and hearing that VOLUME… Those were some of the loudest crowds I’ve ever heard. Acoustic sections went OFF. … And I’m still cracking up/swooning over @killatrav’s Eras Tour debut 🥰,” she captioned a slideshow of pics, including one of Travis with her on stage. “Never going to forget these shows. Can’t wait to do it 5 more times in August. Up next: Dublin!! 🇮🇪.”
When asked to compare the Eras Tour crowd to fans at a football game, Travis said on “New Heights” that it was “jarring” to hear how loud Swift’s audience got in London.
“And you don’t realize how big that damn stage is. … It’s way bigger than I could’ve ever imagined. So being on the stage, I was just like, ‘Man, I feel tiny up here.’ Like, ‘Oh, s—t,’” he added. “But no, it was awesome and I didn’t disappoint Taylor, so that’s all that really matters.”
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are all anyone can talk about. Swift and Kelce were first linked in July 2023 when the Kansas City Chiefs tight end shared he attempted to ask Swift out after attending her Eras Tour. “I was a little butthurt I didn’t get to hand her one of the bracelets I […]
Travis has been spotted at multiple Eras Tour shows since sparking a romance with Swift last summer. He famously attended one of her performances at Arrowhead Stadium in July 2023, later confessing on “New Heights” that he was “butthurt” about not being able to meet the pop star backstage. (Travis planned to give her a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it.)
The couple went public with their romance in September 2023. After flying to South America, Australia and beyond to support Swift throughout her tour, Travis was one of the first to catch a glimpse of her updated setlist when she debuted songs from TTPD in Paris.
“I had a blast at Tay’s show. Her new rendition of The Eras Tour, I suggest everybody go see it,” he gushed on his podcast in May, one month after TTPD was released. “It has her new Tortured Poets Department [album], a handful of those songs in the new show, which means there’s a new segment and new lights and new dancing, new everything to the f–king show. I suggest everybody get out there and see [her]. It is absolutely unbelievable.”