The next few months are set to be life-changing for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.
Swift faces a few weeks of separation from her Kansas City Chiefs lover before her billion-dollar Eras tour ends in Vancouver, British Columbia, on December 8.
And there is now a countdown to an engagement for the starry pair, sources say, as friends reveal how weathering the past year together, with 35-year-old Kelce the singer’s “protector” behind the scenes, has made them stronger than ever.
“Something people don’t really understand — and that’s by design — is how much courage Taylor has,” a source close to Swift’s inner circle told Page Six this week.
In August, a foiled terror plot led to Swift canceling three sold-out shows in Vienna, Austria, leaving her, as well as tens of thousands of fans, distraught. More recently she faced online abuse for publicly saying she will vote for Kamala Harris.
There was also a furor in the UK sparked by a clash between politicians over whether Swift should get a special escort to her concert at London’s Wembley Stadium by the city’s Metropolitan Police.
The Times of London reported the Met’s headquarters even sought legal advice from the UK Attorney General on the matter before Swift was eventually granted the escort.
In the midst of such turmoil, the source said the 31-year-old’s boyfriend, who she has been dating since last summer, gives her “a tremendous sense of peace”.
“Just his physical presence. She feels safer with him than anyone she’s ever known; she knows he would do anything for her and physically she feels protected by him, and she loves that feeling. It’s a relatively new one for her, relationship-wise,” the source added.
“Travis is her protector in every sense of the word. He is going to make sure she is physically safe, and emotionally safe — he is not going to do anything careless or reckless with her.”
Another industry source said, “Everyone is fascinated by Travis and Taylor. I am obsessed about a potential wedding. They are unbeatable together.”
Just don’t expect to see the star at any of Kelce’s away games this season — we’re told she doesn’t feel safe at venues other than Arrowhead Stadium unless it’s been co-ordinated and inspected by her own staff.
“She’s not going anywhere unless she knows the venue intimately and it has been thoroughly scouted and secured in advance,” said the Swift source, who pointed out that the singer’s recent trips to Yankee Stadium to see baseball and the US Open tennis tournament with Kelce were made with the help of staff who were “excellent” about cooperating with all the security demands beforehand.
Swift spoke of her “devastation” after being forced to cancel her Vienna concerts this summer.
Austrian officials said the main suspect, a 19-year-old Austrian man was inspired by the Islamic State terror group.
Investigators discovered chemical substances and technical devices during a raid of the suspect’s home and it was reported he planned to strike outside Ernst Happel Stadium, where more than 30,000 fans were expected to gather. Another 65,000 fans were likely to be inside the venue.
Swift admitted, “The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear, and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many people had planned on coming to those shows.”
However, thanks to the security services, “we were grieving concerts and not lives,” she said, stressing that she waited to speak until the European leg of her Eras Tour ended to prioritize safety.
In her usual fearless fashion, Swift then last month announced she will vote for Kamala Harris – shortly after Donald Trump used the star’s likeness on social media for his own campaign.
In her endorsement, Swift said, “It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter.”
She is voting for Harris “because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them…I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.”
She signed off by calling herself “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady” in a pointed dig at Trump’s running mate, JD Vance.
Trump retaliated by declaring “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT” on his social media platform, Truth Social. And in an interview with ‘Fox & Friends’. “I was not a Taylor Swift fan,” he said, “But she’s a very liberal person. She seems to always endorse a Democrat. And she’ll probably pay a price for it in the marketplace.”
Despite this, Trump’s daughter Ivanka happily took his granddaughter Arabella to Swift’s Miami concert last weekend. A friend told Page Six, “Ivanka’s daughter is absolutely a Swiftie”
She also sent Barstool Sports owner Dave Portnoy, a prominent Trump supporter, a note when he attended her Miami concert, thanking him “for always being so supportive, so loyal, and for having my back when a lot of people didn’t.”
The superstar this week performed in New Orleans and now travels on to Indianapolis and Toronto, Canada, before her tour ends in Vancouver.
Last week, Nick Jonas ran off stage mid concert with the Jonas Brothers in Prague after being targeted by a laser pointer in a now viral clip.
The Swift source told Page Six, “Announcing her endorsement of Kamala was insanely brave, and continuing to go on stage after Vienna was insanely brave.
“But if you watch what happened with Nick Jonas the other night, that is a perfect example of what is going on in the back of Taylor’s mind all the time.”
Even before the Harris endorsement, “the vitriol was out of control”, the source said, adding: “Just look at how some football fans behaved when all she was doing was sitting in a suite watching a game, with no control over how often the cameras cut to her.”
Despite this, another Swift insider told us she will make sure to see Kelce as much as she ever did, and pointed out she did even more tour dates this time last year, and still saw Kelce often while the football season was happening.
The question now is once Swift finishes her record-breaking tour, which has been running since March 2023 in Glendale, Arizona, what happens next? She has already become the first artist to have a billion-dollar grossing tour.
And as always, the rumor mill is focused on what new music will comes next for Swift, while Kelce has his sights on Hollywood.
He filmed a cameo on Adam Sandler’s ‘Happy Gilmore’ sequel in New Jersey earlier this month, we can confirm, and recently signed a $100 million podcast deal alongside his brother Jason with Amazon’s Wondery. He’s also hosting ‘Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?” for the streamer.
Rachel Richardson, who writes the Highly Flammable trends newsletter, told Page Six: “After the Eras Tour I think it would be wise for Taylor to take a break but I think that’s unlikely.
“She’s so prolific I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s more new music and she’s still to release Taylor’s Version of ‘Reputation’, which will be a huge moment.
“She and Travis They are yet to have a big red carpet moment together so I wonder if they are saving that … something like that would break the internet.”
