Travis Kelce Joins Taylor Swift on Stage

Travis Kelce #87 of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrates with Taylor Swift after a 17–10 victory against the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Jan. 28, 2024. Patrick Smith/Getty Images

The sight of Taylor Swift at Kansas City Chiefs games became a familiar one last season, with the pop megastar in attendance to support her boyfriend, tight end Travis Kelce.

Ms. Swift went to 13 of the Chiefs games, including both the regular season and playoffs, and was there for the team’s Super Bowl victory over the San Francisco 49ers. She even joined him on the field after the game.

So naturally many Swifties wondered when Mr. Kelce might return the favor and join Ms. Swift during her worldwide Eras Tour—and perhaps even join her on stage just as she had joined him on the field.

This weekend they had their answer.

The football player made his onstage debut at Wembley Stadium in London on Sunday. But Mr. Kelce didn’t just come on stage for a token appearance, wave to the crowd, and head backstage; he actually took part in Ms. Swift’s performance. Mr. Kelce, dressed up in a suit and top hat, just like Ms. Swift’s backup dancers, and came on stage after the singer, in character, fell to the ground while performing “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.”

Then, the 6-foot-5, 250-pound Mr. Kelce picked up the singer and carried her to a red couch on stage, while he and the two backup dancers revived Ms. Swift and got her back to her feet. Mr. Kelce then did a little jig to try and cajole Ms. Swift to perform, which seemed to work. Kelce continued the act by swabbing Ms. Swift’s face with a makeup brush, which then led to her reanimation and performance of “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.”

While this was Mr. Kelce’s first on-stage performance alongside Ms. Swift, it wasn’t his first time attending one of her concert shows. Just one day earlier, Ms. Swift posted on Instagram a selfie of herself, Mr. Kelce, Prince William, and his eldest two children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, after her Friday show.

Sunday concluded Ms. Swift’s three-show stop in London, but The Eras Tour will return to Wembley for five more shows in mid-August.

Mr. Kelce may have foreshadowed his Sunday appearance at Wembley during an interview when he was asked which show can’t be missed during Ms. Swift’s European leg, which began on May 19 in Sweden to span seven countries. The tour ends with its eighth Wembley show on Aug. 20.

“Man, I'll tell you what, I think the London shows ... I think she’s at Wembley eight times, which is mind-blowing that she can do that many shows in one stadium and fill that thing up,” Mr. Kelce told Entertainment Tonight in April. "I played in Wembley once, and I don’t even think we filled that thing all the way up. And London’s always an amazing city. Paris is a beautiful city. She’ll be all over Europe, so there won’t be a bad show, I promise you that.”

Mr. Kelce’s on-stage performance is the continuation of a busy offseason for the 34-year-old, and one in which he’s expanding his repertoire beyond football. In addition to his New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce podcast, in which he records weekly episodes alongside his brother, Mr. Kelce has also added an acting credit to his name. He was cast in the FX horror series Grotesquerie.

And becoming part of the Eras Tour isn’t Mr. Kelce’s first venture into the music business. He hosts his own music festival called Kelce Jam, which held its second edition on May 18 in Kansas City. Additionally, just earlier this month, Travis and Jason Kelce became new part-owners of a light beer brand called Garage Beer.

While Chiefs fans may be a bit worried that Mr. Kelce is devoting so much attention to things other than football, he said earlier this year that the offseason is a time when he can experiment with things that could give him different avenues to pursue once he’s done playing football.

“I do take the offseason to get away and kind of recharge, but at the same time, I’m a football player,'‘ Mr. Kelce said at Chiefs minicamp. ”I love playing in the NFL and this will always be my main focus. But outside of that, football ends for everybody, so kind of dipping your toes in the water and seeing what you like in different areas, in different career fields, I think the offseason is the best chance you can get.’’

Mr. Kelce and the Chiefs wrapped up their mandatory minicamp on June 13. They won’t resume team activities until training camp begins on July 21. Kansas City begins preseason action on Saturday, Aug. 10, versus the Jacksonville Jaguars before its regular season starts when it hosts the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday, Sept. 5.