Travis Kelce, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, has made headlines recently for his relationship with pop superstar Taylor Swift, but it seems he has a rather selective memory when it comes to his past romances. On a special Mother’s Day episode of his podcast, New Heights, recorded on May 8, 2025, Kelce jokingly claimed he hadn’t had any girlfriends before Swift. This light-hearted moment came during a conversation with his brother, Jason Kelce, and their mother, Donna Kelce.
Donna, who has been a supportive figure in both of her sons’ lives, remarked that she only met one or two of Travis’s ex-girlfriends. This revelation prompted Travis to respond with surprise, quipping, “What? I didn’t have any girlfriends.” While his comment was made in jest, it raised eyebrows considering his five-year on-and-off relationship with sports journalist Kayla Nicole, which ended in 2022.
Travis and Kayla’s relationship was tumultuous, characterized by multiple breakups and reconciliations. They first split in August 2020 amid cheating rumors, which Travis vehemently denied in a now-deleted tweet, stating, “This is fake news... a lie... and not why Kayla and I broke up. Take all your hatred somewhere else please.” They managed to get back together but ultimately parted ways again in May 2022.
In a January 2023 interview on The Pivot Podcast, Travis addressed rumors that he had forced Kayla to pay for half of their expenses during their relationship. He stated, “Don’t buy into that [expletive]. I would never say that I was supporting her. She had a very financially stable life and what she was doing in her career.” He added, “But you’ve got to be crazy if you’d think I would never 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.”
Since going public with Taylor Swift in September 2023, when she attended a Chiefs game against the Chicago Bears, the couple has chosen to keep their relationship relatively private. Swift herself revealed in a TIME magazine interview that they had been dating for some time before she made her first public appearance at a game. “We actually had a significant amount of time that no one knew, which I’m grateful for because we got to get to know each other,” she explained. “By the time I went to that first game, we were a couple. I think some people think that they saw our first date at that game.”
Despite their efforts to maintain privacy, the couple has been the subject of intense media scrutiny. They opted to skip the Met Gala in May 2025 due to their busy schedules, which only fueled speculation about their relationship. On the May 7 episode of New Heights, Donna Kelce playfully inquired if Travis had gotten a tan, to which he cryptically replied that he had just been in his “cubicle.” This evasive response hinted at their desire to keep their personal lives under wraps.
Travis’s casual dismissal of his past relationships, combined with the couple’s efforts to limit public appearances together, has kept fans guessing about their relationship dynamics. They reportedly took a trip earlier in 2025 but managed to avoid the spotlight during their travels. Travis has been seen on solo outings, while Swift has largely stayed out of the public eye, even skipping high-profile events like the Met Gala.
The couple’s relationship has sparked interest not only because of their celebrity status but also due to the contrast between their public personas and their private lives. Fans are eager to learn more about the dynamics of their relationship, especially given the intense media attention surrounding both stars.
As they navigate the challenges of fame, Travis and Taylor continue to focus on their respective careers while attempting to cultivate their romance away from the public eye. This balancing act is not uncommon among celebrity couples, but their unique situations as two of the biggest names in their fields adds an extra layer of complexity.
In the end, Travis’s humorous comments about his dating history and the couple’s decision to keep things private reflect a broader trend among celebrities who seek to maintain some semblance of normalcy in their lives. Whether or not Travis truly forgot his past relationships remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: his current romance with Taylor Swift is capturing the hearts of fans everywhere.
