- Travis Kelce won two Super Bowls with the Kansas City Chiefs, where he plays as a tight end.
- Travis previously appeared on a reality dating show and was subsequently in an on/off relationship with Kayla Nicole for five years.
- Travis has been spending time with Taylor Swift after attending her ‘Eras Tour.’
Two-time Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce is one of the biggest stars in the NFL right now. And he’s going to become even more famous if the rumors about Travis, 33, and Taylor Swift, 33, are true. On September 12, The Messenger reported via a source that the football player and the “Style” singer “have been quietly hanging out.” Earlier in the summer, Travis revealed he tried and failed at giving Taylor his number at her Eras Tour.
Before the news about Travis and Taylor came out, Travis had to miss the Chiefs’ first game of the 2023-2024 season due to an injury. Travis led the Chiefs to victory during Super Bowl LVII against the Philadelphia Eagles, who his brother Jason plays for. Prior to their 2023 victory, the last time the Chiefs were in the Super Bowl was in 2021 when they lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. During that game, Travis had his longtime love, Kayla Nicole, in the stands cheering him on. However, before Super Bowl LVII, the pair split up. “I’m in the free market right now,” Travis said on The Pivot podcast in Jan. 2023. “I’m out there just enjoying life, focused on my profession. Got my feet up outside of football.”
Travis previously appeared on a reality dating show in 2016, so his love life has certainly been in the public eye. Now that the Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift rumors are flying, learn more about the other ladies he’s been linked to here.
Maya Benberry
Travis began playing with the KC Chiefs during the 2013 season, but amidst his early years on the team, he was also a reality star. Travis appeared on the 2016 E! reality show, Catching Kelce, where he dated various women in hopes of finding his person. Travis was hoping to find his soulmate on the show and he dated one woman from each state to get there. In the end, he chose Maya Benberry from Kentucky.
Catching Kelce aired during the fall of 2016, but filmed several months prior (Maya confirmed that the finale was filmed in April 2016). Before the show aired, Travis confirmed that he and his final pick were still together, but not at the point of talking about an engagement or marriage yet. Once the finale finally did air, Maya told Kentucky.com that things were still going well. “Now we just date in real life,” she explained. “To me and him, it feels like a fresh start.”
Unfortunately, that fresh start didn’t last long. Travis and Maya split by the end of 2016, making their entire relationship about eight months long. The following May, Travis’ relationship with Kayla was confirmed, and it was reported by TMZ that the two had been dating for six months at the time. In a since deleted tweet — captured by The Shade Room — Maya seemed to accuse Travis of cheating on her with Kayla. “When you and your ex broke up five months ago but you find out via social media that he’s supposedly been in another relationship for 6…” Maya allegedly wrote. She also claimed that he texted her in February 2017 and said he was single. HollywoodLife cannot independently confirm whether there was actually any overlap.
Today, Maya works as a beauty blogger and life coach. Her blog, Moments With Maya, aims to help users “create [their] ideal reality” and “the life that [they] so rightfully deserve.” She has more than 145,000 followers on Instagram.
Kayla Nicole
TMZ confirmed Kayla and Travis’ relationship in May of 2017. The pair started talking months prior, though, which Kayla confirmed via Instagram, according to Page Six. In March 2022, Kayla did an “Ask Me Anything” on her Instagram Story, and fielded a question about the beginning of her relationship with Travis. “He had been following me and insta-flirting for a few months,” Kayla revealed. “All double taps and no DM. Sooo after a little liquid courage and a pep talk from [friend] (something along the lines of WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR), I DMed him on New Year’s.”
Things were going strong for the couple for three years, and their relationship was very much in the public eye. From the ESPY Awards to the Kids’ Choice Sports Awards and more, Kayla and Travis attended various high-profile events as a couple over the years. She was also there to support Travis and the Chiefs when they won the 2020 Super Bowl.
However, by August 2020, fans began wondering if Travis and Kayla had split up, as they unfollowed each other on Instagram. At the time, rumors began swirling that Travis had cheated on Kayla, leading to the breakup. In a since-deleted tweet, he denied the allegations, but did confirm the split. “This is fake news…a lie…and not why Kayla and I broke up,” he wrote. “Take all your hatred somewhere else please.”
Just months later, though, in Dec. 2020, Travis confirmed that he and Kayla were back together. While addressing his holiday plans, Travis revealed that his “girlfriend Kayla” was one of the people on his Christmas list. Kayla then proved the romance was back on by celebrating a Chiefs playoff win on her IG Story. She was also there to cheer Travis on when he played in the 2021 Super Bowl a few weeks later (unfortunately, the Chiefs lost).
In March 2022, Travis and Kayla were going strong, as they attended Patrick Mahomes and Brittany Matthews‘ wedding together. At some point before the end of the year, though, the two broke up. Rumors of a split first surfaced at the end of May 2022. At the time, there was an allegation floating around that Kayla ended the relationship because Travis “kept making her pay for everything in the five years they were dating.” Kayla took to Twitter to debunk this rumor, writing, “Not sure where y’all got this nonsense from, but it’s absurd and very false.” Kayla’s tweet didn’t make it clear whether or not the breakup portion of the rumor was also false, and the exact timing of their split is unclear. However, by the beginning of summer, they had deleted all photos of each other on Instagram.
During his Jan. 2023 Pivot interview, Travis addressed the rumor, as well. “How crazy is that?” he asked. “Don’t buy into that s***! I would never say that I was supporting her. She had a very financially stable life and what she was doing in her career. You’ve got to be crazy if you think I’d never helped or gave her a couple dollars to grab some food or she gave me some money…we were in a relationship for five years. A hundred dollars here and a hundred dollars there wasn’t even thought about, which is ridiculous.”
While neither has said anything officially, the pair did spark reunion rumors in July 2023 when Brittany Mahomes posted a video of them together at a launch event for Patrick Mahomes’ Netflix documentary, per Newsweek. Despite some reports that they’re back together, neither has confirmed whether they actually are a couple again.
Kayla has a Bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Pepperdine University, and she works as an on-camera host for various sport sites. She has also dabbled in modeling and has competed in various beauty pageants. During her pageant career, Kayla was named First Runner Up in Miss Malibu 2013 and placed in the top 10 for Miss California in 2012. Kayla created her fitness brand, Strong Is Sexy, in 2020 with the hope of “redefining sexy from the inside out.”
Zuri Hall
Once it was confirmed that Travis was single in the fall of 2022, fans began buzzing about who he would date next. In October, one of Travis’ friends posted a video with Access Hollywood correspondent, Zuri Hall, and fans spotted Travis in the background. She was also seen sitting in a suite at a Kansas City Chiefs game around that time. Fans also claim that Zuri and Travis’ ex, Kayla, unfollowed each other on social media.
This one appears to be nothing more than a fan rumor that spiraled a bit when it was picked up by some media outlets online. Zuri and Travis have not confirmed that there was anything romantic between them, and in Jan. 2023, he revealed that he was single.
Zuri is a popular entertainment host, who has worked for MTV, E! and more, in addition to her current gig with Access Hollywood. She also works as a reporter for American Ninja Warrior and has served as host of the Miss USA pageant.
Taylor Swift
Travis and Taylor have been linked since The Messenger reported on September 12 that the two” have been quietly hanging out.” A source told the outlet that “she saw him when she was in NYC a few weeks ago.” Travis went to Taylor’s Eras Tour over the summer and talked about how he tried to shoot his shot with the pop star on the July 26 episode of his podcast, New Heights.
“I was a little butthurt that I didn’t get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her,” Travis said. “I wanted to give Taylor Swift one with my number on it.” He then revealed that he took the rejection “personally” after he wasn’t able to meet Taylor. “She doesn’t meet anybody or at least she didn’t want to meet me so I took it personal,” Travis also said. His older brother and podcast co-host Jason teased Travis and said that Taylor is “a big Eagles fan.”