The Scary Downside Of Travis Kelce's High-Profile Romance With Taylor Swift For His Family

Global pop icon Taylor Swift's relationship with Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl champion Travis Kelce might seem like a fairytale, but as some of Kelce's relatives are finding out, the flipside to this highly publicized romance is actually more of a horror story. From intense public scrutiny to an unsettling loss of privacy, the drawbacks of this power couple's relationship added a whole new meaning to Swift's lyric, "Darling, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream." 

Kelce's older brother, Jason Kelce, discussed some of the more nightmarish qualities of his younger brother's high-profile relationship while on Shaquille O'Neal's "The Big Podcast with Shaq" in February 2024. The Philadelphia Eagles center explained that his brother's relationship with Swift exposed the Kelces to a level of fame they had never experienced before, even as successful professional athletes.

That fame, Jason said, "has its drawbacks, for sure." He continued: "Travis knows better than I do. He had to completely move out of his house. People were just staying by his house. The first day he moved into the new house ... a gated community, someone knocks on a window of the house."

Before Travis Kelce began dating Taylor Swift, he and his brother, Jason Kelce, were relatively unknown outside the professional football world. And while Travis might have set his sights on fame — even going so far as telling his publicity team he wanted to be as famous as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, per The New York Times — his family has been far less interested in that level of notoriety. Ever the protective older brother, Jason has long been wary of this fame. 

"This is another level of stardom that typically football players don't deal with," Jason told NBC Sports' Peter King in October 2023. "On the one hand, really, really happy for my brother and where's at in his current situation. But on the other hand, there's some, I think, alarms sometimes with how, you know, over-in-pursuit people can be." Jason told King he was unsettled by how closely the public watched his younger brother and, as it turns out, his concerns were not unfounded.

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end was forced to move homes in October 2023 after paparazzi and Swifties began stationing themselves outside his private residence. Despite the move not garnering him the privacy he might have hoped, Travis doesn't seem to be letting the paps scare him away from his pop icon boo.

News of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's relationship began circulating when the pop star was spotted at a Kansas City Chiefs game in September 2023, leading many to speculate that we were watching their first date unfold in real time. However, Swift's Time Person of the Year interview revealed that the power couple's relationship started earlier than anyone knew, allowing the two to forge their connection outside of the public eye.

These days, the privilege of keeping their relationship private is long gone. But this doesn't seem to faze Kelce. While speaking at a press conference in October 2023, the football player said, "We're learning with the paparazzi just taking photos from all over the place, but, at the same time, it comes with it. You got a lot of people that care about Taylor and for good reason" (via X, formerly known as Twitter). But the rest of the Kelces are still on guard.

The stark contrast between Swift and Kelce's relationship and the rest of the Kelces' private lives has caused some to wonder if Swift and Kylie Kelce, Jason Kelce's wife, have a chilly relationship. The Kelce brothers' parents, Donna and Ed Kelce, have also allegedly voiced concerns over messages and calls they've received about their youngest son and his girlfriend. But so long as no one is in danger, the Kelces seem happy to support from the (less visible) sidelines.