Taylor Swift on ‘New Heights’: Meeting Travis Kelce, Chiefs Fandom, New Music, More

Taylor Swift shined as this week’s special guest on “New Heights,” discussing learning the ins and outs of the NFL, becoming a Kansas City Chiefs fan, reclaiming her master recordings, wrapping up her latest world tour and the release of her highly anticipated upcoming 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” in Wednesday’s new episode.

This was Swift’s first appearance on the mega-popular podcast, which is hosted by her boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and his brother, former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce.

Here are the standout moments from Wednesday’s episode:

Meeting Travis for the first time

“This podcast has done a lot for me,” Swift said with a grin. “I owe a lot to this podcast. This podcast got me a boyfriend ever since Travis decided to use it as his personal dating app about two years ago. … It was such a wild, romantic gesture. … I was like, ‘If this guy isn’t crazy, which is a big if, this is sort of what I’ve been writing songs about wanting to happen to me since I was a teenager.'”

Swift went on to affectionately referr to Travis as “a vibe-booster” and “a human exclamation point.”

Travis famously mentioned on “New Heights” two summers ago that he went to one of Swift’s shows at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City in July 2023 and tried to connect with her at the show but wasn’t able to. Rumors quickly began to swirl that word had gotten back to Swift and that the two had met and ultimately sparked a relationship that summer, but the pair didn’t go public until the fall, when Swift attended her first Chiefs game on September 24, 2023.

Reclaiming her masters

Swift hasn’t publicly discussed the drama-filled purchase of her masters outside an official statement released in May 2025, but she took the opportunity to go into detail about the hugely impactful moment in her career. Swift got visibly emotional when discussing how she was able to buy her master recordings this summer after years of releasing re-records of four of her first six studio albums, revealing that she sent her mom and brother to sit down with the private equity firm (the owners at the time) in an effort to work out a deal. “I’m in the business of human emotion,” Swift said. 

Swift went on to tell the story about when she got the call from her mom that she was going to own her music and how she interrupted Travis while he was playing video games to share the news, falling to the floor and weeping in his arms. Swift also revealed that she was able to buy back her masters because of the success of The Eras Tour and that her favorite album to re-record was her fourth studio album, “Red.”

The Eras Tour

“It feels great, to be honest,” Swift said cheekily when Jason asked what it feels like to have her world-famous tour in the rearview. “I do miss it, but it was perfect for what it was.”

The Eras Tour spanned 149 shows across 51 cities and five continents from March 2023 to December 2024. Travis told listeners that Swift did more for her recovery after each show than he does after a Chiefs game.

“I give The Eras Tour credit because if I would’ve never gone to that show and been mesmerized and … left with such a desire to want to meet you, I would’ve never went on here and told everyone how butthurt I was (that I didn’t get to meet you then),” Travis added. “I had never just been so engulfed in the curiosity of who you were.”

“One of the best things about that last statement is that you didn’t even know what the word engulf meant before you met Taylor,” Jason said to Travis with a laugh. “You’ve broadened your horizons so much!”

Sports, competition and the NFL

“My relationship with sports was — I grew up in Pennsylvania,” Swift said. “I always heard my dad yelling at the [TV] screen watching Eagles games. [Those were] always the sports sounds that I heard in my house.” Swift grew up in Reading, Pennsylvania, just 90 minutes outside Philly, and makes a nod to the Eagles in her song “Gold Rush.”

“I definitely became obsessed with sports when it came to him (Travis),” she added. “I’m competitive on his behalf.”

Fans had been strongly anticipating this episode’s release ever since “New Heights” dropped its initial promotional graphic on Monday teasing a “very special” surprise guest. Later that day, Swift was confirmed as the guest with another promo post — a clip featuring her and Travis sitting side by side in the podcast studio. In the very early hours of Tuesday morning, “New Heights” dropped a third promo post that nearly broke the internet — a clip from the episode in which Swift revealed the completion of her 12th studio album to the Kelce brothers.

Here are some fun facts about Wednesday’s “New Heights” episode featuring Swift:

• The episode dropped on August 13. Thirteen is widely known as Swift’s lucky number, as she has incorporated it into various aspects of her career for decades. Swift was born on the 13th, turned 13 on Friday the 13th and had her first album go gold in 13 weeks. Her first hit song had a 13-second intro, and she often puts her most significant songs as Track 13 on all her albums. This season serendipitously marks Travis’ 13th in the NFL.
• During the podcast, Jason wore a navy blue T-shirt from The Eras Tour, Swift’s iconic 149-show concert tour that spanned 51 cities, 21 countries and five continents from March 2023 to Dec. 2024. Jason reportedly attended at least six shows during The Eras Tour, while Travis reportedly attended at least 14. One of the most noteworthy shows was Swift’s second show in Buenos Aires, Argentina on November 11, 2023, when she famously changed the lyrics in her finale song “Karma” from “Karma is the guy on the screen” to “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs.” Travis watched from the VIP tent with Swift’s dad, Scott. Another was when Travis made a surprise on-stage appearance during Swift’s third show at Wembley Stadium in London on June 23, 2024.
• The initial “New Heights” promo graphic featured a glittery orange background, which fans were quick — and correct — to connect to upcoming new music. Each of Swift’s 10 albums released before The Eras Tour is tied to a specific color: mint green (“Taylor Swift”), gold (“Fearless”), purple (“Speak Now”), red (“Red”), turquoise (“1989”), black (“Reputation”), pink (“Lover”), gray (“Folklore”), peach (“Evermore”) and navy (“Midnights”). Prior to Wednesday, orange hadn’t yet been used to represent her discography, but it’s officially the featured color for TS12, as the same glittery orange background from the “New Heights” promo is being used as the banner on her official online store and as the sneak-peek color for the vinyl version of her new album. Oh, and if you Google “Taylor Swift” right now, orange confetti drops from your screen.

Swift grew up in Reading, Pennsylvania, just 90 minutes outside Philadelphia. Her song “Gold Rush” includes a lyric about an “Eagles T-shirt,” which she clarified during her stop in Philly on The Eras Tour in February is about the football team, not the rock band. With 14 Grammys, 12 number-one singles and the highest-grossing tour of all time under her belt, Swift is one of the most decorated, highest-certified and best-selling music artists of all time.

Travis is a highly decorated star in his own right. A three-time Super Bowl champion and 10-time Pro Bowler, Travis holds a handful of NFL records, including most consecutive and overall seasons with 1,000 receiving yards by a tight end (seven) and most receiving yards by a tight end in a single season (1,416). Jason is also a Super Bowl champion and seven-time Pro Bowler, and he’s widely considered to be a future first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer.

The Kelce brothers launched “New Heights” in Sept. 2022, and the show saw a huge rise in popularity in the summer of 2023 at the start of Travis and Swift’s relationship. The podcast has grown to over 2.85 million subscribers as of Aug. 13 and gained over half a million new YouTube subscribers after Swift’s new album announcement on Aug. 12.

The “New Heights” promo video of Swift announcing her album got 175 million views on Instagram. Within the first minute of Wednesday’s episode’s release on YouTube, 720,000-plus viewers were tuned in to watch the live premiere. Over a million people were tuned in and watching the episode within five minutes of it being live.

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