“Travis is completely different from anyone Taylor has dated earlier than,” an Us Weekly supply stated this week of the burgeoning relationship between Taylor Swift and Kansas Metropolis Chiefs tight finish Travis Kelce. That assertion is true on just a few fronts: not solely is Kelce the primary skilled athlete to catch Swift’s eye, however he’s additionally the primary podcast host and, maybe most unexpectedly, solely former actuality relationship present lead.
Again in 2016, Kelce was being pursued on the E! relationship actuality collection Catching Kelce—which Tom Kludt known as “fairly tough viewing” in Vainness Honest’s profile of Kelce revealed earlier this yr.
The athlete beforehand addressed the collection whereas internet hosting Saturday Night time Dwell in March. “It was sort of like The Bachelor, besides as a substitute of roses I handed out footballs, and as a substitute of watching, individuals didn’t.” Working example: “That present is owned by NBCUniversal, so it needs to be on Peacock, however Peacock stated, ‘Nah, we good.’” No less than, that was true till Kelce’s precise relationship life heated up—and the streamer promptly made all seven episodes out there once more.
The renewed curiosity in Kelce’s backstory is smart. However how did he get his personal relationship present within the first place? Properly, regardless of five-year, $46 million contract extension with the Chiefs—which the present incessantly references as an indication of Kelce’s relevance—Kelce says that in these days he was strapped for money.
“I turned down the present about 100 occasions is what it felt like,” he stated on The Pivot podcast this yr. “I used to be having a lot enjoyable shopping for regardless of the hell I wished to, going wherever the hell I wished to. There have been occasions within the low season, I used to be avoiding the lease woman. It was that unhealthy.” So lastly, he gave in, “I heard about this case the place I may make six figures in two weeks and I used to be like, ‘Hell yeah. And 50 girls? I’m like, ‘That is really beginning to sound slightly higher.’”
Like Love Is Blind’s pods or the hands-off conceit of Too Scorching to Deal with, Catching Kelce’s gimmick is that fifty ladies—one from every state—will compete for the footballer’s affections. He’s armed with steerage from his supervisor Aaron Eanes and older brother Jason, a middle for the Philadelphia Eagles with whom Travis hosts their hit New Heights podcast. Not like The Bachelor, the winner can’t count on an engagement; in contrast to Love Island there isn’t a money prize., They’ll solely get the treasured title of Kelce’s “first girlfriend within the NFL.”
