How a friendship bracelet sparked a love story that captured the attention of the world: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's relationship in pictures

Pop star meets star athlete. They fall in love. He wins a Super Bowl championship and she starts the highest grossing tour ever.

It sounds like a movie plot, but it's the memorable love story between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce that has been unfolding in front of the world for nearly two years.

Swift kicked off her Eras Tour in March 2023. But in the first leg of touring, it came out that Swift had ended her six-year relationship with actor Joe Alwyn.

What fans could never have predicted is that same tour, with some help from a friendship bracelet, would lead her to finding love again – this time with NFL star Travis Kelce.

We've since watched the superstar couple mark some major milestones in their relationship, cheering each other on at many sold-out shows and football games, travelling the world, and gushing about each other on the regular.

As Kelce heads into his second Super Bowl with Swift by his side, let's take a look back at all the "Tayvis" moments that sent fans around the world into a frenzy.

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Little did Taylor Swift know, July 8 would be a date that changed her entire life.

The pop star kicked off her global Eras Tour in the US in March 2023, with many celebrities attending her sold-out shows around the world.

But there was one star at her second Kansas City concert whose attendance would have a particularly big impact on Swift down the track.

We are, of course, talking about Kansas City Chiefs star, Travis Kelce.

Fans spotted the NFL star up in his VIP suite in Arrowhead Stadium, which is the Chiefs home ground.

Later that month, Kelce revealed on his podcast New Heights with his brother Jason Kelce that he tried to meet up with Swift after her show and give her a friendship bracelet – a popular tradition among her fans – with a special detail. 

"If you're up on Taylor Swift concerts, there are friendship bracelets, and I received a bunch of them being there, but I wanted to give Taylor Swift one with my number on it," he said.

Kelce said he "was disappointed that she doesn't talk before or after her shows because she has to save her voice for the 44 songs that she sings".

In the following months, romance rumours between Kelce and Swift began to stir.

Romance speculation went into overdrive on September 24 when Swift was spotted through the VIP suite window at one of Kelce's games.

The Cruel Summer singer cheered on the Chiefs in their game against the Chicago Bears at Arrowhead Stadium – the same place Kelce first laid eyes on her at the Eras Tour.

The NFL star later spoke about Swift's headline-making appearance on his podcast, calling the move, "pretty ballsy".

"I just thought it was awesome how everybody in the suite had nothing but great things to say about her – the friends and family," he added.

"She looked amazing and everybody was talking about her in great light."

Swift caught up with Kelce after the game.

The pair were filmed leaving the stadium together in a TikTok posted by the NFL.

Kelce wore the KidSuper Studios' 1989 Bedroom Painting set which, if you're familiar with Swift's discography, 1989 is the name of one of her albums.

While fans speculated it was the pair's first-ever date, Swift later confirmed in an interview with Time Magazine that the pair were already a couple at this point. 

"I think some people think that they saw our first date at that game? We would never be psychotic enough to hard launch a first date."

It quickly became clear Swift's surprise NFL appearance wasn't just a one-off.

The pop superstar returned to cheer on the Chiefs at their next game a week later, this time at their away game in New York City against the Jets on October 1.

Swift has since been to many NFL games to support Kelce, all of which you can see here.

As the world continued to speculate if Travis and Taylor, or "Tayvis" as they quickly became nicknamed, were in fact officially dating, they made another surprise outing in an unlikely place.

During the same Saturday Night Live show on October 14, both Swift and Kelce made brief on-screen cameos, albeit separately.

Swift appeared to introduce fellow musician and Karma collaborator, Ice Spice.

In another segment about the NFL and their coverage of Swift, Kelce himself popped up on the show.

But it was one act after the show in which the couple finally seemed to confirm their relationship status for good.

While they made separate cameos on the show, the pair made their way to the SNL afterparty that night together – looking very much like a couple.

Swift and Kelce were photographed holding hands later in the night while walking out in New York City.

In November, Kelce made another Eras Tour appearance – but this time, instead of watching through a window up in the stands, we was right near the stage in the VIP suite with the singer's dad, Scott Swift.

Even if his loud shirt didn't make him stick out, it was hard for fans to miss Kelce as Swift's extra special guest at her Argentina show on November 11.

Throughout the concert, Kelce was filmed singing and dancing along, looking like he was having the time of his life.

At the very end of the show Swift did something that made headlines around the world, changing the lyrics of her song Karma from "guy on the screen" to guy on the Chiefs", as an ode to her rumoured beau Kelce.

After that first lyric change, Swift would do the same only for the 13 other shows around the world that Kelce attended.

Following the show, fans captured a special behind-the-stage interaction between Swift and Kelce.

In videos that were all over social media at the time, Kelce was seen waiting for Swift to come off stage.

Once the singer clocked Kelce waiting by the backstage curtain, she broke into a run and gave him a kiss – their first PDA moment seen by the world.

By now, it seemed pretty clear "Tayvis" were the next official celebrity couple. 

Swift made history in December 2023 when she was name Time Magazine's Person of the Year for the second time.

As part of her cover issue, Swift spoke about her relationship with Kelce for the first time ever, revealing how he got her attention when he spoke about trying to gift her a friendship bracelet all those months ago.

"This all started when Travis very adorably put me on blast on his podcast, which I thought was metal as hell," she said.

"We started hanging out right after that. So 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."

Swift spoke about the pair supporting and "showing up for each other" at their concerts and NFL games respectively, gushing they were "just proud of each other."

What better way to spend their first Christmas together than at the place that started it all – Arrowhead Stadium.

Swift was spotted cheering on the Chiefs through the VIP suite window at their game against the Las Vegas Raiders on Christmas Day.

The singer got into the festive spirit, wearing a Santa hat with her boyfriend's jersey number, 87, embroidered on it.

In this photo you can see Swift next to Kelce's dad, Ed Kelce, on her right, and on her left someone dressed in a Santa suit.

It turned out the Santa spotted at the game was none other than Swift's brother, Austin. 

Yes, this blurry photo is of Swift and Kelce, spotted at a New Year's Eve party.

The couple rang in the New Year together at a party in Kansas City.

In videos circulating on social media at the time, the pair were seen dancing and sharing some PDA. 

Taylor Swift proved to be the Chiefs' surprise lucky charm going into 2024.

After beating the Baltimore Ravens 17-10 in the AFC Championship Game, Kelce and his team secured their spot in the Super Bowl for another year – this time with Swift as their biggest cheerleader.

After the game, the superstar headed down to the field at M&T Bank Stadium to celebrate the major win with Kelce.

Couples that match together...

If you look at Swift's wrist, you'll spot she was wearing a custom 14K yellow gold bracelet with the letters TNT on it as an ode to her and Travis' names.

The diamond bracelet was commissioned and gifted to her by Kelce, who has a matching one.

In an interview with People, Simone Kendle, CEO of Wove Made Inc. who made the bracelets, revealed Swift's is made from 4.62 carats of lab-grown diamonds and is valued at $US6,360 (approx. $10,226).

Then it was time for the game of the season: the Super Bowl.

Just days after winning big at the 2024 Grammy Awards – and announcing her brand new album The Tortured Poets Department during her acceptance speech – Swift cheered on the Chiefs to Super Bowl victory on February 11.

The singer was spotted in the VIP suite with a star-studded group, including rapper Ice Spice and actress Blake Lively. 

After the Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers in a nail-biting game, Swift headed down to the field to reunite with her beau.

It was the perfect ending to months of NFL appearances from the singer.

After accepting the Lombardi Trophy, Kelce went over to celebrate with his loved ones, which included Swift.

The superstar couple sealed the win with a kiss on the field, looking like a scene straight out of a movie (play So High School to really get in the feels). 

The couple continued the Super Bowl victory celebrations at the team's star-studded after party at Las Vegas' XS Nightclub.

While partying it up, videos circulating on social media from the after party captured the adorable moment Swift and Kelce were spotted singing along to a remix of her hit 2008 track, Love Story. 

From the same night, Kelce was also filmed singing along to his girlfriend's song You Belong With Me, with the pair seen pointing to each other from different spots in the crowd.

Read all about the iconic afterparty here.

After a whirlwind few weeks, Swift headed Down Under to continue her Eras Tour in our very own Australia.

The pop star played three nights at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to 96,000 each show – her biggest crowd ever.

But just as she was headed to Sydney for four more Aussie shows, the singer had a special guest fly across the world to join her.

Any guesses who?