Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce seemed to shut down any suggestion their relationship is on the rocks as she cheered on the Chiefs star throughout his NFL playoff win before they left hand in hand. Swift, Kelce’s mom Donna and Brittany Mahomes celebrated the win at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City by dancing together in the closing stages of the Chiefs’ 26-7 win over the Miami Dolphins. Then Swift and Kelce were filmed holding hands and talking as they left the stadium together after midnight.
The popstar’s return to Kansas City came amid reports earlier on Saturday that the couple were in for a frosty reunion after having their first major argument over Christmas. But Swift appeared to be full of support for Kelce and wore a custom-made Chiefs puffer jacket that was covered in his name and Chiefs No. 47.
And there they go, off into the cold, cold night. #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/Plc5MKFUIb
— Todd Leabo (@Leabonics) January 14, 2024
After arriving at Arrowhead around an hour before kickoff, she sat next to Donna Kelce throughout as the Chiefs and Dolphins played out the fourth-coldest game in NFL history. At one point she was snapped leaning out of the window of Kelce’s suite to wave to the fans sat around her and even high five them as they celebrated the Chiefs scoring a touchdown.
But then, towards the end of the fourth quarter with the Chiefs holding an unassailable 26-7 lead, Swift led the celebrations. Along with Donna and Brittany, they danced from side to side along to the music being blasted around the stadium. Swift and Mahomes were really going for it and Donna joined in too as they began the celebrations early.  Her mood was the complete opposite to how it’s claimed she was left feeling over Christmas when she watched Kelce and the Chiefs lose to the Las Vegas Raiders, however.
According to a bombshell report by Life & Style earlier on Saturday, Kelce ‘snapped’ at Swift on Christmas Day as the pair clashed following the defeat. The NFL star is said to have let his emotions get the better of him after the defeat at Arrowhead Stadium, which left his girlfriend feeling ‘hurt and confused’. During the loss, he was also seen throwing his helmet down in fury on the sidelines. Amid reports of his spat with Swift, Kelce was seen with a stony look on his face earlier on Saturday in exclusive photos from Dailymail.com as he left the Chiefs’ hotel ahead.
A source is quoted as saying that the row ruined his and Taylor’s holidays given it was their first fight in five months together. And over a week later, Swift’s stressful holiday season was followed by a controversial New York Times article which questioned her sexuality. Taylor’s friends were said to be upset about the opinion piece, adding to the tumultuous fortnight she encounter after her lovers’ tiff with Kelce. It is believed Taylor is now starting to acknowledge the challenges that come with dating a high-profile athlete, with the pop sensation even asking fellow WAG Brittany Mahomes for advice. ‘Brittany told Taylor to let Travis lick his wounds, but it wasn’t easy,’ the source is quoted as saying.
Swift was reportedly a ‘nervous wreck’ when she next attended a Chiefs game on New Year’s Eve, despite being seen sharing a kiss with her boyfriend later in the evening at a glitzy party. The prospect of another Kansas City loss ruining their celebrations was a huge worry for the singer and songwriter, but fortunately Kelce and Co prevailed in a 25-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Constant travel is also believed to be a growing issue for Travis and Taylor as they clock up countless miles to visit one another across the globe.
Though while Kelce has jetted to Buenos Aires to watch his girlfriend’s concert and to New York to visit her in Tribeca, it’s Swift who has been travelling most to watch him in action for Kansas City. The source described her as being ‘the one bending over backwards’ to make the relationship work, which is starting to take its toll with the honeymoon period now over.
Travis and Taylor are also reportedly clashing over work commitments, with a ‘teary-eyed’ Swift forced to take a backseat while her boyfriend’s focus was purely on football. Things are said to get heated between them given their respective schedules, which works both ways with Swift also realizing that her career comes first. Her introduction to the Kelce family has not been completely smooth, either.
Travis’s brother Jason, and his wife Kylie, have apparently not made the singer feel too welcome and comments made to the media about their relationship have upset Swift, according to the bombshell report. In November, before Jason’s Philadelphia Eagles team played the Chiefs in Kansas City, Kylie Kelce gave an interview saying that the spotlight ‘is not particularly my cup of tea’ and that she prefers to watch games from the stands rather than the luxury suits from where Swift cheers the Chiefs.
Swift has met Kelce’s parents – mom Donna and father Ed – but so far, there have been no pictures of her meeting with Jason, who Travis is extremely close to, or Kylie. Life and Style quoted a source as saying: ‘Taylor hasn’t had the best reception from Jason and his wife.’ Kylie’s quotes about the spotlight particularly irked Swift, with the source adding: ‘Taylor took that personally and since then it’s been very awkward.’ But Swift showed no sign of ill-feeling on Saturday night, fully embracing the game and freezing weather to support her boyfriend.
It’s since emerged that Kristin Juszczyk – the wife of San Francisco 49ers player Kyle Juszczyk – designed and made the custom-made jackets worn by both Swift and Mahomes. It had their partner’s name and number displayed all over it and they’ll have been glad of its warmth on a freezing cold night in Kansas City. The Chiefs made the perfect start to the game with receiver Rashee Rice scoring a touchdown early in the opening quarter.
Tyreek Hill silenced Arrowhead briefly by scoring on his return to Kansas City but Harrison Butker kicked four field goals to give the Chiefs a 19-7 lead. Isiah Pacheco then extended the Chiefs’ lead to 26-7 with a bruising rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter and that’s how it finished. Kelce delivered a much-improved performance, totaling seven receptions for 71 yards, after a mixed season for the tight end.
Saturday night’s game was the fourth-coldest in NFL history, with bitter wind chills that made it feel even colder at kickoff and intrepid fans bundled up in parkas, snow pants and ski goggles. The temperature for the wild-card playoff game was -4 degrees and wind gusts up to 27 mph made for a wind chill of -27 degrees.  That shattered the record for the coldest game in Arrowhead Stadium history, which had been 1 degree, set in a 1983 game against Denver and matched in 2016 against Tennessee.
The coldest game in league history remains -13 for the 1967 NFL championship, when the Packers beat the Cowboys at Lambeau Field in a game that came to be known as the Ice Bowl. The wind chill that day was -48 degrees. ‘It was cold, I’m not going to lie. It was cold,’ Mahomes said afterwards. ‘At the end of the day, you have to be mentally tough enough that if something doesn’t work, I’m going to come back and keep firing.’
Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who was back at Arrowhead Stadium for his first game since Kansas City traded him away, walked out for pregame warmups wearing a short-sleeve shirt. Chiefs linebacker Leo Chenal, who grew up in Wisconsin, arrived wearing shorts. Several other players, including Kelce, also had skin showing when the Chiefs took the field for their opening drive. By the second quarter, Chiefs coach Andy Reid had icicles in his mustache. In the third, Mahomes had his helmet shattered on a hit from Miami safety DeShon Elliott.
