Taylor Swift Tells the Story of Travis Kelce’s ‘Man-Tantrum’

Wednesday is a major day for Taylor Swift fans, as they now have their first official look at Swift’s upcoming album. The Grammy winner released the cover art and several special editions of the new record, set to release on October 3.

The rollout is officially underway, and it’s beginning with a first-time appearance from Swift on her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s podcast. Swift is making her debut on “New Heights,” hosted by Travis and his older brother Jason.

The former football players didn’t waste time, and they had Swift – sitting next to Kelce in person – explain her side of the story when it came to how they first got together.

“This podcast did a lot for me. I owe a lot to this podcast. This podcast got me a boyfriend,” Swift said on the show, noting that Travis used the show as his “personal dating app.”

“He threw a tantrum. He threw a man-tantrum,” Swift said, referencing Kelce’s attempts to meet Swift during her 2023 Eras Tour stop in Kansas City.

“It was such a wild romantic gesture to be like, ‘I wanna date you!’ This dude didn’t get a meet-and-greet and he’s making it everyone’s problem. That’s what i thought at first.”

Swift even said that Kelce didn’t reach out to her management to set up a meeting, and she simply figured he was a fan who didn’t get to see her. It wasn’t until she heard Kelce’s description of events that she realized what his intentions were.

“When this podcast came out I was like, ‘Did he ever reach out to be like in the tents or did we know he was in the building?’,” Swift said after hearing the “New Heights” episode that started it all.

“He came with [Chiefs teammate Patrick Mahomes] and he thought because he knows the elevator lady that he could talk to her about just getting down to my dressing room. That’s how it works in 1973. He was really just like, ‘I know a guy. I can figure this out.’”

Swift said that she understood what Kelce attempted, and that she found his excitement and eagerness to meet him endearing.

“This felt more like i was in an 80s John Hughes movie and he was just like standing outside my window with a boombox like, ‘I want to date you! Do you want to go on a date with me? I made you a friendship bracelet! Do you want to date me?’,” she joked during the podcast.

“I was like if this guy isn’t crazy, um, 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 and Kelce were able to meet and begin their relationship later that summer, and she made her first public appearance in support of the Chiefs tight end during the NFL season.

We’ll see which games Swift makes her way to in 2025.

Taylor Swift Tells the Story of Travis Kelce’s ‘Man-Tantrum’ first appeared on Men’s Journal on Aug 14, 2025