If you feel like you’ve been living in a red-and-gold fever dream for a while, you aren't alone. It’s been a minute. Honestly, trying to pinpoint exactly how long have taylor swift and travis kelce been dating is a bit of a moving target because they were actually "a thing" long before Taylor showed up at Arrowhead Stadium eating chicken with "seemingly ranch."
As of early 2026, the couple has officially been together for about two and a half years.
But let's be real—the math gets a little fuzzy if you only count from the moment they went public. Most people think it started in September 2023. They’re wrong. Taylor herself cleared this up during her Time Person of the Year interview, admitting they had a "significant amount of time" together that nobody knew about.
Basically, by the time she showed up to watch the Chiefs crush the Bears, they were already a full-blown couple.
The Bracelet That Actually Worked
It all started with a fail. A massive, public, "I got shut down" fail.
In July 2023, Travis Kelce attended the Eras Tour at Arrowhead Stadium. He had a plan. He made a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it. He wanted to give it to Taylor. He couldn't.
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"I 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," Travis said on his New Heights podcast.
He sounded a little "butthurt," as he put it. But that podcast episode, which aired on July 26, 2023, changed everything. Taylor later called the move "metal as hell." They started hanging out almost immediately after that. If we’re being precise, their actual dating anniversary likely falls in August 2023.
The Milestone Map
- July 2023: The "Bracelet Incident."
- August 2023: The "Quiet Days." They were hanging out in New York and Kansas City without a single paparazzi catching them.
- September 24, 2023: The Hard Launch. Taylor appears in the suite with Donna Kelce.
- October 2023: SNL cameos and hand-holding in NYC.
- February 2024: The Super Bowl kiss heard 'round the world.
- August 2025: The Engagement.
Two Years and Counting: From "New Heights" to Engagement
By the time 2025 rolled around, the "is it PR?" crowd had mostly gone quiet. You don't fly across the world to watch someone play in the rain for a marketing stunt.
The relationship hit a massive gear shift in August 2025. On August 26, 2025—almost exactly two years after they started "quietly hanging out"—Travis and Taylor announced their engagement. The post was a joint Instagram upload. It had millions of likes before most people even finished reading the caption.
They’ve spent the last few months of 2025 and the start of 2026 planning what is likely going to be the biggest wedding in celebrity history. People are calling it the "Royal Wedding of America." Kinda cheesy? Sure. But look at the numbers.
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What Most People Get Wrong About Their Start Date
There’s this weird misconception that the September 24 game against the Chicago Bears was their first date.
It wasn't.
Taylor was very specific about this. She said they would never be "psychotic enough" to hard-launch a first date in front of 70,000 people and millions of viewers. They had already been a couple for weeks. Travis had been "putting her on blast" in a cute way, and they’d been talking since the end of July.
So, if you’re doing the math for an anniversary:
- Publicly: It’s been about 28 months.
- Privately: It’s been about 30 months.
The Engagement and Beyond
Right now, they are deep in the "fiancé" era.
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Recent reports from early 2026 suggest they are looking at a summer 2026 wedding. They’ve been seen lately attending Cincinnati Bearcats games (Travis’s alma mater) and keeping things surprisingly low-key given their level of fame.
Travis has officially referred to her as "his lady" and "his girl" on the podcast for a long time now. He even admitted he owes the New Heights podcast his entire relationship because it acted as his "personal dating app."
Key Takeaways for Fans
- The real start date: August 2023.
- The current status: Engaged (since August 2025).
- Total duration: ~2.5 years.
- Public debut: September 24, 2023.
If you’re trying to keep up with the timeline, just remember that they passed the two-year mark last summer. They aren't the "new" couple anymore; they’re the established power couple of the 2020s.
To stay updated on the upcoming wedding details, keep an eye on official New Heights episodes, as Travis tends to let small details slip when he’s talking to Jason. You can also monitor the Chiefs' off-season schedule, as that's typically when the pair makes their most frequent public appearances together at non-NFL events.