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THE WORLD WAS shook yesterday when Taylor Swift announced via Instagram that she is engaged to American football player Travis Kelce.
The pair, who started dating around two years ago after Kelce attended one of her Eras Tour shows, have been public about their relationship from the beginning.
Kelce (35) is a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs. Swift has been seen cheering him on at games during the past two football seasons.
Many celebrities ‘liked’ the couple’s big news, including Britain’s Prince William and Kate Middleton’s joint social media page, and Meghan Markle’s personal account.
Martha Stewart shared a video of herself drinking champagne in celebration, accompanied by the caption: “It’s time to call in the ultimate wedding planner.”
The NFL also congratulated Kelce and his new fiancé.
“Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” read the caption of the post, which featured photos of Kelce proposing to Swift (also 35) in the rose garden of his Kansas City mansion.
The caption refers to Swift’s profession as a writer and Kelce’s football career.
They included a dynamite emoji, which is symbolic of TNT, a couple’s nickname for Taylor and Travis.
According to Kelce’s father Ed, the engagement happened two weeks ago.
“About a week ago, I asked Travis, ‘when are you going to announce the engagement?’
“He said: ‘Whenever Taylor says so.’”
In the interview with News 5 Cleveland, Ed said his son had planned to put the proposal off for longer so he could “make it a big special event”, but Taylor was “getting antsy”.
He said the couple were having dinner at Kelce’s Missouri home before he popped the question in the garden.
“He said [to Swift], ‘let’s go out there for a glass of wine’.
“And they got out there and that’s when he asked her and it was beautiful.”
The couple then Facetimed their parents to share the news.
Ed thought Travis was going to propose “months ago”. It became clear during the last football season that the pair were “just crazy about each other”.
Asked if he and Kelce’s mother Donna are ready for the magnitude of the wedding, Ed said:
“I kind of look at it the same way I’m sure the Swifts do: This is still the little kid they raised at home.
“Yes, they both had a lot of success in their endeavours … but they’re still the same people that we raised and it just makes you feel good to see a couple this much in love.”
She might have once said she’d get married with Paper Rings but, by the looks of it, the shiny things won out.
Swift’s engagement ring is estimated to be worth at least €500,000, according to reports.
Kelce designed the ring with Kindred Lubek, a female jeweller who specialises in vintage-inspired rings and ethically sourced gemstones.
In the photos, Swift is also wearing roughly $40,000 of other bling, including an $18,330 Cartier watch.
The Ralph Lauren dress Swift wore in the photos sold out within 30 minutes of the post going live.
A lifelong romantic and performer, Swift appears to have found a suitable match in Kelce.
Her seven-year relationship with English actor Joe Alwayn ended in early 2023 and was defined by an almost-reclusive level of privacy, which she romanticised in her discography.
The album Midnights foreshadowed the relationship breakdown, comparing her fights with Alwyn to the First World War and acknowledging her own delusion in songs such as Lavendar Haze.
She later released a stand-alone single called You’re Losing Me, which included lyrics such as “I wouldn’t marry me either”.
In contrast, Kelce is loud and proud about his love for Swift.
He even joined her on stage for one of her London shows, seemingly ecstatic to be a set piece in Swift’s elaborate Eras Tour production.
She recently announced her next album The Life of a Showgirl on Kelce’s podcast, which he hosts with his brother.
The apparent openness of the couple indicates that the wedding could be a very public occasion – potentially on the scale of a royal wedding. And with a joint net worth of around $1.7 billion ($1.6 billion of which is Swift’s), it’s reasonable to expect an extravagant event.
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