Taylor Swift made her anticipated debut as the featured guest on the ‘New Heights’ podcast, hosted by her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and his brother, former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce.
Swift shared information about the upcoming release of her 12th album – ‘Life of a Showgirl’ – as part of the program. Swifties and NFL fans alike also got a chance to see her interact with Travis Kelce in an up-close and personal manner, thrilling many who wanted to know more about their relationship.
Swift shared plenty of stories throughout the two-hour podcast. She discussed reclaiming her masters, performing the Eras Tour, her love of sourdough bread and delved plenty into her relationship with Kelce. That included stories about getting to know him, their early dates and her evolution into a football fan.
Here are the winners and losers of the podcast episode.
WINNERS
The ‘New Heights’ podcast
When the Kelce brothers founded the ‘New Heights’ podcast in 2022, even they couldn’t have imagined it reaching these heights.
Sure, when Travis’ dalliance with Swift began, the program’s popularity began to rise. It became a vehicle for Swifties and NFL fans alike to connect with the NFL stars, especially as Swift appeared at her first Chiefs games and Kansas City ended up winning the Super Bowl.
But even so, ‘New Heights” episode with Taylor Swift will likely be one of the most viewed podcasts in the medium’s relatively brief history. Sure, the opportunity was handed to the Kelces on a silver platter given Travis’ romantic link with Swift; still, that’s pretty amazing for a show that is only on the verge of celebrating its third birthday.
Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce
When the Kelce brothers started the ‘New Heights’ podcast, there was no guarantee it would be a success. Nearly three years later, it has turned itself into one of the most culturally relevant sports podcasts and has helped catapult the duo to a new level of stardom.
Interviewing one of the world’s most famous celebrities on the program will only continue to allow their star to rise and, potentially, create an even larger sustainable fan base for the podcast.
The timing couldn’t be better for the Kelce brothers. Jason was in the twilight of his career when the podcast started while Travis was entering the latter stages of his. The show’s success will ensure the duo each has a cushy post-retirement gig that could lead to other on-air media roles, much like Jason’s with ESPN.
Taylor Swift
No matter where Swift revealed her ‘Life of a Showgirl’ album, she was going to get an audience. I mean, c’mon. She’s Taylor Swift!
Still, Swift was a big winner of her appearance on the podcast. Her personality shone through and she managed to land a few jokes that elicited laughs from the Kelce brothers. Most notably, she took a dig at the fatigue certain sports fans have experienced with her now years-long omnipresence in the NFL zeitgeist.
Swift also told a handful of good stories, including an amusing anecdote about her lack of understanding of football from her first date with Travis.
Swift also noted she was learning more and more about football terminology, hinting at an understanding about Cover 2, Cover 4, Cover 0 and man coverage. That may endear her a bit to NFL fans, as she appears to be a true student of the game.
Andy Reid: Wingman
Reid has, at times, taken credit for helping set up Kelce and Swift. The two effectively backed his claims on Wednesday’s podcast, with Swift revealing Reid vouched for Kelce through her father, as the two are friends.
‘Whatever Andy Reid says, we’re gonna stand by,’ Swift said on the ‘New Heights’ podcast Wednesday. ‘He said it, that’s what happened.’
”Cupid,’ ‘Big Red.’ It’s all the same,’ Kelce added.
Considering how well things appear to be going with Kelce and Swift, Reid may want to consider a side-gig as a matchmaker. If not now, then the 67-year-old can pocket that as a hobby for whenever he does eventually decide to retire.
LOSERS
The ‘New Heights’ podcast (Technical Difficulties’ version)
Look, no matter how you slice it, Wednesday will be a win for the ‘New Heights’ podcast. It got two hours of material from Taylor Swift figures to have millions tune into a show that has, in the past, typically draw under 1 million views per episode.
But just as the podcast was nearing its end, ‘New Heights’ encountered technical difficulties. The YouTube stream cut out, leaving viewers watching that live stream unable to catch the end of the podcast.
Still, it’s undeniable ‘New Heights’ had a critical mistake in what was the biggest moment of its brief history. It won’t be on par with the infamous ‘Heidi Game’ by any means, but it was a sour end to what was supposed to be a banner night for the show.
NFL fans wanting to focus on the games
The NFL season is right around the corner. On Wednesday, Swift’s appearance on ‘New Heights’ was the league’s biggest story, with members of the Chiefs, including Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes, even being asked about it at practice.
Additionally, NFL fans got to hear smaller stories throughout the day about James Cook’s new contract with the Buffalo Bills, Jerry Jones beating Stage 4 melanoma in 2010 and Shedeur Sanders suffering an oblique injury at Cleveland Browns practice.
While some of those stories, notably Cook’s contract and Sanders’ injury, have direct ties to on-the-field performance, it’s still clear that the NFL news cycle is a few weeks away from being able to focus largely on the games. Those weeks could crawl by for those wanting the NFL’s lengthy offseason to finally come to a close.
Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift relationship conspiracy theorists
Plenty of conspiracy theories have been bandied about that Swift and Kelce only linked up for the sake of publicity. Wednesday’s podcast continued to show those rumors are completely unfounded, as the two appear to be legitimately smitten with one another.
Kelce repeated throughout the show he is ‘the luckiest man in the world’ because of his relationship with Swift. The two appear to share plenty of hobbies and interests, and Swift spoke glowingly of Kelce’s ‘crazy’ romantic gesture to ask her out on the podcast and their subsequent adventures.
Does this mean Kelce and Swift’s relationship will last forever? Maybe not, but it certainly seems like they are legitimately coupled.