Turns out, Travis Kelce was the mastermind behind his hilarious Eras Tour cameo at Wembley Stadium in June. On the latest episode of New Heights uploaded Wednesday (July 3), the Kansas City Chiefs tight end finally opened up about how his onstage debut with Taylor Swift came to be, revealing that he was the one who first pitched it to his superstar girlfriend — although she may have made a few tweaks to his plan.
“I initially mentioned it to Tay,” Travis told his brother and co-host, retired Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce. “I was like, ‘How funny would it be if I just rolled out on one of the bikes during the 1989 era?’”
“She started laughing,” the Ohio native continued. “She was like, ‘Would you seriously be up for doing something like that?’ I was just like, ‘I would love to do that, are you kidding me? I’ve seen the show enough — might as well put me to work here.’ And sure enough, she found the perfect part of the show for me to come in.”
Swift apparently vetoed his bike-riding bit, as the offensive lineman ended up appearing before “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” during the Tortured Poets Department set as one of her backup dancers, theatrically coaxing her to keep performing even though she feigns being totally drained after singing “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.” “There was no bike, in case I ran into somebody else or hit one of the dancers,” Travis explained, laughing. “It was the safest option.”
At one point during his cameo in London, Travis picked the 14-time Grammy winner up and carried her over to a couch waiting upstage. And though he’s had quite a bit of practice not fumbling footballs, this was an entirely different ball game.
“The one thing I told myself was, ‘Do not drop the baby,’” he recalled to Jason. “The golden rule was, ‘Do not drop Taylor. Get her to the couch safely’ … I didn’t disappoint Taylor, so that’s all that really matters.”
“Shout-out to Tay for letting me jump up on stage with her,” Travis added, before teasing that his onstage appearance may not have been a one-time-only occurrence. “Who knows? Might not be the last time. You guys will have to keep showing up to the Eras Tour to see if I pop out of the stage and whatnot.”
Travis was present throughout Swift’s three-night stay at Wembley, where he also met Prince William, Princess Charlotte and Prince George as well as danced alongside Tom Cruise, Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Greta Gerwig and Hugh Grant in the VIP tent. “It was unbelievable,” the athlete simply gushed about the star-studded group.
Most recently, Travis caught Swift’s final show in Dublin at Aviva Stadium Sunday (June 30), where he hung out with Stevie Nicks and Julia Roberts in the crowd. When he first arrived, the “Anti-Hero” singer appeared to light up with a big smile the moment she saw him entering, as captured in several adorable fan videos.
Watch Travis talk about his Eras Tour debut on New Heights below.
