Look no further than the latest episode of ‘New Heights,’ Kelce’s weekly podcast with his brother, Jason. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end and former Philadelphia Eagles center got right to business discussing their thoughts on ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ in Wednesday’s episode.
Given the album’s frequent references to Travis, who became Swift’s fiancé when he proposed to her in August, his opinions of the record were a central part of the ‘New Heights’ conversation.
Here’s everything Travis Kelce had to say about Swift’s album on the latest episode of his podcast:
Everything Travis Kelce said about ‘The Life of a Showgirl’
- On the album’s release: ‘Let’s just give it up for Taylor,’ Kelce said while starting his applause. ‘She’s done it again. She’s put the world on tilt. It’s been so fun to see everybody’s reactions, and we’ve had an absolute blast watching her go through all of her press tour, her radios and all these talk shows. … She’s looked amazing, sounded amazing, and this album is absolutely amazing.’
- On listening to the album with Swift: Jason asked Travis if it was weird to be listening to the album while in the room with the artist who made it. Travis said, ‘It’s a different feel for sure, but I got used to it real quick. You get used to it. I just listened to it wholeheartedly because it’s her creation. You just want to appreciate it for what it is. I think that’s the biggest thing is to make sure that the person that you’re in the room with knows that you’re being open to what they’re creating.’
- On the album and its public reaction: ‘It was fun to hear all of these come together, knowing that a few of them, as she’s mentioned, have been about our life together. And it’s just been fun to see everybody depict them and all the videos online and people dancing and smiling and having a blast with this.’
- On whether he heard songs before their final version: ‘Oh, yeah. 100%. Which makes you really appreciate the whole, like, (‘The Life of a Showgirl’ producer) Max Martin, and the mastering of the sounds – hearing the first version versus the final version. Like, I’m listening to these songs still in my car to work and back and forth from home every single day, like, ‘Man, they (expletive) crushed it.’ … 10 out of 10, they all (expletive) killed it.’
- On ‘Actually Romantic’: ‘That’s become my – I wouldn’t say new favorite – but yeah, that’s the one I catch myself going to whenever I look at the list. It’s got that alternative rock, like ’90s rock. Yeah, I love that (expletive). She makes talking (expletive) sound so sweet.’
- On ‘Wood’: ‘It’s a great song. Any song that she references me, it’s very, like, I don’t know. I love that girl, so any song that she would reference me in any way or form…’
- Jason cut in saying the song was not referencing Travis but ‘an appendage.’ Travis said sarcastically, ‘What? I think you’re not understanding the song.’
- On the album’s successful opening weekend: ‘It was the most streamed album after the first day. ‘Fate of Ophelia’ was the No. 1 streamed song, and the most streamed single after the first day of all time, maybe?’
- On the Kelce family’s reaction: ‘Mama Kels and Uncle Don, Aunt Joan, they all went to the official release party of ‘Life of a Showgirl’ at the AMC Theatres. The theaters dropped, I believe a little over an hour special on all the songs and Taylor’s first music video from the album. … Over the weekend, they had a bunch of release parties at the AMC Theatres and Mom, Uncle Don and Aunt Joan all went and then stopped by the hotel to tell me happy birthday.’
- On Easter eggs: ‘I think the fun of the Easter eggs is to always keep it just a little, like, ‘Was that intentional?’ You know what I mean? I think that’s the fun of it.’
- Final thoughts on the album: ‘I’m just the lucky man that gets to be the support system for Taylor while she drops one of the coolest albums that I’ve ever listened to, that the world’s seeing. I’m excited for her. I’m happy for her. Everything seems to have gone perfectly. All this planning – and you see it from start to finish, like she started this thing in the middle of her tour in Europe. To see it all unfold and come together and her connect the dots from the planning to the strategic planning to how the album was all going to look. And then to listen to the music and everything come together, and her finally getting that 12th song and being like, ‘I think it’s done.’ And then from that point on, it’s like her and her label are just working their ass off to make this one of the biggest releases of all time. And I’m just happy as hell for her because she’s happy with it. She’s proud of this, and obviously I’m proud of her for going through the hoops to live out her dreams.’
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