Why Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce Are Taking a Hiatus From New Heights Podcast

Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce revealed they will be taking a break from their New Heights podcast. Here’s when new episodes will release.

Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce revealed that they are temporarily stepping away from their beloved New Heights show due to the Kansas City Chiefs’ football schedule. But before you worry, they’ve already teased when they’ll be back on the mic.

“All that means to me is we’ve got a nice couple months off from podcasting,” Jason explained during the podcast’s season two finale, released July 3, “because I guess in three weeks’ time, Travis will be in the middle of training camp, and let me tell you, not enough time to do a podcast—especially the best podcast in the world.”

The former Philadelphia Eagles star, who confirmed his retirement from the NFL earlier this year, continued, “He’s going to be busy focusing on football, getting in shape for this upcoming season. So, we’re going to be off for I think two months.”

Travis echoed the sentiments, chiming in, “I’m down to pick it back up once we’re done with training camp.”

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Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce: Romance Rewind

While the brothers confirmed they would likely be returning for more New Heights towards the end of August, they certainly sent season two off with a bang.

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end didn’t hold back sharing insight into his headline-making cameo during girlfriend Taylor Swift‘s June 23 Eras Tour concert in London. In fact, he revealed that that he was the one who first broached the idea of him joining her—and he even had a specific era in mind for his appearance.

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“I initially mentioned it to Tay,” he shared. “I was like, ‘How funny would it be if I just rolled out on one of the bikes during the 1989 album, that era.’”

And when she expressed disbelief that he actually wanted to appear on stage, Travis, who has attended at least 10 of the “Cruel Summer” singer’s Eras Tour concerts, added, “I’ve seen the show enough, might as well put me to work here.”

Ultimately, he took the stage during her Tortured Poets Department set, carrying Taylor between her songs “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” and “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart.”

“She found the perfect part of the show for me to come in,” he admitted. “There was no bike in case I ran into someone else or hit one of the dancers or anything. It was the safest option.”

Still, he had one major objective in mind when taking part: “Do not drop Taylor on your way over to this damn couch.”

And he succeeded. In fact, from celebrating Super Bowl wins to sharing the stage at Wembley Stadium, Travis and Taylor continue to prove they let each other bejeweled. Keep reading to see why their romance is such a touchdown.

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No. 1: He’s a Swiftie

Long before Taylor Swift‘s attendance at the Kansas City Chief’s Sept. 24 game became one of the definitive pop culture moments of the year, Travis Kelce was an admirer of the Grammy winner.

The star tight end’s interest in Taylor was first revealed by one of his teammates in a TikTok video posted by the Chiefs in August (which, in hindsight, was when the pair were secretly dating). 

Before Travis could answer the prompt of who his celebrity crush was, wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling spilled, “Taylor Swift!”

Travis smiled at the camera before holding his finger up to his moustache, saying, “Alright now!”

Plus, Travis was just one of many celebs to attend Taylor’s record-breaking Eras Tour this summer. But more on that enchanting moment in a bit…

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No. 2: He’s Not Her Usual Type (on Paper)

While he does have that daydream look in his eyes (especially when he sees Taylor on the big-screen at one of his games), Travis stands out a bit when you look back at Taylor’s dating history.

She is typically attracted to creative types, including actors (Joe Alwyn, Jake Gyllenhaal, Taylor Lautner and Tom Hiddleston) and musicians (Calvin Harris, John Mayer, Harry Styles and, most recently, Matty Healy).

But perhaps that’s why her romance with the lighthearted and cheeky athlete—who signed a four-year deal with the Chiefs worth $57 million in 2020—feels like such a refreshing option for Taylor after her six-year uber-private relationship with Joe came to an end in April 2023.

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No. 3: He Publicly Pursued Her

Looks like the eight-time Pro Bowler’s wishes came true after he all but manifested his rumored romance with the superstar through sheer will, determination and declarations of infatuation.

Travis publicly aired his failed attempt to shoot his shot and talk to Taylor when he attended the Kansas City stop on her Eras Tour July 7. As it turns out, he had a special gift for her: A friendship bracelet bearing his “number” that he hoped to give Taylor. (He wouldn’t definitely say if it was his jersey number or phone number.)

Despite his claim that he was “disappointed” he failed to meet her after the concert, Taylor confirmed to TIME that she belatedly caught his podcast pass.

“Travis very adorably put me on blast on his podcast, which I thought was metal as hell,” she recalled. “We started hanging out right after that. So we actually had a significant amount of time that no one knew, which I’m grateful for, because we got to get to know each other.”

So, that whole theory about the Sept. 24 game being their first official hang? As Taylor clarified to TIME, “We would never be psychotic enough to hard launch a first date.”

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No. 4: She Isn’t In Hiding

Since her breakup with Joe, Taylor has been seen in public much more frequently, including outings with friends in NYC and jubilant appearances at award shows, like the 2023 MTV VMAs and the 2024 Grammys.

But her most talked-about appearance? Sitting in Travis’ suite at the Chief’s Sept. 24 home game against the Chicago Bears.

Rather than shy away from the attention, Taylor cheered and screamed “Let’s f–king go!” when Travis scored a touchdown. Like the public, even Travis admitted he was caught off-guard by Taylor accepting his invite.

“Shoutout to Taylor for pulling up, that was pretty ballsy,” Travis said during the Sept. 27 episode of the New Heights podcast. “I just thought it was awesome how everyone in the suite had nothing but great things to say about her, the friends and family.”

“She looked amazing,” he added. ” It was definitely a game I will remember, that’s for damn sure.”

Since then, Taylor and Travis have been photographed hand-in-hand on dates in New York City and have made multiple visits to a Christmas bar in Kansas City, where they were not shy about showing PDA.

And, after revealing to TIME that she retreated from the spotlight after Kim Kardashian‘s infamous leaked phone call in 2016, Taylor is going out tonight…and every night, if she wants to, thank you very much.

“Life is short,” she said. “Have adventures. Me locking myself away in my house for a lot of years—I’ll never get that time back. I’m more trusting now than I was six years ago.”

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No. 5: He Knows When to Pull Back

While Travis isn’t afraid to spill some tea on his podcast about his interactions with Taylor, he still expressed his boundaries about addressing his personal life moving forward.

“I know I brought all this attention to me,” he explained. “I did the whole friendship bracelet thing and told everyone how butthurt I was that I didn’t get to meet Taylor.” However, he continued, he didn’t plan to give a full play-by-play of their relationship.

“What’s real is that it is my personal life and I want to respect both of our lives,” he explained. “I’m enjoying life and I sure as hell enjoyed this weekend. So everything moving forward, I think me talking about sports and saying ‘alright nah’ will have to be where I keep it.”

He doubled-down on his desire to play it cool in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

“Everybody around me telling me: Don’t f–k this up! And me sitting here saying: Yeah—got it,” he told the outlet, before addressing the media attention. “That was the biggest thing to me: make sure I don’t say anything that would push Taylor away.”

But that doesn’t mean he’s been able to resist publicly talking about his girlfriend—crediting her for the boost in sales of his jersey and calling her “amazing” after she was booed by New England Patriots fans at his Dec. 17 game.

“I’ve never been a man of words,” he admitted to WSJ. “Being around her, seeing how smart Taylor is, has been f–king mind-blowing. I’m learning every day.”

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No. 6: He’s Family-Oriented

Like Taylor, who is close with her parents, particularly her mother Andrea, Travis hails from a tight-knit fam, including his parents Ed and Donna Kelce.

Donna became a beloved public figure when she became the first mother to have two sons playing against each other in a Super Bowl, when Travis faced off against his older brother, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, in the big game last February.

“For all the stars to align and for them to get through high school and college and the pros. And for them to both play in the Pro Bowl and to play in the Super Bowl, and then for this to happen,” Donna told ET at the time. “This is just like a dream come true. I can’t express enough how special this is for the family and it’s just crazy.”

Donna, who was married to Ed for 25 years before they divorced, supported both of her sons by wearing a half-black, half-red Eagles and Chiefs jacket.

After the Super Bowl, which saw the Chiefs best the Eagles, Travis and Jason got emotional while reflecting on sharing the experience with Donna.

“The moment I saw mom is when I got really emotional,” Jason said on the brothers’ New Heights podcast. “It was so awesome…She was on top of the world for a week.”

“She was the heavyweight champ man,” Travis added. “She was on top of it, and she shined the whole time.”

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No. 7: He’s Super-Close With His Brother

Like Taylor and her younger brother Austin Swift, Travis has a special bond with his older brother Jason, who inspired him to play football.

In addition to their impressive careers as NFL players, Travis and Jason launched their podcast New Heights in September 2022, a project that has only strengthened their relationship.

“What this did was gave us a scheduled two to three hour window where we have to talk to each other and we have to talk about what we’re going through, throughout the week and throughout the games,” Travis told NBC Sports in February. “It’s almost been like therapy, man.”

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No. 8: They Have a Mutual Friend

Sure, the pair technically never met until this year, but there have been a few invisible strings tying them together.

Taylor and Travis both count Miles Teller as a friend, with the Top Gun: Maverick star and his wife Keleigh Sperry even being recruited by Taylor to star in the music video for “I Bet You Think About Me” off Red (Taylor’s Version) in 2021.

Travis, meanwhile, joined Miles and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes for golfing practice ahead of the American Century Championship in 2022.

Miles tweeted a photo of himself on the golf course with the athletes, writing, “Grip it and rip it.” Travis proved the bromance was real when he reposted the shot and added, “Back at it like we never left!!”

(Interestingly enough, Miles is a noted diehard Philadelphia Eagles fans, so perhaps he put in a word with Jason to broker an IRL meet-up between Travis and Taylor?)

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No. 9: The Squad Is Shipping

While Taylor attended the Sept. 24 game solo, she brought an entourage of celebrity friends with her when she attended the Chiefs’ match-up against the New York Jets at New Jersey’s Metlife Stadium on Oct. 1.

She was accompanied by BFFs Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds and his friend Hugh Jackman, as well as Sophie Turner, Sabrina Carpenter and Queer Eye‘s Antoni Porowski.

While their attendance at the game spoke volumes, even more telling was Ryan following Travis on Instagram.

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No. 10: He Can Handle the Pressure

Not only has Travis played in three, soon to be four, Super Bowls, winning two of them (NBD!), but he’s also hosted Saturday Night Live, so you know he can handle intense spotlight with ease.

That may seem trivial, but Taylor has penned several songs regarding her fear that her level of fame could prove to be too much for her romantic partner to handle. (See: “Peace” and “The Archer.”)

“It all depends who you’re with,” Taylor said in, “If they have a serious issue with it, I guess you’ll hide or whatever, but I don’t really like that, because it makes me feel like I’m running from the law or something. I don’t want to feel like a fugitive, like, ‘Oh my god, we’re having a relationship, better hide!’

“I feel like if you can be in a relationship and have it seem normal, that would be good.”

And in his WSJ interview, Travis proved he’s more than ready for the pressure that comes with dating someone as powerful as Taylor.

“Obviously I’ve never dated anyone with that kind of aura about them…I’ve never dealt with it,” he said. “But at the same time, I’m not running away from any of it.”

“The scrutiny she gets, how much she has a magnifying glass on her, every single day, paparazzi outside her house, outside every restaurant she goes to, after every flight she gets off, and she’s just living, enjoying life,” he added. “When she acts like that I better not be the one acting all strange.”