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Travis Kelce’s Exes Tell All: What Taylor Swift Should Look Out for Based on the NFL Star’s Past

Mar 15, 2024 6:46 pm·
By Jennifer Lenhart

Almost everyone who knows Travis Kelce well — from his childhood BFF to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes — uses the same phrase to describe him: “the life of the party.” After winning his third Super Bowl, he belted out “Viva Las Vegas” to 60,000 people in the stadium, including his girlfriend, Taylor Swift (and another 123 million viewers at home).

While back in Sin City to celebrate with his team at XS Nightclub on February  24, the tight end wore a WWE-style championship belt, sprayed fans with champagne and boozed until 4:15 a.m. At a Cleveland Cavaliers game on March 5, he lost a beer-chugging competition to his older brother, Jason. Wherever he is, says a source, “Travis definitely likes to have fun.”

Those close to the football star — including several ex-girlfriends — are exclusively telling In Touch about Travis’ wild side. Taylor, 34, “may be in for a shock,” says the source, noting that Travis has downplayed past mistakes and hasn’t exactly stopped flirting with other women since they met eight months ago. “He’s in love with Taylor, but there’s a side to him that she doesn’t know about.”

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She might want to start by checking his DMs. Travis, 34, “was using social media to meet women and flying them out to see him before he met Taylor. He was stealthy about it, so no one really knew,” says the source. “And even after he and Taylor began seeing each other, he was still liking women’s photos on IG — models, singers like Coco Jones, influencers like Dixie D’Amelio. It definitely makes the story of how they met a little less romantic!”

Ulterior Motives?

Taylor wasn’t even the first celebrity in his sights. “Travis reached out to Megan Thee Stallion to try his luck with her,” says the source, adding that though Travis and the 29-yearold rapper were later spotted hanging out at the 2023 CMT Awards in April, he was rejected. “It seems like once he became more famous and well known, he was trying to hook up with bigger celebrities.”

Is that why he targeted Taylor? “I question the genuineness of the relationship because he’s been talking to the media a lot. I feel like Travis is a narcissist,” says Maya Benberry who was the winner of his 2016 dating show, Catching Kelce. She’s also accused him of being unfaithful, because he began a five-year romance with sports journalist Kayla Nicole around the time of their split after eight months together in 2017. “Once a cheater, always a cheater,” she warns Taylor.

But Maya’s fellow contestants have defended Travis. “To be honest, I think he probably was already dating [Kayla] before the show, and maybe he wasn’t 100 percent with Maya,” runner-up Veronica Harwood tells In Touch, blaming his immaturity for the indiscretion.

But both she and fellow finalist Avery Schlereth point out that all of the women knew what they were signing up for when it comes to dating shows. “A lot of people went on to have fun,” Avery tells In Touch, “and if something came out of it, that was great, and if not, it was a fun experience.”

Neither of them has any hard feelings. “He’s a goofball, he’s sweet, he’s very attentive and he was a good kisser!” gushes Avery. Veronica seconds that: “I mean, who doesn’t want to kiss a 6-foot-4 burly football player?!” she says, adding that they had a few amazing dates. “He’s definitely a jokester, and he wants to have a good time.”

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His merrymaking at the University of Cincinnati, where he lived in a home he’s described as “the real-life Animal House” with Jason and other football teammates is still legendary.

“Holy s–t, these guys are crazy,” teammate Tom DeTemple says of the Kelces. “Those two are really good at drinking beer. They used to love playing Nintendo 64 for hours, smashing the controls and chugging beers at the same time.” His college pals are full of similar stories about “ringleader” Travis, a hip-hop fan and avowed sneakerhead, who once stripped to his underwear to strut at a charity fashion show.

Erasing the Past

But there was a dark side to his behavior that he’s since attempted to cover up, says the source. After Travis started dating Taylor, he was slammed as sexist and ableist for a series of unearthed X posts in which he mocked overweight people and ugly women. “I’ve been trying to get those tweets deleted,” he recently admitted. “Like, since I’ve gotten into the [NFL].”

Most were posted in 2010, during the time he was suspended from his college team for failing a drug test. “I was so embarrassed, I didn’t want to look at anybody,” he’s said.

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Travis acknowledges there are a few red flags in his past, but insists he’s changed. “I had some bad interviews,” he recalled of the 2013 NFL draft, in a clip that was posted on his “New Heights” podcast’s X account on March 2. “The Cowboys were kind of pressing me about missing a year [for] smoking weed. I basically just said, ‘If you’re questioning if I’m still that person after everything I’ve battled through to get to where I am now, then you guys probably [should] pick somebody else. That is exactly what they did.”

But that’s not necessarily what Taylor should do, insist his exes. “They’re a good match,” says Avery, and Veronica agrees that Taylor seems to share Travis’ “down-to-earth” qualities. “I think he’s genuinely a good person,” Veronica tells In Touch. “I think he could be ready to settle down. Everyone wants this love story!”