LIVE BLOG: The biggest moments with Taylor Swift on Travis Kelce's 'New Heights' podcast
The time has come Swifties! Taylor Swift is sitting down for her podcast debut on "New Heights," with her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, and his brother and co-host, Jason Kelce.
Taylor's appearance was teased on Monday, beginning with a few hints she would be on the show.
Then things really got excited when she announced her new album, "The Life of a Showgirl," and teased that she'd reveal the cover art on the show.
So what else did she say on the podcast? Stay here for all the news, the easter eggs, and the Tay Tay and Travie love.
LIVE UPDATES
7:13 PM EST WHY SHE CAME ON NEW HEIGHTS
Taylor says she agreed to come on the podcast because it's done so much for her, including get her a boyfriend ever since "ever since Travis decided to use it as his personal dating app two years ago."
7: 15PM ROMANTIC GESTURES/GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER
Taylor joked that he didn't get a meet and greet when she played Arrowhead Stadium and "made it everyone's problem," but thought his friendship bracelet gesture was "romantic." She also compared it to a John Hughes movie and said this is the kind of thing she's wanted to happen to her since she was a teenager.
She called Travis a "vibe booster" and "human exclamation point," and is "nonjudgemental," including not judging her for not knowing much about football.
7:16 PM FIRST DATE
Taylor asked Travis about facing off against Jason in the Super Bowl, thinking they had to make eye contact. But he gently corrected her, explaining what he actually does as a tight end. But Taylor said she learned and confused her friends when she was excited about a player drafted to the Chiefs. "I'm not ready to be an analyst right now, but give me 16 months," she joked.
7:21PM RECLAIMING HER MASTERS
Taylor explained what it means for an artist to own their own master recordings, because it's how your "legacy is shaped," and owning her masters has been a goal since she was a teenager.
She says the first time it was sold "ripped my heart of my chest," leading to the Taylor's Versions re-recorded albums. Travis praised her "bad kid" attitude, which Jason corrected as being a "savvy kid."
Not owning her music bugged her and it was something she thought about every day, and she wanted to own everything outright. She called it a "long shot" asking the most recent owners, because it's a valuable asset, but decided with her team to approach them after "The Eras Tour" to buy her masters outright.
Taylor approached the conversation of buying them differently because it's all so personal to her. And instead of sending lawyers or management, she sent her mom and brother to Los Angeles to talk with them.
Talking about it made Taylor get a little emotional, describing her family telling Shamrock Capital, the owners, what it would mean to buy them again. Then a few months after the Super Bowl, she got a call from her mom saying " you got your music." As she was saying it, she teared up again, admitting she cried her eyes out with joy and surprise.
She was in even more tears telling Travis the news, and she hilariously reenacted the moment when she told him. "This changed my life," she said, her voice breaking slightly.
Taylor got into the nitty gritty of ownership, re-recordings, and the power of the fans supporting her and making it possible to buy back her masters.
And for Swifties, Taylor declared "Red" being her favorite re-record, which included one of the favorite songs she's ever written, "All Too Well." She expanded it to the original 10 minute version, and that's the one most popular with fans now.
8:00 PM POST ERAS TOUR LIFE/FALLING FOR TAYLOR
Taylor said she misses the tour, but there was a lot of physical therapy and discomfort. Travis compared some of the physical therapy stuff she did to what he does as a football player. She revealed she had blisters, stomach flu, and other stuff that she powered through as a performer.
Travis said if he'd never gone to the show and been so "mesmerized" by her on tour, they might not have met. When in a room alone with her, "it's like I've known you forever."
"I felt the same way about you," Taylor said.
8:05 PM TAYLOR'S HOBBIES
Taylor said now that she's not on tour, she's back into her "granny" hobbies. She likes to sew, purses and baby blankets, painting, cooking, baking, making sourdough bread.
"I'm the luckiest man in the world," Travis said. Jason agreed her sourdough is pretty great.
"I'm talking about bread 60% of the time now," Taylor joked.
Meanwhile, Travis revealed he is obsessed with otters and Taylor joked that's all he shows her on his phone.
8:12 PM FAVORITE MOMENTS FROM ERAS TOUR
Taylor said the best part of the tour was seeing people bond across generations and coming up with their own traditions. For example, fans bringing balloons and using their phone lights to make their own glowing orbs to dance along with the song "Willow," which featured dancers with orbs on stage.
She joked by the end of the tour, it was like "Rocky Horror Picture Show," with people adding to the live show traditions.
8:18 PM EASTER EGGS
Jason asked Taylor what the "art of the Easter egg" is and Taylor said they'll never tie back to her personal life, but she will plant details and clues, and will also work in numerology.
Her favorite Easter egg was her commencement speech when she received an honorary doctorate, she packed it with lyrical Easter eggs for her album "Midnights," and blew fans' minds.
But she also doesn't expect everyone to keep up with them, they're not required to understand her albums.
Jason asked for clarification on numerology, like his jersey number being 87 and her favorite number being 13, which adds up to 100! And Jason revealed his favorite number has always been 13, which Taylor says means it was meant to be! She also dropped the word "triskadekaphelia," the love of the number 13.
8:19 TRAVIS ON STAGE
That was one of their favorite moments, and they said it wasn't a serious idea at first, but it became real when he joined her on stage.
Travis joked about how scared he was to drop her, which Taylor scoffed at.
8:22 PM FIRST IMPRESSION OF JASON AND THE CHIEFS SUITE
Jason was told to be on his "best behavior" and one of the first things she saw him say was he wanted to jump on a flaming table with the Bills Mafia (the fans of the Buffalo Bills), and she heard Kylie Kelce respond, "Can we not do that right now?"
Taylor also praised Travis' friends, saying they're the same ones he's had since he was four. And for the first game, she walked through the front door with them, using them as security to hide on her way in, and nobody noticed! It was around that time the dating rumors had started too, joking that people wondered "What are these two going to talk about?"
They also joked they don't refute Cheifs' coach Andy Reid's claim he's the one who set them up (Reid is friend with Taylor's dad).
Reid did apparently talk him up after Travis shot his shot on the podcast, and that actually impressed Taylor.
8:31 PM FAMILY SURGERY
Taylor's dad had a quintuple bypass over the summer to take care of five blockages. She and the family stayed by his side, and it was a "surreal" experience caring for him over the summer, but she added he was a good patient. Her mom also got a knee replacement!
8:38 PM MEDIA ATTENTION
Taylor said she doesn't pay attention to comments or feedback from the internet, adding she's been in the music industry 20 years, so it's hard to hurt her feelings. Travis admitted it was a little harder for him to adjust at first.
She also appreciates that Travis thinks most online discourse is funny and that's been a change for her and helped her deal with it better. She's learned that even if her name is in the handle, it doesn't have to be her business.
Taylor added that your energy is "a luxury item" and it's important to not spend it where it's not useful.
All three joked about their early Twitter days and the good and bad that came with it. But Taylor says she's pretty "detached" from the Internet, and has had her comments turned off for the past 10 years. She added her main business is music and entertaining fans and she has ways of monitoring it, but she isn't otherwise focused on the comments.
8:45 PM NEW NEWS!
Taylor got to deliver her New News! (one of the podcast's most popular segments. Jason brought up the last Eras Tour show, where she didn't take the elevator down after the last song, but exited through an orange door, a hint for her fans that she was enterting a new era.
Then Taylor brought out her briefcase with the new album, revealing the album cover. She worked on the album while on tour, doing three shows, then on her days off fly to Sweden to work on the album. Taylor read through the tracks, as Travis giggled that he knows a lot about the album, and he called one of the tracks, "CANCELLED!" a "banger."
She held up the orange sparkly vinyl, and Jason asked what the signifcance of the color choice was, and she said she's always liked it and it represents the recent era of her life. She also discussed working with Max Martin, her "mentor," and Shellback, who have written some of her favorite songs with her, and she's thrilled to work with them again.
Taylor also added while handing the album off to Travis it was the first day she'd seen the physical product.
She said there's only 12 songs, and no extras coming like with past work like "The Tortured Poets Department."
The album will be out on October 3, joking it's on 10/3 (aka 13), and she talked about the photos on the inside cover which they kept secret (though some were shared now on Instagram).
Travis confirmed that "The Life of the Showgirl" is more upbeat and poppy, and Taylor said the album matches how she's been feeling now, and it's a very "focused" album.
The theme is "everything that was going on behind the curtain" with "infectious" melodies and "crisp" lyrics.
But much to Jason's chagrin, he doesn't get to listen to the album early!
6:12 PM RAPID FIRE QUESTIONS
Travis asked what Taylor thought of Jason telling his daughters cats are poisonous, and she said it was a perfect challenge to show cats aren't poisonous (Jason has said in the past he didn't want to get them a cat). Jason said he is considering a "barn cat," but they joked it's going to be a house cat in no time.
What would Taylor bake to show her skills? Cinnamon swirl sourdough! But she also love making pop tarts!
Did she play the bear in "Happy Gilmore 2?" She confirmed it is absolutely NOT TRUE. But she loved the movie.
Arriving on Eras Tour stage in a cleaning cart, whose idea? It was Taylor's, she didn't want to spoil the first era/stage look. She meant to only do it night one, but got "attached" to the idea and just kept doing it.
What is your welcome to the NFL moment? It was stepping on the field in Baltimore during the AFC championship, that's her first big NFL moment.
What was her welcome to the industry moment? She's only recently felt like she's been in the moment in her career during the Eras Tour. Before that, she was always planning the next album, the next move.
