When Travis Kelce took the stage on June 23 in a surprise cameo appearance during girlfriend Taylor Swift's "Eras Tour" show in London, only one thing was on the 3-time Super Bowl champ's mind: Don't. Mess. Up.
"The one thing I told myself is, 'Do not drop the baby. Do not drop Taylor on your way over to this damn couch,'" Travis explained during the latest episode of his hit podcast New Heights, which he cohosts with his brother, retired NFL player Jason Kelce.
"The golden rule was do not drop Taylor, get her to the couch safely,” he added.
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end then evoked some sage advice from his former coach, offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, that applied to his tap-dancing, heel-clicking "Eras Tour" performance.
"Coach Bieniemy always used to say, 'That ball has our dreams, goals, and aspirations,'" Travis Kelce recalled. "You do not drop that ball."
Despite Swift being heavily involved in every aspect of her musical career—from directing her own music videos to, of course, writing her own songs—Kelce was actually responsible for conjuring up the idea for his brief on-stage performance.
"I initially mentioned it to Tay," Kelce explained to his older brother. "I was like, ‘How funny would it be if I just rolled out on one of the bikes during the 1989 era?'"
According to Travis Kelce, his girlfriend initially laughed at the idea. Eventually, however, she began to seriously consider the possibility of being joined on stage by the NFL star and, according to Kelce, asked her new beau if he really would be "up for doing something like that."
"I was just like, ‘What? I would love to do that, are you kidding me?' I've seen the show enough—might as well put me to work here," Kelce replied. "And sure enough, she found the perfect part of the show for me to come in.”
Teamwork makes the dream work!
In true showmanship fashion, Kelce hinted that his London cameo may not be his last.
“Shout out to Tay for letting me jump on stage with her. Who knows? Might not be the last time," he teased, no-doubt sending Swifties into a frenzy. "You guys will have to keep showing up to the 'Eras Tour' to see if I pop out of the stage or whatnot."
In fact, Kelce even warned his superstar girlfriend that he can grow easily comfortable performing in front of thousands of screaming and adoring fans.
“Yeah. I told her I was like, ‘Yeah, no. This is how it works. Once I get comfortable, I just stop listening to what everyone says, and I start doing my own thing,’” he admitted.
Well, Swift (and the rest of us) can't say she wasn't warned!
