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Erin Andrews Doesn’t ‘Take Any Credit’ for Playing Matchmaker for Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift
Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift might be the world’s most popular couple at the moment, but Erin Andrews said she doesn’t “take any credit” for playing matchmaker between the two lovebirds after making the suggestion during an episode of her podcast, “Calm Down.”
“We said, you know, ‘Hey Taylor, date Travis Kelce! He’s so fabulous! Do it for America!’” Erin, 46, told The New York Post on Wednesday, May 8. “We just had fun with it.”
Swifties were thrilled when Taylor and Travis, both 34, confirmed their relationship when the “Cruel Summer” singer attended her first Kansas City Chiefs game in September 2023. However, the same could not be said for football fans, something Erin also touched on in her interview.
“This whole media fascination with her being involved in our sport, and people having opinions about it hurting the league — are you kidding me? She’s incredible for our sport,” Erin told the publication. “I find [Taylor] to be completely fascinating and empowering, and I feel like now more than ever, she’s opened the door to these female viewers.”
She continued, “I loved watching sports because of my dad. I grew up thinking these players were my friends. And a lot of guys come up to me and say, ‘This is so cool that [Taylor] was able to get my daughter interested in watching a game, and now I can sit and teach her about it.’”
Ever since Taylor was first spotted at Travis’ game, the pair have found themselves in the center of an onslaught of media attention. Shots of her in the audience at every game she attended seemed to enrage some NFL fans who felt like she was getting more attention than the game being played on the field.
“The wall-to-wall coverage of Taylor Swift at this game is annoying AF. I don’t even like football and I agree it’s destroying football. Just enough,” Fox News commentator Tomi Lahren wrote via X on October 1, 2023.
However, The New York Times revealed that Taylor wasn’t actually shown that much, and during a three-hour broadcast of a game, the “Fortnight” singer was only seen for an average of 35 seconds.
Jamie Skerski, an associate professor in communications at the University of Colorado Boulder, weighed in on the potential reasons why Taylor’s presence was so triggering to some football fans.
“Most of them, admittedly, don’t know anything about her,” the professor told 9News on February 7. “But they just don’t get it and they’re sort of offended by her existence even if it’s only for 25 seconds in a broadcast that they have been conditioned to think is for them.”
Regardless, the Grammy winner hasn’t ever seemed bothered by those who criticize her supporting Travis.
“There’s a camera, like, a half-mile away, and you don’t know where it is and you have no idea when the camera is putting you in the broadcast, so I don’t know if I’m being shown 17 times or once,” Taylor said during her December 2023 interview as Time’s Person of the Year. “I’m just there to support Travis. I have no awareness of if I’m being shown too much and pissing off a few dads, Brads and Chads.”
