Why Taylor should make a swift getaway from beefcake boyfriend, Travis Kelce

From verbal screaming matches to bad karaoke, Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, NFL star Travis Kelce, has had more than his share of cringe-worthy moments — and is a beefcake, not her Love Story.

Haters gonna hate.

While we all want a good Love Story, Travis Kelce is a beefcake red flag.

Taylor Swift’s boyfriend is due to arrive Down Under to join the world’s biggest pop star on her Eras Tour.

He is believed to be on his way to meet Swift after she touched down in Sydney following her biggest sellout shows to date in Melbourne.

The NFL star is all partied out after his Kansas City Chiefs team won the Superbowl in overtime last week in Las Vegas.

And herein lies the problem.

We all want Kelce to be Taylor’s Love Story, but is he? Picture: Getty

All of us were dialled into their next chapter as Tay Tay and her girl gang chugged beers in a super box at the major sporting event to cheer on her man with her parents in tow.

Every cog in Swift’s publicity machine is well oiled and finely tuned to precision.

So we were all gasping when Kelce got into a verbal screaming match on the sidelines as his team was down in the first half, aggressively bumping his coach Andy Reid while shouting obscenities.

Sorry but big no no.

Sure we have all heard the “heated in the moment”, “that’s just sport”, “too much testosterone” and “what happens on the field” type storylines and excuses.

But sorry not sorry, anyone who is that quick to aggro and enrage gets the red flag.

I was certainly not the only one – the group What’s App messages were pinging hard – thinking what will happen to that deep-seeded fury post Kelce’s NFL career.

It was in that moment the female tide on Travis turned.

Hero to zero.

It is not a stretch to crystal ball Kelce blowing up to the size of a house, swilling beers with his even burlier NFL brother Jason on the couch and getting his aggro on. Couple this with CTE effects after one too many concussions. Ooo — oo-ooo Taylor run.

Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs arrives before Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium on February 11, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Picture: Getty

And then came the ick.

Even Swift couldn’t contain her cringe when Kelce took to the winning podium to belt out some impromptu karaoke and signing off with a “Viva Las Vegas”.

It was the Aussie equivalent of an “oi oi oi” – or worse, a “shoey” – and just as cringey.

Another red flag followed when Kelce was too poleaxed to even speak and had to be held up at the Chiefs finals rally. More tone deaf was him posing up with police and keeping the partying going after the parade’s mass shooting, killing one woman and injuring more than 20 others.

Thankfully the Swifty PR brigade no doubt came into play, with the Karma singer immediately pledging money to the shooting victims, with Kelce following suit some time later.

For those blissfully unaware, a red flag when dating or in a relationship is a warning sign that indicates unhealthy or manipulative behaviour.

Psychotherapist and mind coach Kaylene Wynn says red flags are not always recognisable at first — which is part of what makes them so dangerous. However, they tend to grow bigger and become more problematic over time.

“There are many people you will love but there is a significant difference in a love story and a life story,” Wynn says.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce embrace after the Chiefs won the Super Bowl. Picture: AFP

“Many don’t recognise the early red flags, because they are not sure or understand the relationship within their own self. People tend to look for what they have in common, verses where are the uncommonalities.”

The internet has quite wisely dubbed character traits and trivial flaws like bad grammar – a misspelt “your” or “there” (lazy) being rude to service staff (eww) and being stingy (run for the hills!) as red flags.

Wynn tapped some of the more serious ones, from love bombing – a term for when your partner becomes very invested early on with grandiose declarations only to later pull away, to financial control and controlling behaviours like choosing what you wear and who you see.

“What you do and feel can also be a red flag not to ignore,” she said. “Trust in your gut instincts, don’t dismiss it, explore it. The key is not to give away your personal power to someone else.”

It’s become modern day practice to adopt psychobabble and jargon into our everyday speech – who hasn’t rolled out phrases like “boundaries”, “gaslighting”, “narcissist” and “co dependent” when trying to prove a point.

But back to Kelce. Everyone wants the fairytale ending for Swift, and we are all rooting that the red flags aren’t flying.