A Look At Travis Kelce's Dating History

Travis Kelce knows a thing or two about playing the field — and we don't just mean professional football. The tight end has played for the Kansas City Chiefs since 2013, but it isn't just his touchdowns that fans are watching. As with any professional athlete, playing in giant stadiums nationwide garners worldwide attention. For eligible sports star bachelors like Kelce, it means romantic relationships becoming tabloid news. Indeed, being a 6'5" blue-eyed blondie with a decade-long NFL career in the books makes him quite the catch. E! network seemed to think so, as the Chiefs player starred in his own reality dating show "Chasing Kelce" in 2016, in which he dated 50 women — one from each U.S. state — at once (and we thought football was exhausting). Although Kelce found love on the show, it didn't last, and he went on to date several other women throughout his NFL career. 

As such, inquiring minds want to know: Who's in the box watching his winning plays, and who's on his arm when he leaves the stadium? Most might watch football for the game, but for others, the real sport is diving into the personal lives of NFL stars when they step off the field. Whether he's stealing hearts or stealing catches, this football player's personal life has been causing quite the buzz. We're taking a look at Travis Kelce's dating history.

As previously mentioned, Travis Kelce eventually narrowed down the 50 women vying for a chance at love on his dating show "Chasing Kelce." In the end, the Chiefs player walked away with Kentucky native Maya Benberry, despite having his doubts about her during filming. "I love your confidence, but at times it does get overconfident," he told Benberry on the show (via The Sun). "It kind of shows arrogance. I have been attracted to women like that my entire life, and those relationships didn't work because of that." 

Despite Kelce picking Benberry in the end, the two called it quits just five months later. In May 2017, the Instagram model blasted her ex in since-deleted tweets captured by TheShadeRoom, claiming he cheated on her with sports broadcaster Kayla Nicole. "When you and your ex broke up 5 months ago but you find out via social media that he has supposedly been in another relationship for 6..." Benberry wrote in part. 

Years after their breakup, the influencer was still making headlines for warning the dating pool of Kelce's alleged infidelity. "Taylor seems like such a fun girl with a beautiful spirit so I wish her the best of luck but I wouldn't be a girls' girl if I didn't advise her to be smart!" Benberry told the Daily Mail in September 2023 when Kelce was spotted with Taylor Swift (more on this below). She added, "Only time will tell but like the saying always goes, 'Once a cheater, always a cheater.'"

After splitting with Maya Benberry, Travis Kelce dated sports broadcaster Kayla Nicole. Infidelity allegations aside, the NFL player admitted there was a bit of strategy that went into meeting her — but he's obviously no stranger to playbooks. "It was over the course of a month's span, just following her and liking the pictures that she was posting and watching all of her stories when stories had first started coming out," he told E! News. "I was just stalking her and then finally on New Year's, she gave in. And, you know, New Year new me. She just shot her shot, jumped in my DMs and the rest is history."

Kelce and Nicole dated from 2017 to 2020 before they split up briefly. Rumors suggested that the Chiefs player had cheated on the television personality, but he denied the allegations, writing in a since-deleted tweet: "This is fake news ... a lie ... and not why Kayla and I broke up ... Take all your hatred somewhere else please." The pair got back together again months later, but their relationship officially ended in the spring of 2022 amid reports that they'd been fighting over finances. Nicole took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to set the record straight. "Not sure where y'all got this nonsense from, but it's absurd and very false," she tweeted. 

Kelce also addressed the hearsay on "The Pivot Podcast" the following January, saying, "We were in a relationship for five years. A hundred dollars here and a hundred dollars there wasn't even thought about."

After Travis Kelce's five-year relationship with Kayla Nicole ended, he was back playing the field (pun intended). Within months, the tight end was rumored to have dated "Access Hollywood" host Zuri Hall, but we can neither confirm nor deny the speculation. Fans got wind of a potential romance between the broadcaster and the NFL player in the fall of 2022, when Kelce was spotted in the background of a video his friend posted of Hall. The television host was seen in the box suite at a Kansas City Chiefs game not long after, further fueling rumors that the two were an item. While Kelce and Hall remained hush-hush about their status, social media sleuths were quick to point out that Hall and Nicole had unfollowed each other amidst the dating rumors. Hmm.

All that said, whatever relationship Kelce and Hall may or may not have shared quickly fizzled out. In January 2023, he revealed on "The Pivot Podcast" that he was living the single life. "I'm in the free market right now, man," Kelce noted, adding, "I'm out there just enjoying life, focused on my profession. Got my feet up outside of football."

Travis Kelce's dating life made headlines once again in April 2023, when a photo of him and rapper Megan Thee Stallion speaking together at the CMT Music Awards surfaced on X and sent the Internet into a firestorm. "No shade Pardi but Travis Kelce and Megan would be a sexy interracial couple," one user tweeted, referencing the rapper's ex-boyfriend, Pardison Fontaine. Soon after, others had reason to believe there may have been a little more going on than just friendly conversation. Reports further suggested that their meeting at the awards show was courtesy of Kelce flying the rapper to the show on his private jet. And while the Chiefs player was notably among the select few accounts the "WAP" hitmaker chose to follow on Instagram, Kelce's ex-girlfriend, Kayla Nicole, had reportedly unfollowed both him and the rapper around the same time they were spotted chatting. 

While ESPN host Clinton Yates appeared to lend credence to the dating rumors on the "Green Light Podcast with Chris Long," inquiring fans will just have to make their own assumptions about this potential pairing, Kelce and Megan Thee Stallion never spoke publicly about their relationship status.

As her song goes, Taylor Swift's got a long list of ex-lovers ... and we're pretty sure Travis Kelce doesn't want to be one of them. Viewers first got wind of Kelce's crush on the "Blank Space" singer on his "New Heights" podcast in July 2023 after he attended "The Eras Tour" at the Arrowhead Stadium. "I wanted to give Taylor Swift [a friendship bracelet] with my number on it," he said. "... She doesn't meet anybody, or at least she didn't want to meet me, so I took it personal."

Following a round of dating rumors, Kelce admitted on "The Pat McAfee Show" that September that he eventually contacted Swift. "I told her that I've seen her rock a stage in Arrowhead and she might have to come see me rock the stage at Arrowhead," he said. The NFL player's wish came true just days later: The "Bejeweled" artist watched the Chiefs beat the Chicago Bears while seated in a box suite next to Kelce's mother, Donna. Swift may have even brought a bit of luck, as Kelce scored a touchdown much to the singer-songwriter's cheering delight. 

Swift and Kelce were later spotted leaving the stadium together, with Swifties clocking how he was decked out in a KidSuper Studios custom-made outfit titled "1989 Bedroom Painting." Clearly amused by the ensuing media attention, Kelce swiftly noted on his podcast that he wouldn't comment on the rumored romance. "What's real is that it is my personal life," he explained. "I want to respect both of our lives."