AUT Senior Lecturer Rebecca Trelease talks to Ryan Bridge about Taylor Swift announcing her engagement to Travis Kelce.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has revealed that he received an enthusiastic response from Travis Kelce after extending an open invitation for the newly engaged American football star and Taylor Swift to celebrate in New Zealand.
Luxon revealed his exciting announcement at the Business Canterbury Prime Minister’s Lunch this afternoon.
He said he received a response after sending a message yesterday to Kelce and Swift, congratulating them on their engagement, with Kelce jokingly asking if he could have an NZ passport.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Business Canterbury lunch. Photo / George Heard
“One of my best friends in America is actually in business with Travis, and he actually got a reply back from Travis, he loved the offer and asked jokingly whether he could get a passport.
“I wish Taylor and Travis congratulations. I said to them I’d really love it if you came out to New Zealand for your wedding or your honeymoon, I think that’d be amazing,” Luxon said.
In a video message shared on his official Facebook account earlier this week, Luxon congratulated the pair and painted a picture of the country as the perfect location.
Luxon extended an open invitation to Swift and Kelce to host their wedding or honeymoon in Aotearoa.
“Well, Taylor and Travis, a big congratulations on this fantastic news. Getting engaged is such an exciting time,” Luxon said in the video.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's engagement. Photo / @taylorswift, @killatrav
“Now I know you might not be thinking this far ahead, but there would be no better place in the world to have the wedding than here in New Zealand, or even your honeymoon.”
Luxon highlighted some of the nation’s most iconic hotspots, such as Aoraki Mount Cook and the Waitomo Caves.
He said that New Zealand’s people were “the best and the most friendliest in the world”.
“I bet you, Travis, you would love to watch some rugby here too.”
The initial engagement post made by Swift quickly gathered more than 16 million likes within a matter of hours.
“Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” they captioned the joint Instagram post.
The photos featured a slideshow of moments from the proposal, along with a shot of the large diamond ring set in yellow gold.
AUT senior lecturer in Critical Media Studies, Dr Rebecca Trelease, told Herald NOW’s Ryan Bridge this was a snapshot of the massive impact Swift has had in the media climate.
“Because if it’s a like, that’s not even just the people who have seen the post, that’s people who are really happy about the post, obviously. So that’s really impactful in terms of media coverage, especially in today’s age.”
She said fans will be overjoyed for Swift after her 19-year history of sharing her personal dating journey as a young teen all the way to her mid-thirties.
