It’s a love story and she just said yes – Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are engaged.
The pair announced their engagement news on Instagram, captioning the post “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married”.
It comes amid a huge year for the pop star. After winding up her record-breaking Eras Tour in December 2024, she laid low for a few months before announcing in May that she had bought the rights to the master recordings of her first six albums.
It marked a huge milestone for the star, who told fans at the time: “All the music I’ve ever made now belongs to me.”
She later credited her fans who came to the Eras Tour as “the reason I was able to purchase my music back”.
And earlier this month, she appeared on her now-fiancé Kelce’s podcast New Heights to announce her new album, The Life of a Showgirl, due for release on October 3.
Now, she’s set to marry the Kansas City Chiefs tight end. Here’s everything you need to know about the engagement, the relationship, the ring and more.
The couple’s Instagram post announcing their engagement blew up. At the time of writing, it had more than 16 million likes.
AUT senior lecturer Rebecca Trelease, who teaches a course on Swift’s impact on pop culture, said: “That’s really impressive in terms of impact ... really impactful in terms of media coverage.”
She told Herald NOW host Ryan Bridge this morning: “So much of Taylor Swift and the reason why people enjoy her music so much is because she really invests herself in her songwriting.
“She is sharing every element of her life ... she was a young teen when she started, so a lot of that has been what makes an impact on her life, which has been love and relationships.
“And so we’re all just super happy that in this day and age where there’s a lot going on in the world, there is a lot of bad news in the world, but yet someone has found love, someone has found happiness.”
According to New Zealand jeweller Naveya & Sloane’s head of design Sophie Bioletti, Swift’s solitaire ring appears to feature an eight-carat mine-cut cushion diamond set in yellow gold.
“I understand it was designed and created by Artifex in New York, which suggests the band may feature their signature hand engraved detailing, perhaps even with small diamonds set within the engraving,” she told the Herald.
“Choosing an old mine-cut cushion as the centrepiece feels wonderfully fitting for her. Antique diamonds from this era were cut by candlelight, designed to give a soft glow that feels romantic.”
Bioletti has seen estimates it could be worth nearly $1 million.
“But with diamonds of this rarity and with quality varying so much, it’s difficult to put an exact figure on.”
Celebrity engagement rings tend to spark trends and Swift’s will be no different, she said.
“With Taylor’s incredible reach, I’d expect this to inspire a shift towards vintage-inspired styles that endures for some time.
“I hope it also sparks curiosity about old mine-cut diamonds. They are truly special, each with its own unique character. I have a few myself and treasure the sense of history they carry.”
The hand engraving on Swift’s ring is “a wonderful way to weave subtle symbolism into a piece that will be cherished for a lifetime”, she added.
Michael Hill chief marketing officer Jo Feeney says yellow gold and elongated cushion cuts are trending already - so Swift’s ring will make them even more popular choices.
“Old-world elegance is a timeless classic, and engagement rings with vintage or art deco designs - like Taylor’s - speak to this.
“Vintage inspired engagement rings have detailed beauty, and an heirloom feel that you can treasure always. Engagement ring styles at the end of the day are all about the individual, showing a sense of their personal aesthetic.”
How does it compare to other celebrities’ engagement rings? According to The Knot, the most expensive engagement ring belonged to Grace Kelly and would now be worth US$38.8m ($66m).
Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez and Katy Perry have all sported sparklers costing around US$5m ($8.5m), while Blake Lively and Serena Williams’ rings are said to be worth US$2m.
Kate Middleton’s sapphire engagement ring is reportedly worth US$400,000 and Meghan Markle’s US$350,000.
Swift herself is the world’s richest female musician, according to Forbes, with a net worth of around $1.6 billion ($2.7b). Meanwhile, as the highest-paid tight end in history, Kelce is reportedly worth around $90m.
It’s thanks to the Eras Tour that the two are tying the knot.
It all started when Kelce came to one of Swift’s Eras Tour shows in Kansas City and attempted – unsuccessfully – to give her a friendship bracelet with his name on it.
He later spoke about it on his podcast New Heights with his brother Jason Kelce, which caught Swift’s attention. She later called it a “wild, romantic gesture”.
Though Swift has been in a number of high-profile relationships, she’s famously private about them. She doesn’t do joint interviews, walks red carpets solo and very rarely mentions their names, though she does draw inspiration from her dating history for her music.
It’s been different with Kelce. Swift has attended multiple Chiefs games to cheer him on, while the NFL star even appeared on stage during her third Eras Tour show at Wembley in London last year.
It came after the pair went official on Instagram, sharing a selfie with Prince William, Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
While announcing her newest album on New Heights earlier this month, she opened up about the relationship in a rare confession to fans.
“I owe a lot to this podcast. This podcast got me a boyfriend, ever since Travis decided to use it as his personal dating app about two years ago,” she said.
“This is sort of what I’ve been writing songs about wanting to happen to me since I was a teenager.”
Kissing her hand, Kelce responded: “I’m the luckiest man in the world.”