Taylor Swift has fiancé Travis Kelce on the brain, paying tribute to him several times in her “The Fate of Ophelia” music video.
While the video’s most obvious nod to the Kansas City Chiefs’ tight end, 36, comes as a grinning Swift catches and passes a football while sliding down a hallway singing the lyrics, “Pledge allegiance to your hands, your team, your vibes,” three other loving references bring the grand total to four.
Released by Swift, 35, on Sunday, October 5, the video features a dressing room door with the number “87” hanging from it — a nod to Kelce’s Chiefs jersey number.
A third tribute to Kelce, who proposed to Swift in a floral-filled garden in August, arrives when Swift is inside the video’s dressing room, surrounded by fellow dancers dressed in sparkling red costumes. In the background of the group’s gathering, a black and white photo of Kelce appears to be stuck to the corner of a vanity mirror.
Fans took to social media in the aftermath of the video’s release — the first off Swift’s 12th studio album The Life of a Showgirl — to speculate over the black and white photo’s origin. Per a report by Page Six, published on Sunday, some guessed it was a frame from Kelce’s 2016 Catching Kelce reality series, others believed it stemmed from his October 2024 guest role in Ryan Murphy’s Grotesquerie, and further people thought it was from Kelce’s 2016 interview for AfterBuzz TV when he revealed wanted to to “kiss” Swift. (The old interview also revealed that Kelce wanted to “kill” Ariana Grande and “marry” Katy Perry.)
A third lyrical nod to Kelce is made when Swift sings, “I heard you calling / On the megaphone / You wanna see me all alone,” which is likely referencing Kelce unsuccessfully trying to gift Swift a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it during her Eras Tour before the pair had connected. (Kelce detailed his failed attempt during a July 2023 episode of his podcast, “New Heights.”)
Swift’s new music video is filled with plenty of additional glamor, opening with the singer coming to life out of a picture before she ventures through various time periods. Portraying multiple characters, Swift donned several outfits and hairstyles, including wigs that spanned long and black, to long and curly red.
The music video concludes with Swift lying in a bathtub of water, extending the artwork featured on the The Life of a Showgirl’s album cover.
Swift formally announced her new album during a guest appearance on “New Heights.” As she sat next to her then-boyfriend during her interview, Swift told the podcast’s cohost, Travis’ older brother Jason Kelce, that she wanted to “show” him something.
“This is my brand new album, The Life of a Showgirl,” she said, opening up a mint green case with her initials on the front to pull out her record.
She then unveiled the album’s full 12-song track listing: “The Fate of Ophelia,” “Elizabeth Taylor,” “Opalite,” “Father Figure,” “Eldest Daughter,” “Ruin the Friendship,” “Actually Romantic,” “Wish List,” “Wood,” “Cancelled!,” “Honey” and “The Life of a Showgirl” featuring Sabrina Carpenter.
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