Before romancing Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce was the star of ‘Catching Kelce,’ a 2016 dating show in which 50 women competed for his heart.
VF’s @savannahwalsh22 revisits the series: https://t.co/bBWP4l6K1e
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) October 20, 2023
The athlete previously addressed the series while hosting Saturday Night Live in March. “It was kind of like The Bachelor, except instead of roses, I handed out footballs, and instead of watching, people did not.” Case in point: “That show is owned by NBCUniversal, so it should be on Peacock, but Peacock said, ‘Nah, we good.’” At least, that was true until Kelce’s actual dating life heated up—and the streamer promptly made all seven episodes available.
The renewed interest in Kelce’s backstory makes sense. But how did he get his own dating show in the first place? Well, despite a five-year, $46 million contract extension with the Chiefs—which the show frequently references as a sign of Kelce’s relevance—Kelce says that in those days he was strapped for cash.
“I turned down the show about 100 times…it felt like,” he said on the podcast The Pivot this year. “I was having so much fun buying whatever the hell I wanted to, going wherever the hell I wanted to. I wasn’t financially looking at this as, you know, I need to have money down the line. There were times in the offseason, I was avoiding the rent lady. It was that bad.” So finally he gave in: “I heard about this situation where I could make six figures in two weeks, and I was like, Uhhh. And 50 ladies? I’m like, This is actually starting to sound a little better.”
If there was a “Catching Taylor Swift” reality show, who do you think would be a contestant?
