NFL star Kelce, Swift announce engagement

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Pop superstar Taylor Swift and National Football League (NFL) standout Travis Kelce announced their engagement on Tuesday, setting the stage for a high-profile wedding for one of the world’s biggest celebrity couples.

A joint post on their Instagram pages showed pictures of Kelce down on one knee making his marriage proposal in a flower-laden garden, and then Swift displaying a large diamond ring.

“Your English teacher and gym teacher are getting married,” the pair, both aged 35, joked in a caption.

The couple first went public with their relationship in 2023, and their love story has been broadcast on some of the world’s biggest stages. The pair have appeared together at her hugely popular concerts and at his NFL games playing for the Kansas City Chiefs.

US President Donald Trump was among the first to publicly congratulate the star couple, despite earlier bad blood with Swift over her endorsement of his opponent Kamala Harris in last year’s US election.

“I wish them a lot of luck,” he told reporters at a cabinet meeting, when asked about the engagement.

Celebrities flocked to congratulate the pair, including from the worlds of music and sport.

“Awww huge congratulations,” wrote singer Avril Lavigne, on Instagram.

“Two of the most genuine people meet and fall in love. Just so happy for these two,” wrote Brittany Mahomes, the wife of Kelce’s quarterback teammate Patrick Mahomes.

Last year, Swift closed her acclaimed $2-billion Eras tour that shattered records and made her the world’s leading music star as she performed 149 three-hour shows around the globe.

Tickets sold for exorbitant prices and drew in millions of fans, with many who didn’t get in willing to sing along outside venues.

Swifties — as her fans are known — are anxiously waiting for her twelfth studio album “The Life of a Showgirl,” to be released on 3 October.

News of the album came this month in an episode of Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast, which he hosts with his brother Jason, a former NFL player.

The two hour-plus episode covered topics from how Swift felt after gaining control of her master recordings to her love of bread baking. It showcased playful dynamics between the two, and set a record 1.3 million concurrent views on YouTube, Guinness World Records said.