Kansas City Chiefs seven-time All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce hosted his high-profile girlfriend Taylor Swift on the New Heights podcast, co-hosted by Kelce’s older brother Jason, Wednesday evening, and the live stream plus archived version drew more than 7.7 million viewers on YouTube alone. And that was just on Wednesday evening.
The number will almost certainly soar far higher when audio-only download numbers from such platforms as Apple, Spotify and others roll in.
Millions of Viewers, Not All Loved It
But even though millions watched or listened, not everyone was impressed with Kelce’s often sappy, saccharine fawning over his billionaire pop megastar gal pal.
As the episode wrapped up, viewers of the video stream were treated to Kelce and Swift smooching, Kelce repeatedly gushing “I’m the luckiest man in the world,” and the 6-foot-5, 250-pound three-time Super Bowl champ “holding and stroking Swift’s hand and even kissing her head,” according to a report by the Daily Mail tabloid newspaper.
New Heights Called ‘More Like New Lows’
“New heights!?! More like new lows full of cringe,” one viewer quoted by the Mail posted in the video’s comments section.
“New Heights tswift release s*** is so cringey,” another commenter remarked.
“It’s embarrassing. Travis Kelce is so very cringe,” yet another commenter posted, per the Mail.
“This podcast is so f*****g cringe,” wrote another, sounding a recurrent theme.
Other Fans Charmed by Swift’s Candor
But while some viewers reacted by cringing, in fairness, others were delighted by the opportunity to see a more candid side of Swift they rarely get to witness.
“We really owe a lot to Travis,” one “Swiftie” stated on the YouTube page for the podcast video. “We never get to see this side of Taylor. Heâs made her feel safe in a way that she can share this way.”
“It feels like Iâm not suppose to be hearing this conversation,” said another fan. “Itâs so natural and so safe like weâre all sitting in their kitchen listening to her talk.”
“As a die hard Taylor fan since 2008 Iâm so shocked to see her like this,” marveled another. “I honestly thought weâd never see her this candid and especially not with a boyfriend, talking so openly about their relationship. Iâm in awe.”
New Swift Album Release Announced on Podcast
For Swift, however, the podcast was also about business. Her true purpose in making the New Heights appearance was to announce and plug her upcoming 12th studio album, titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The album reunites her with Swedish music producer and songwriter Max Martin, who produced and co-wrote much of the material for Swift’s earlier albums Red, 1989 and Reputation.
With his longtime protege Shellback, who is also Swedish, Martin has been responsible for 22 of Swift’s songs â not including the upcoming tracks on Showgirl. They include some of her best-known hits including “Blank Space,” “Wildest Dreams,” “Shake it Off,” and “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.”
Martin, 54, whose given name is Karl Martin Sandberg, has also produced and written songs for such pop superstars as Britney Spears, Katy Perry, the Backstreet Boys, The Weeknd, Justin Timberlake and dozens more.
On the podcast, Kelce recalled his first meeting with Swift, saying, “It was just so much fun that it just knocked my socks off. She blew me away and I had never experienced something so mesmerizing on stage and then so real and so beautiful in person.”
That prompted former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce to ask, “Should I leave?”
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