Taylor Swift's Rumored Boyfriend Travis Kelce Has A TV Role You May Have Missed
You've seen his name all over the news lately because he might be dating the world's biggest pop star. Did you know that Travis Kelce, tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs and Taylor Swift's apparent new flame, also appeared in an obscure comedy series alongside Fred Armisen, Tim Heidecker, and John C. Reilly?
No, really — Kelce showed up in the pilot episode of the 2020 Showtime original series "Moonbase 8," a show centered around three relatively inept astronauts competing for a trip to the moon at a NASA training center. So how does Kelce factor in? Well, he plays himself, and he's competing with Robert "Cap" Caputo (Reilly), Professor Scott "Rook" Sloan (Heidecker), and Dr. Michael "Skip" Henai (Armisen) at the training camp, as well, and the presence of a professional athlete doesn't sit super well with the guys.
"Moonbase 8" didn't fare particularly well with critics and only lasted for that one season, running for just six episodes. So how did Kelce get involved with the show in the first place?
John C. Reilly says a different football player almost ended up on Moonbase 8
In a 2020 interview with The Ringer, John C. Reilly, Fred Armisen, and Tim Heidecker revealed that Travis Kelce wasn't actually the first choice for the role. Apparently, the show initially asked Rob Gronkowski to star in the athlete's role. Gronkowski played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers until he retired in 2022. When Gronkowski turned the role down, the gang turned to Kelce, and as Reilly correctly notes, Kelce won a Super Bowl before he even shot the show. "His rate would've skyrocketed if we asked him afterward," Heidecker joked.
"You know, putting Kelce in there seems at first [like], 'How absurd. Why would you put a famous football player in the TV show as himself?'" Reilly told the outlet. "But when you think about what NASA was doing with the Challenger program, putting a teacher in space. They want people that are gonna make it on the front of a Corn Flakes box. That's where it's going now."
As it turns out, the "Moonbase 8" crew was ahead of their time. Kelce eventually hosted "Saturday Night Live" in 2023 when he was in the Super Bowl for the second time, where he would eventually beat the Philadelphia Eagles (the team for which his brother, Jason Kelce, plays). In sketches like "Straight Male Friend," he showed off serious comedic chops — so Armisen, Reilly, and Heidecker clearly saw something in the guy a long time ago.
Travis Kelce may or may not be dating pop superstar Taylor Swift
Travis Kelce is widely considered one of the best tight ends in football history, but lately, he's been making headlines for different reasons. In late September, Taylor Swift, on break from her mega-successful, record-smashing Eras Tour, stopped by Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri to watch Kelce play against the Chicago Bears. Then she reappeared at his next game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. As of this writing, Swift has been to three of Kelce's games and has been photographed cheering him on next to his mom Donna Kelce — so if they're not dating, she must have recently developed a real love for the game or something.
After Swift and her ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn called it quits, Kelce apparently attended one of her concerts hoping to meet up. At the time, it wasn't meant to be. As he told his brother on their "New Heights" podcast, "She doesn't meet anybody — or at least she didn't want to meet me," Kelce said, as he was told the singer goes on strict vocal rest between shows. "So, I took it personal. I was a little butthurt that I didn't get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her."
If they're dating — and it definitely seems like they are — Swift is probably rocking Kelce's bracelet by now. Maybe she's even tried on one of his two Super Bowl rings.