Why Travis Kelce believes Taylor Swift is an athlete: 'I've seen what she goes through ... it's mind-blowing'

Travis Kelce knows how much wear and tear his body goes through during an NFL season. From practice to 3.5-hour games every weekend, it's a six-month grind that only a fellow athlete can understand.

And that's where Taylor Swift comes in, Kelce's longtime girlfriend and Grammy-winning pop icon.

"I hadn't experienced somebody in the same shoes as me, having a partner who understands the scrutiny, understands the ups and downs of being in front of millions. That was very relatable, seeing how exhausted she would get after shows," Kelce told GQ in an interview published this week. "She may not think of herself as an athlete. She will never tell anyone that she is an athlete. But I've seen what she goes through. I've seen the amount of work that she puts on her body, and it's mind-blowing."

From dozens of tour stops, the constant fatigue of jet lag and multiple shows every week, Swift understands what it takes to be well-conditioned physically. And that's not even mentioning of the choreography and athleticism it takes to perform nightly.

"To go out on a stage, on a computer, essentially, for three hours. The [Eras Tour] floor is literally -- I've seen underneath that thing. It is a football-field-sized computer," Kelce said. "You take that into Singapore, where it is scorching hot, and all of a sudden you're feeling the fumes from the computer and you're feeling the fumes from the sun and you're doing a show for three hours with a lot of energy, bringing it every single song. That is arguably more exhausting than how much I put in on a Sunday, and she's doing it three, four, five days in a row."

Swift finished The Eras Tour in December and it was the highest-grossing concert tour in music history. Swift announced her 12th studio album during a snippet for this week's "New Heights" podcast episode with Kelce and his brother, Jason.

The public scrutiny of being one side of the NFL's most talked-about relationship the last two years is a burden on Kelce, but one he's willing to accept.

"You can't block that out," Kelce said. "If someone says something that they don't like about you, you have to be able to understand how you are portraying yourself for them to say that. I'm a guy who doesn't want anyone to say anything negative about me. Some people don't give a f---. I'm someone who does care."

Swift has not taken part in a public interview since winning Time's Person of the Year in 2023. That will change when her "New Heights" episode premieres Wednesday at 7 p.m. and provides a window into their relationship. 

Fans of the "New Heights" podcast attempted to guess this week's mystery guest following an early tease. There was a silhouette that looked like Swift with an orange background next to the Kelce brothers and 12 minutes after the social media barrage,  Swift's official fan account -- Taylor Nation -- referenced a post Swift made in her Eras Tour book that released in November.