Travis Kelce has opened up for the first time about the influence of his parents, Donna and Ed, separating and how it informs his aspirations for the future with Taylor Swift.

The NFL star’s parents ended their relationship when Travis and his older brother Jason were in college in Cincinnati, and they have candidly acknowledged staying together longer than they wished to be the best parents they could be.

Now, in an emotional new interview with GQ, Kelce reminisces on sensing his parents had grown apart before what he perceives was their 20th wedding anniversary. In heartfelt remarks, he emphasizes his desire to prevent such a situation with Swift.

‘I don’t want to get this wrong, it had to be around 20 (20th wedding anniversary),’ Kelce reflected, noting that his parents’ anniversary was marked on a calendar in the Kelce family kitchen.

‘I remember seeing it and thinking, “Oh, it’s their anniversary. I wonder what they’re going to do.” And it seemed like just another day almost. Another day of completing tasks for the kids.

‘I’m sure my father probably did something, he’s always been very good at making sure we celebrate our mother on Mother’s Day and all that. He still, to this day, will text like, “Hey, it’s your mom’s birthday coming up. Don’t forget about it.” But I never witnessed the romance of it all.’

As the three-time Super Bowl winner looks to the future with Swift, he said how he wants to make sure that drift never happens to their relationship.

‘A lot of friends I grew up with shared that (seeing their parents happy). The handful of my friends whose parents are still together and still thriving – those are situations I would love to have. Not that I think my parents dealt with it the wrong way or anything like that. 

‘It’s more so, if we’re gonna start this and do it, why not try and do it to last forever? Not just in a “It’s just for the kids” aspect.’

Kelce’s admission comes in the wake of his father Ed losing the girlfriend he met after his split wtih Donna.

He announced the passing of Maureen Maguire on Facebook a little over a week ago, with her funeral held in Pennsylvania last Thursday.

Ed and Donna have been open about how their relationship drifted while raising Travis and Jason. Donna once explained: ‘I don’t hate him. We’re friends to this day. We get along great.

‘We were like a tag team with you two (Travis and Jason). We got to do all sorts of fun things. When one of you had to go out of town, the other person would help with the other child. It was perfect.’

In a 2023 documentary about the kelce family, released before Chiefs star Kelce met Swift, Ed added: ‘If we had split as we probably both would have preferred, that would have been a nightmare with the logistics, getting kids where they had to be and providing all the support.’

They are often seen together nowadays at NFL games cheering Travis on when he is in action for the Chiefs and have forged a close relationship with Swift over the recent months and years.

September marks two years since the high-profile couple went public with their relationship, when Swift joined Kelce’s mom Donna in his VIP suite at Arrowhead Stadium to watch Kansas City Cheifs play Chicago Bears.

The excitement around their relationship was propeled to another level this week with Swift finally making her first appearance on Kelce’s ‘New Heights’ podcast to announce her new album, ‘The Life of a Showgirl’. 

A teaser video dropped at 12:12am on August 12 to mark the announcement of the singer’s 12th record, with the full episode being released on Wednesday night.

Kelce, meanwhile, is nearing his own curtain-raising event when the Chiefs kick off their 2025 campaign in early September against Los Angeles Chargers in Sao Paulo, Brazil on September 5.