Taylor Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce had his own cringe-worthy reality TV dating show

‘It was kind of like The Bachelor, except instead of roses I handed out footballs’

5 months ago

Before meeting and starting a relationship with Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce had his own reality TV dating show called Catching Kelce. And yes, it was exactly as cringe-worthy as you think it sounds.

Travis explained the concept of the show saying: “It was kind of like The Bachelor, except instead of roses I handed out footballs. And instead of watching, people did not. It was a little embarrassing, but I got really good at reality TV.”

The official synopsis of Catching Kelce describes the show: “In search of his soulmate, NFL player Travis Kelce dates one woman from each state.” The show featured 50 women from across the country who tried to win Travis’ heart as he looked for his lifelong “teammate.” In fact, there were so many women that Travis reportedly had to start calling them by their state names instead of their actual names.

Travis would take the girls on a wide range of dates from paparazzi photo shoots (yes, really) to dance workouts, and even paintballing. Because we all know that the number one thing we all look for in a romantic partner is how good at paintballing they are.

The reality show first started in 2016 and was not renewed for a second season, but Travis did find a match on the show!

Maya Benberry won the show and she and Travis went on to date for a few months before splitting up. Travis described her as an “absolutely wonderful girl, I wouldn’t have picked her if I didn’t feel a certain way about her.”

After winning Catching Kelce, Maya went on to appear on Ex on the Beach in 2018 and later accused Travis of cheating on her.

Via YouTube

Travis explained that he initially didn’t want to do the show and only did it because he was financially in a bad position. Travis said: “I turned down the show about a hundred times, is what it felt like. I told him no probably for about a good three months. They came to me with an offer financially that I was just like, ‘Alright man, I gotta do this.’

“I was so bad financially my first couple of years. I literally went through my first couple of checks like it was nothing. I was having so much fun buying whatever the hell I wanted to, going wherever the hell I wanted to.

“I wasn’t financially looking at this as, ‘I need to have money down the line.’ There were times in the off-season when I was avoiding the rent lady. It was that bad, it was that bad.”

Via YouTube

Filming the reality show made Travis feel uncomfortable, with him explaining how “it was extremely awkward because I really didn’t have much to say about what we were doing on the show. At the end of the day, I don’t think I got portrayed as myself.

“There were a lot of things that just made me uncomfortable about the show that I don’t necessarily really want to talk about because I don’t want to say anything about the ladies… but I was asked to do more than I wanted to and that doesn’t always work out great.”

Why do I feel like Taylor 100 per cent winds him up about this? I’ll be waiting for a mention of Catching Kelce in her next album.