Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce could also be prepping for a marriage that’s assured to be ultra-private, however the public’s fascination with their love story simply made dictionary historical past. Cambridge Dictionary formally topped “parasocial” as its 2025 Phrase of the 12 months — and sure, the couple’s engagement performed a serious function in that call.
In line with the dictionary’s announcement, the worldwide obsession with Taylor and Travis’ joint Aug. 26 engagement submit despatched lookups of “parasocial” skyrocketing as followers joked about (or admitted to) feeling emotionally invested within the couple’s huge second. As Cambridge defined, “World protection of the best way during which Taylor Swift introduced her engagement to Travis Kelce brought about lookups of parasocial to surge because the media dissected followers’ reactions. Posts by followers say, ‘I’m not being parasocial about it,’ and discuss ‘a Swiftie being parasocial for 10 minutes straight.’”
And it’s no surprise the web spiraled — that engagement submit pulled almost 40 million likes and broke the file for the quickest submit to hit a million in underneath six hours. Even for Taylor-level virality, that’s wild.
However whereas Swifties analyzed each body, Taylor and Travis have stayed targeted on what actually issues: one another. Travis put it finest in his August GQ profile, revealing that being with Taylor feels surprisingly regular regardless of the nonstop consideration. “Each time I’m together with her, it seems like we’re simply common folks,” he shared. “When there may be not a digicam on us, we’re simply two folks which might be in love.”
He additionally acknowledged that the general public frenzy can “be perceived as one thing else due to how a lot it’s talked about,” however insisted that their connection has remained genuine from the beginning. “It occurred very organically regardless that from a media standpoint it was being tracked,” he stated. “It nonetheless occurred very organically.”
Taylor echoed that sentiment throughout her interview on The Scott Mills Breakfast Present, opening up about how a lot she appreciates Travis’ capability to deal with the highlight she’s lived in for years. “I really like the person who I’m with as a result of he loves what I do and he loves how a lot I’m fulfilled by making artwork and making music,” she stated, calling his ardour for soccer an ideal match to her ardour for music.
She added that supporting one another’s careers is “probably the most enjoyable factor on the earth,” and even identified how related their jobs actually are — each performing for 3 and a half hours in NFL stadiums, simply in very totally different rooms. And naturally, they share yet another factor: “We’re each aggressive, like in enjoyable methods, not in ways in which eat away at us, however similar to we simply like it.”
