Donna Kelce is surrounded by entertainment elite these days, but she says she's going along for the ride.
"Every week it's like something new, like really? It truly feels like I'm in some kind of an alternate universe," Kelce said on TODAY. "It's just really, really strange, but it's fun. It's a great ride."
Of course, TODAY co-anchors Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb couldn't resist asking her about her son Travis Kelce and pop superstar Taylor Swift's rumored romance. But Momma Kelce remained tight-lipped about her son's personal life.
"It's fairly new, so I don't like to talk about it," she said. "It's just one of those things where you know, obviously everybody saw me. I was in the boxes with with her and it's just another thing that's amped up my life."
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When asked if she thinks it’s a budding romance, she replied: "I honestly can’t tell you. It’s just too new."
Donna Kelce, the mother of NFL stars Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce, stopped by TODAY Oct. 6 and discussed life in the spotlight — from being a parent to the NFL’s first brothers to go head-to-head in a Super Bowl, to the uber-famous face who sat with Swift at the Kansas City Chiefs game against the Chicago Bears.
While on TODAY, Donna Kelce described sitting with Swift in plain terms: "It was OK."
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She added she doesn't like to talk about her sons' personal lives.
"I'll talk about my life and when the kids were little and I was with them, but they're men now," she said. "They've got their own lives and there isn't a man alive that's going to talk to their mom about their personal life. It's just not gonna happen."
Her parenting style has always been to let her sons have control over the decision making process in life, she said.
"No, no, no, I don't give them advice," she said. "They've got to sink or swim on their own, and they have to make their own mistakes and make their own wonderful accomplishments in life, and then they know it's theirs."
"I really think it's important that you follow them. What do they want to do? What do they love? If you can support them, that's the best you can possibly do," she added. "There's all kinds of ways that you can help them achieve their dreams. What more could you want as a parent?"
Swift and Donna Kelce appeared together at the Sept. 24 game at Arrowhead Stadium in a surprise appearance by Swift that shook the pop culture world. After months of romance murmurings, Swift's attendance seemed to confirm a connection with Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce. Following the Chiefs' 41-10 victory over the Bears that day, the duo left the stadium together, driving in what Travis Kelce described as "getaway car" — a nod to one of Swift's songs.
Swift returned to watch more Kansas City football a week later on Oct. 1, when she — along with a cohort of stars including Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman — attended the Chiefs matchup against the New York Jets.
Donna Kelce also attended that away game, arriving at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey straight from the Philadelphia Eagles stadium, where she watched her older son Jason Kelce's team beat the Washington Commanders 34-31.
Donna Kelce was spotted on the NBC broadcast during the fourth quarter, sharing a hug with Swift. The famous NFL mom re-shared the clip on Instagram in a joint post with the account for "Sunday Night Football."
"Travis Kelce's biggest fans," text over the video read, plus a red-heart emoji.
While Donna Kelce often travels from her Florida residence to see her sons play, Oct. 1 was a rare occasion where she was able to see them both play on the same day.
At Lincoln Financial Field, she sat next to online personality Jake from State Farm to cheer on the Eagles. After joining in on the "seemingly ranch" meme related to Swift, she also received praise from Ryan Reynolds, who posted on X, "Donna Kelce FTW."
She then hightailed it to East Rutherford, New Jersey, arriving at MetLife to cheer on her younger son, surrounded by celebrities.
“She’s been on top of the f---ing world, man,” Travis Kelce said on the Oct. 4 episode of "New Heights," his podcast with brother Jason.
“Shout-out to Mama Kelce for coming through. She also told me thank you because she was in an alternate universe,” he added. “She was sitting there with Deadpool and Wolverine ... just in a different world.”
While the media attention has picked up in a phenomenon often dubbed "the Taylor effect," Donna Kelce has been in the limelight before. She went viral earlier this year for her Super Bowl 2023 game day outfit, through which she managed to always cheer for the "offense."
"The NFL is laughing all the way to the bank," she said on a recent episode of the "Got It From My Momma" podcast. "They’ve told me personally that the Kelce family has done more good PR for football than they could’ve paid a million dollars to a PR firm. It’s just because we’re relatable. We’re just normal. We’re genuine."
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