The world of podcasts just got a massive jolt, thanks to a superstar guest on the popular "New Heights" show. Travis and Jason Kelce, the famous football brothers, truly hit a home run when Taylor Swift made her podcast debut. The episode didn’t just break records; it smashed them into tiny pieces.
Swift’s team confirmed some incredible numbers on Thursday, August 14. An astounding 1.3 million people watched the YouTube stream of the podcast during its very first hour. This staggering figure more than doubled the previous record. For comparison, just last October, the podcast "The Joe Rogan Experience" saw 800,000 viewers for its episode featuring former President Donald Trump. Clearly, the "New Heights" crew, with Taylor Swift on board, attracted an audience like no other.
Even before the official numbers rolled in, Jason Kelce, the former Philadelphia Eagles player, was stunned by the live audience. On Wednesday, August 13, he posted on X (formerly Twitter): "My God, there are 976,000 watching this live, what the hell?" His excitement was clear as his brother Travis and his pop star girlfriend, Swift, finally aired their much-anticipated episode. The live viewership kept climbing, eventually surpassing 1.3 million.
During the special episode, Swift dropped some huge news for her fans. She unveiled the cover for her twelfth album, called ‘Life of a Showgirl‘. She then went on to reveal the full tracklist.
Swift shared some insights into how the album came to be. "It was something I was working on while I was in Europe on the Eras tour," she explained during the podcast. "I love it. I love it so much." She added, "I love the music." The singer revealed she would fly to Sweden during her tour breaks just to record new songs for the album.
"Working on this, I was physically exhausted, at this point in the tour, but mentally I was so stimulated and so excited to be creating," Swift continued. She mentioned working with her "mentor" Max Martin and Shellback on the new music. "We’ve made songs I’m very proud of," she said. "We had never done an album with just the three of us. It was like catching lightning in a bottle, honestly."
Swift also took a moment to express her gratitude to the podcast, not just for her music career but for her personal life too. "This podcast has meant a lot to me," Swift said at the start of the episode. She then playfully added, "This podcast got me a boyfriend since Travis decided to use it as his personal dating app two years ago."
She recalled how Travis had voiced his disappointment on ‘New Heights’ back in 2023. He hadn’t managed to meet her at Arrowhead Stadium during her ‘Eras Tour’ stop in Kansas City. Swift remembered Travis telling Jason that it was a "crazy romantic gesture" for him to publicly say, "I want to date you!" At first, she found it amusing. "When I saw it, I thought, ‘This guy didn’t get a meeting and he’s making it everyone’s problem.’" She even noted, "He didn’t even contact our agency!"
Jason Kelce, Taylor Swift David Calvert/Getty Images for American Century Investments;Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images for MTV
Swift continued her amusing recollection: "When this podcast came out, I thought, ‘Did he really try to get into the tents or did we know he was on site?’" She poked fun at Travis, saying he arrived with Patrick Mahomes and believed simply knowing the elevator lady would get him backstage. "That’s how it worked in 1973," she joked.
The discussion then shifted to a lighthearted debate about whether a singer like Swift qualifies as an "athlete." This playful exchange mirrored recent comments Travis made in a GQ report published on Tuesday, August 12. "Maybe she doesn’t consider herself an athlete. She will never tell anyone she is," the tight end stated to the outlet. "But I’ve seen what she goes through. I’ve seen the amount of work she puts into her body, and it’s amazing."