Travis Kelce’s Forgotten Dating Show Featured 50 Women Competing For His Heart

Travis Kelce’s reality TV romance had a messy ending© Instagram/ @chiefs

Long before Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce tried to find love with a camera crew watching. In 2016, E! aired "Catching Kelce," a dating show where 50 women, one from every state, competed for the Chiefs tight end. He had just signed a contract extension. He was also about to break out on the field. The show now looks like a strange footnote for an NFL star who married the world's biggest pop star at Madison Square Garden on July 3, 2026.

Inside Travis Kelce's "Catching Kelce" dating show

The format borrowed from "The Bachelor." Each woman got 60 seconds to make a first impression, and Kelce cut the group to 20 right away. The final two were Maya Benberry of Kentucky and Veronica Harwood of New Jersey.

Kelce had doubts about Benberry, but he chose her. "But even though my mind's telling me one thing, I got to go with my heart," he said in the finale, per TODAY.

The romance did not last. The pair had split by early 2017. In 2023, Benberry publicly accused Kelce of cheating on her during their relationship.

The timing is the odd part. The show aired in the same season Kelce posted his first 1,000-yard year and earned his first first-team All-Pro nod. While cameras followed his love life, his football career was taking off.

Travis Kelce's NFL career and path to Taylor Swift

Kansas City drafted Kelce in the third round in 2013 out of Cincinnati, the same year Andy Reid became head coach. When Patrick Mahomes took over at quarterback in 2018, the pair became one of football's most reliable duos and helped the Chiefs win three Super Bowl titles.

The résumé is long. Kelce has 11 Pro Bowl selections and four first-team All-Pro honors. He holds the tight end record with seven straight 1,000-yard seasons, and he owns the position's single-season yardage mark of 1,416 from 2020. In the 2026 opener, he passed Jason Witten for second place on the tight end receiving yards list. Only Tony Gonzalez is ahead.

Then came Swift. Kelce began dating her in 2023. In August 2025, they announced their engagement with a joint Instagram post: "Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married."

A reality show once asked 50 women to win him over. Years later, one person did it without a camera in sight.