Heavy/Getty Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift
She may not know how it feels to sell out huge concert venues around the world like Taylor Swift, but longtime Hallmark actress Holly Robinson Peete does know what it’s like to date and marry an NFL player in the public eye.
That’s the main reason Robinson Peete is so invested in the love story between the pop superstar and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, she told Us Weekly on November 27, 2023.
Married since 1995 to star quarterback Rodney Peete, the “Holiday Heritage” actress said she’s paid such close attention to Swift and Kelce’s romance that her kids think she knows “way too much.” While Robinson Peete said she’s “rooting for them” to go the distance, she warned that there could be some rocky times ahead for the couple.
Here’s what you need to know:
Holly Robinson Peete Says Taylor Swift Will Have to Navigate Some Difficult Terrain Dating an NFL Star
When Robinson Peete started dating her husband in the early 90s, she was already a big TV star, having just ended her run on the detective drama “21 Jump Street” alongside Johnny Depp and then starring in the popular sitcom “Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper,” which ran on ABC from 1992 to 1997, per The List.
She told Us Weekly that as an actress and a star football player, she and her future husband fell in love in the public eye, but that it was nothing like what Swift and Kelce are dealing with.
“I wasn’t nearly as huge of a global, mega superstar as Taylor is, but when I started dating Rodney Peete — and he was playing for the Detroit Lions at the time and then Philadelphia, which is my hometown — we were all over the papers and everything,” she recalled. “But what we didn’t have was social media. So we dodged many a bullet by not having so many people weigh in on our lives and weigh in on football.”
“Had we had social media back then, I think I would have gotten him cut from every team he was on because I would not have been able to hold my tongue,” she said. “It’s a big spotlight, but I think they’re handling it super well.”
“It’s fun dating a football star, especially one as amazing and good as Travis,” Robinson Peete said, but she also warned it may not always be so fun.
“The scary part is when they get hurt, if they get hurt,” she said. “We’ve gone through a lot of injuries. That is hard.”
In April, as the couple was promoting their reality show, “Queens Court,” Peete told Daily Blast Live that one of the secrets to their long marriage has been making sure they’re always “on the same page,” even when hard things happen.
He explained, “Everything’s great when it’s rosy and things are going good, but in those tough times, are you gonna run away or are you gonna sit down and deal with it? And we chose to sit down and deal with it.”
One way the Peetes readied themselves for their “up-and-down journey” together, he said, was going to a therapist before they got married.
“We went over what we liked, what we didn’t like, what the rules were.” he said. “So we knew going in that there weren’t going to be any surprises.”
Now married for nearly 30 years, the Peetes share four grown children — 26-year-old twins Ryan Elizabeth and Rodney Jr, Robinson James, 21, and Roman, 18.
Holly Robinson Peete Says She Hopes Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce Get Married
GettyTaylor Swift and Donna Kelce cheer before the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos on October 12, 2023
Watching Swift and Kelce navigate their romance has been a blast for Robinson Peete, who admitted that she wants to know every little detail of their life together and hopes they get married.
“I love watching them, it’s so cute,” she said, but added, “”A lot of people I know, my friends, football fan friends are like, ‘I don’t want to hear about it.’ I love it, I want to see all of it.”
“I’m team Taylor/Kelce.” she added. “I want her to marry him.”
Robinson Peete is such a fan of the couple that she said she was “sad” when Swift couldn’t attend the recent Kansas City Chiefs game against her hometown Philadelphia Eagles, which Kelce’s brother Jason plays for. It had been reported that Swift’s and Kelce’s parents would meet for the first time at that game, but Swift couldn’t attend due to a rescheduled concert in Brazil, Us Weekly reported.
“I was so sad when she wasn’t at Monday Night Football because I wanted to see the in-laws meeting,” Robinson Peete said.
In fact, Robinson Peete admitted her kids think she’s paid a little too much attention to Swift and Kelce’s romance.
“I’m all about it,” she said. “I know every little thing. Way too much. My kids are like, ‘Mom, get a life.'”