Matty Healy was likely Taylor Swift's rebound from her six-year relationship with Joe Alwyn. Rebound relationships are rarely permanent. It is the relationship that follows a rebound that becomes serious, allowing one to move past both the ex and the rebound. The Eras Tour saved Taylor Swift from Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy, ultimately leading her to Travis Kelce.
A Turbulent Year
Everything happened quickly in 2023. Taylor Swift ended her relationship with Joe Alwyn, entered a relationship with Matty Healy, and then broke up with Healy. Subsequently, her 2023 Eras Tour began, where her 'happily ever after'—Travis Kelce—entered the picture. The billionaire superstar addressed her two painful breakups in her Disney+ documentary, End of an Era.
Swift stated, 'There were points in this tour when the tour was really the only thing that was really keeping me going in my life. But there were never points in the tour where I thought, "Oh, you know what? I want to quit the tour because the tour's hard." No, my personal life was hard. I went through two breakups on the first half of this tour, and that's a lot of breakups actually. The show was what gave me purpose and was what I could use to get me out of bed. So, the tour has never really been the hard thing in my life. The tour has been the thing that has allowed me to find purpose outside of the sh*t that was going wrong in my life. Men will let you down, the Eras Tour will never.' During this tour, while she was seeking purpose, someone was falling deeply in love with her: Kansas City Chiefs legendary tight end Travis Kelce.
Travis Kelce's Bold Move
The NFL star attended Swift's concert at Arrowhead Stadium in July 2023. He prepared a custom friendship bracelet with his phone number. Kelce said on the New Heights podcast in July 2023, 'I was disappointed that she doesn't talk before or after her shows because she has to save her voice for the 44 songs she sings. If you're up on Taylor Swift concerts, there are friendship bracelets, and I had received a bunch of them, but I wanted to give Taylor Swift one with my number on it.' His bold public declaration of interest likely prompted her to reach out. They began talking privately and confirmed their fairytale romance in September 2023. The rest is history.
From The Tortured Poets Department to The Life of a Showgirl
Matty Healy emerges as the ultimate inspiration behind Taylor Swift's TTPD. BETCHES' Ilana Frost speculates that songs like 'But Daddy I Love Him,' 'Down Bad,' 'Guilty As Sin?,' 'The Tortured Poets Department,' 'Fresh Out The Slammer,' 'I Can Fix Him [No Really I Can],' 'loml,' 'Fortnight,' and 'The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived' are about Matty Healy. An insider told US Weekly that Healy was worried about his story with Swift being portrayed negatively, but most TTPD songs are positive about him. Their relationship was fast but extremely passionate and real. As for The Life of a Showgirl, it loudly celebrates the Kansas City Chiefs star player. PEOPLE's Jordana Comiter speculates that 'The Fate of Ophelia,' 'Opalite,' 'Eldest Daughter,' 'Wi$h Li$t,' 'Wood,' and 'Honey' are about Travis Kelce.
In a radio interview in October 2025, Taylor Swift said, 'I have favorite words and favorite phrases and things that I will put in an endless file of lyrics that I'm just constantly going to and cherry picking from when I'm writing. And I had written down the word "Opalite" because I learned that it is actually a manmade opal. Opal can be manmade just like diamonds. Travis' birthstone is an opal, so I have always fixated on that, I've always loved that stone. I thought it was kind of a cool metaphor. [Opalite is] a manmade opal, and happiness can also be manmade, too. So that's kind of what the song is about, kind of the juxtaposition of those two.' She indirectly calls him her happiness. He is her happily ever after, and fans eagerly await their marriage.
