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- [00:00]
A
Hello. You're about to drift into an episode of the Nightly, a podcast designed to help you unwind and relax. For the full phone free immersive light experience, visit Hatch Co. Enjoy.
- [00:30]
B
Hey, everyone out there in dreamland, I'm Kristen.
- [00:34]
A
And I'm Josh. Welcome to the Nightly on Hatch, where everyone's dating life is as amazing as Zoe Kravitz's.
- [00:41]
B
Oh, my gosh, what an amazing dating life she's had, huh?
- [00:44]
A
Who is she seeing now? I kind of fell off after Channing Tatum. I, like, miss the new updates.
- [00:50]
B
Well, she was recently linked to Harry Styles.
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A
Wow. Okay.
- [00:56]
B
And we don't know if that's a real thing or not a real thing, but I mean, either way, I'm like, you're being photographed with Harry Styles. That sounds pretty great.
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A
It's an exciting rumor.
- [01:06]
B
Yeah, I like that rumor. And yeah, you're right. She was with Channing Tatum for a while too. And Pen. How do you say his name? Bagley Badgley.
- [01:15]
A
I thought it was Badgley. Yeah, Badgley. Yeah.
- [01:18]
B
You know, she was in a long term relationship with him at one point, so I didn't realize that. Yeah, Zoe. Get it.
- [01:24]
A
Yeah. No surprise, but Zoe Kravitz has an exciting and dynamic history of dating luminous men.
- [01:34]
B
Yes, yes. Well, since we have been talking about Hollywood royalty.
- [01:38]
A
Yes, please.
- [01:39]
B
I am hoping that today we can do a little Kristen's Corner where we dive more into Hollywood royalty. Specifically a certain couple that is now being compared to actual British royalty right now because they have a wedding coming up that some folks are referring to as America's royal wedding. Do you know what couple I'm talking about?
- [02:01]
A
I do. I mean, I can guess. I have to believe it's Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift's upcoming wedding.
- [02:08]
B
Yes, absolutely. You knew who I was talking about. And for everybody out there who doesn't really necessarily care about the NFL, which, you know, Travis Kelce plays for the Kansas City Chiefs and helped them win three Super Bowls. And maybe you don't care about pop music, even though Taylor Swift is the wealthiest female music musician in the world, but maybe you're still hearing about this all the time and you're wondering, oh, why is everyone saying that they're America's royal couple? Why are they saying this is America's royal wedding? I just thought I would give a little 101 for everybody out there who's scratching their heads. And hopefully this 101 will also make folks happy who already are Swifties or Travis Kelce fans. So how does that sound?
- [02:52]
A
I Love it.
- [02:53]
B
All right, so first and foremost, I think the big parallel that Taylor and Travis have to the royals is they are tabloid staples and podcast staples and social media staples and mainstream media staples, and they have been for two years straight as a couple, and that pretty much never happens except for the royals, where every single day you can open the paper and see a story about a couple. Usually it's about William and Kate or about Harry and Meghan. It's almost never for two years straight about two civilians like Taylor and Travis. Even if they are famous, it might be for a few weeks or a few months, you know, so just their ability to hold onto the world's attention alone is very similar to what the royals at this point in history have been able to do. We have short attention spans. That's just the way we are. We don't pay attention to couples that long. And frankly, a lot of couples implode if they are in Hollywood before the two year mark anyway, so.
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A
Well, it's a lot of scrutiny to withstand. You know what I mean?
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B
Yeah.
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A
And like the Royal family, it feels like their entire job is to withstand scrutiny. That's basically what they're in the public eye to do is to, like, be barraged by the public eye.
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B
Yes, that is such a good point. I mean, a lot of their job is to be out in the public, to be public relations figures, to essentially be ambassadors for what Britishness is in the world. But a lot of that is just being scrutinized, as you said, Josh, Maybe even like 3/4 of the job. So it's. Yeah, they're subjected to a lot of that. And frankly, so are Taylor and Travis.
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A
Yeah.
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B
But let's talk about some of the happier reasons why some folks out there see Taylor and Travis as similar to royals. So something else that should be pointed out is that they're both very heavily involved in charitable work, and that's a big part of their identities. For the royals, it's the same thing. They constantly are talking about Princess Kate, the patron of this charity, and Prince William, patron of this charity, and so on. And so Taylor and Travis, they also have their own charities that they head up. They donate millions to disaster relief, food banks, education, homeless youth programs. So they're really putting their money where their values are. But on top of that, they also speak up on those issues. And, you know, the royals are always giving speeches on things that matter to them, and so are Taylor and Travis. They have been very open about their support of LGBTQ rights, women's rights, racial justice, police, reform. And in a way that's actually even going further than the Royals would ever go. Because the Royals are supposed to be, quote, unquote, apolitical. So some issues they won't touch with a ten foot pole. So maybe that makes Taylor and Travis better than the Royals in that sense.
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A
I do think they are better than the Royals. I don't mean to say that with any kind of cruelty, but I do think when you're like the figureheads of kind of a colonial empire in decline, it's like harder to be, like you said, to be outspoken about political issues in a way that is righteous and compassionate and just. And I don't think like, and either Taylor Swift or Travis Kelce is like a radical or a revolutionary, but it does, like really move the needle when someone with that much social capital speaks out for something they believe in.
- [06:30]
B
Oh, yeah, absolutely. It does make certain people pay attention who maybe weren't paying attention to that issue before or maybe entices certain people to learn more about that issue. So I totally agree with you. They can move the needle in a way that maybe the Royals can't. And also, so, I mean, as far as being better than the Royals, I am a royal reporter. I don't know if I should say that anyone is better than the Royals. But as an American, I do love the idea that Taylor and Travis weren't born into their fame in the same way that the Royals were. I'm not saying that they didn't have certain advantages economically and so on, but the Royals were born into it. Their institution has been around for a thousand years and they didn't have to do anything to be famous. You know, Charles, William, the Queen, all of them were going to be famous regardless, just because they were born into it.
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A
Right, I agree. Look, I'm not going to try to put you in a difficult position, but like, how many number one hits does Prince William have?
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B
Very few.
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A
How many touchdown passes has King Charles got?
- [07:39]
B
And you know what he would say to you, but I am so good on a polo field.
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A
Sure. You know what? I'll. I'll tell you what, Polo does not move the needle for me personally.
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B
For most Americans. I'm not saying nobody in America cares about polo, but we're definitely more of an NFL country than a polo country.
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A
Certainly. Yeah, I would say in America. And again, I don't want to be controversial. I would say the NFL has a slight popularity edge on polo. Polo.
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B
Oh, yeah. Ever so slight, slightly, yes.
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A
I think of polo mostly like the American allegiance to polo is more Ralph Lauren based than it is the athletics themselves.
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B
Oh, that is such a good point. That is so true. I can say that before the age of 12, I saw way more polo shirts than I'd ever seen polo games. And that was by the age of 12. Now it's probably 10,000 to 1.
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A
Yeah. Polo shirts are really running up the score.
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B
Yeah. Or 10 million to one. Yeah, the shirts are winning for sure.
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A
The shirts, the cologne, all of it.
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B
Yeah. Something else that I have to point out that Taylor and Travis do, Taylor in particular, that could be considered similar to the Royals is they have an effect on the economy. So when the Royals are on tour, when any royal couple gets married, there's a major economic boost. It was predicted at one point that Meghan and Harry getting married pumped over a billion dollars into the British economy through tourism, consumer spending, and so on. And Taylor, with her ERAS tour, did the same thing. Every city she went to. She boosted the economy so much that cities around the world were actually trying to get Taylor to come to their cities to help their economy. And the effect was so big that the Philadelphia Fed's Beige book cited her concerts as a primary driver for economic growth. In fact, the biggest economic growth since the pandemic began.
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A
Wow.
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B
And the Swiftonomics, as they're called, became such a phenomenon that the Federal Reserve bank of St. Louis began to use the tour, the ERAS Tour, to. As a practical teaching tool for economic concepts.
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A
That's fascinating.
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B
So, yeah, that's a real economic effect that is similar to royal events, royal weddings, royal tours, and so on.
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A
Taylor Swift and Beyonce, to me, are famous in a way that, like, I didn't think necessarily that people who weren't heads of state could be famous anymore. You know what I mean? Where, like, everyone in America, I think, has some idea about the comings and goings of those two colossal pop stars, even when they are, like, not especially curious about their music. And it's, like, really fascinating to see what that means quantitatively.
- [10:53]
B
Yeah, I totally agree with you. And, you know, I've always kind of assumed that after the era of, like, Elizabeth Taylor or maybe, maybe after Brad and Angelina, after, you know, people who are now in their late 50s and 60s. Yeah, I kind of thought after that we just wouldn't have icons of this level anymore because, again, short attention spans, social media, all these other things that are competing for our attention right now. Reality stars, there are more celebrities than ever, it feels like, because we don't have the old studio system that used to manufacture a Certain number of celebrities for us, like back in the olden days and the old style of record label contracts, which they'd only have a certain number of singers every year now because everybody can be self produced on Instagram, through TikTok and so on. There are so many more people who are micro famous, medium famous, huge famous, but very few are icons. Like you said, Taylor and Beyonce, they kind of break all the rules as far as how fame works nowadays. On a superficial note, I think one reason why Taylor and Travis resemble royalty to so many people is not even because they resemble British royalty so much as homecoming royalty. You know, he does in a lot of ways have that homecoming king quality to him. He is the guy who helped his team win three championships. And she has that homecoming queen quality in a lot of ways. She looks like a certain kind of stereotypical beauty queen. You know, she's tall, she's blonde, she looks like a showgirl to shout out her new album.
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A
I keep forgetting the name of the new album and wanting to call it Anatomy of a Showgirl, which is not what it is at all.
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B
Right.
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A
It's the life of a showgirl.
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B
Yes.
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A
Yes.
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B
They both look the part. They both look like they could be getting crowned on a stage, being given a scepter, being told to do the first dance at the prom or the homecoming dance. They look great. They look the part. And I think especially for the younger fans out there, because Taylor and Travis do have a number of fans who are younger, they can see something that's sort of the dream of what they would want if they could be crowned king and queen of the dance. It's, you know, it's that fantasy. And I don't think that's a bad thing to have a fantasy. I like having fantasies. Anybody who doesn't like fantasies, who says, ah, girls and their dumb fantasies, I'm like, really? Do you watch 007 movies? That's a fantasy too.
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A
Of course.
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B
I think people should be allowed to have their fantasies. Enjoy them. Enjoy the romance.
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A
I think so too.
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B
Yeah. At least it's a fantasy about love and not a fantasy about hate, right? Enjoy.
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A
I don't know. I've done some reading about people having thoughts and feelings about Taylor Swift, who is kind of an avatar of like an independent woman entering into this kind of like traditional, often hierarchical partnership with a man. But I do think it is like the version of the fantasy that's so nice to me is that like these two people don't need each other in a hierarchical way. Like they can Both benefit from each other's company for the sake of their own company. Like, they're both rich and famous and set for life already, which is, like, I don't know. It seems like they have a nice time together.
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B
Yeah. And I love what you're saying, where it's not something they need to do for security, for traditional roles, for any other reason other than I want to be with you. And there's something very sweet and pure about that, in a way. Right.
- [14:45]
A
Yeah. And I think, like, I don't know, there's always, like, a level of PR with this kind of thing. Like, what information are we told? What's the narrative that we're given about a relationship? But I do find him showing up at the tour with the little friendship bracelet that was, like, inviting her to call him or whatever. I think that's, like, a charming story.
- [15:08]
B
Yeah. Yeah. And I'll say this. Even if there is a lot of PR involved in this couple, I. I'm not gonna knock them for that. I think that's the case for the Royals, for sure. And for most famous couples, like, yeah, of course PR Is involved. That doesn't mean that it's not a great coupling. I mean, I love Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, and PR Is totally involved in that, you know, public image. Absolutely.
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A
Especially since it's, like, toned down just a touch from, like, the. Every week being like, is Taylor Swift on the road with the Chiefs? Like, is Travis Kelce going to go to Brazil to the concert? And it's like, you know, there was such a blitz of media, and now it's just kind of like. I don't know. I guess they're one of the celebrity couples we have, and it's. And they seem more mutually supportive and engaged with one another on, like, a level of mutual respect and admiration than many.
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B
Yeah, I mean, I think so, too. And I think a lot of that goes back to what you said, Josh. It's not like they need each other financially or otherwise.
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A
Although it is so fascinating the. The, like, bump that she has given the Chiefs and the NFL of, like, interest. Not necessarily demographic, because I know there is. There are a lot of football fans who are women and girls, but, like, certainly it seems like there's been an influx of people who are. Who came to football from a Taylor Swift perspective, and I think that's, like, really fascinating.
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B
Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, if anything, I think what you're getting at is that if anyone is benefiting from this relationship, Travis is getting more fame from it, but he Already had plenty of. He already had plenty of money and fame before Taylor Swift, but he's getting more attention than he used to get, for sure. Totally. But in a way, that's kind of like flipping the royal marriage thing on its ear a little bit, because the last several royal weddings we've had, it's been a very famous prince marrying a less famous woman. So it kind of is like that, but just switching the genders a little bit. Right?
- [17:25]
A
Totally. I would say Travis Kelce, NFL champion, is to Taylor Swift, pop megastar, is as Meghan Markle, star of suits, is to prince. Not to get too SAT tutor on that.
- [17:48]
B
I think that's a totally fair comparison. Speaking of the royals, since you just mentioned Megan, again, let's talk about the fact that the royals actually are fans of Taylor and Travis. We know, for example, that Prince William, Princess Kate and their children, they're all Swifties. They attended the ERAs tour. They met her backstage. They even posted a selfie on Kensington Palace's social media. And on top of that, they liked Taylor and Travis's engagement announcement on social media. They hit that, like, button. They hit it.
- [18:24]
A
They don't want to cause an international incident.
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B
No, they don't. Especially because here's the big reveal for those of you who don't know this. Taylor and Travis are in fact both actually royal by blood. Distantly royal by blood, but they are, in fact royal by blood.
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A
I did not know this.
- [18:47]
B
I don't think everybody does know this, but she is King Louis XIV's eighth cousin eleven times removed. She is also related to the 14th century English nobleman Michael de la Pole, 2nd Earl of Suffolk. And Travis Kelsey is distantly related to the British royal family, as he is the eighth cousin 11 times removed of King George the First of Great Britain.
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A
So, wow.
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B
Yeah. When you say hitting that, like, button is international relations, in this case, it might be. Yeah.
- [19:18]
A
It's a family matter. It's also, you know, Lorde said, we can never be royals. And Taylor Swift said, think again, hold my drink.
- [19:25]
B
Yes. And Taylor and Lorde are friends, by the way, so I would love it if Lorde performed at the wedding reception and maybe she sang the song royals and then everybody's like, but this is a royal wedding. Yeah, yeah.
- [19:43]
A
Bringing it really full circle.
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B
Yeah, I think that would be great. So that is how I'm going to wrap up my presentation on why Taylor and Travis are being held up as America's royal couple right now.
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A
I'm sold.
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B
You don't have to agree with everything. I just said, these are just points that I'm making.
- [20:02]
A
No, thank you for your expertise. This is, like, a really informative and engaging presentation.
- [20:08]
B
Oh, good. I'm glad that it made sense to you. And I think you had a lot of good points to make too, Josh. In fact, maybe you should join me on the royal circuit next time I'm covering a royal wedding.
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A
I'm ready.
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B
Get your fascinator ready. You know what? I'll just loan you one of my fascinators.
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A
I'll tell you what, I don't have a lot up top to pin it to.
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B
You don't even need to pin it to anything. You wear it like a headband. I'll show you.
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A
Okay. I didn't know. I thought it was, like, clipped into hair.
- [20:35]
B
Oh, no, it doesn't have to be. You can clip it into hair or you can put it on, like, a headband. I'll say.
- [20:41]
A
So helpful to know because I would have just worn it like a corsage.
- [20:45]
B
That works, too. That works too. Well, Josh. All of this wedding talk makes me feel like I'm ready to go off to dreamland.
- [20:55]
A
You know what? Me too. I think I'm gonna have really sweet dreams tonight. Good night, Kristen.
- [21:00]
B
Thank you, Josh. Good night.
- [21:14]
A
Sat. To learn more about our phone free light and audio experience, head to Hatch Co. You can also follow us at Hatch Podcasts.