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In the first New Heights podcast since Taylor Swift's record-breaking appearance and album drop, Jason Kelce is on the hunt for Easter eggs as he and Travis "debrief" her appearance, responses to it, and how Tay herself felt about it.
"It probably won't be as good as the last episode of New Heights where we set our own records, set podcasting records -- we set a Guinness Book of Records ... so get ready for a much lower bar this week," Jason Kelce said at the top of Wednesday's new episode.
In a new intro to the episode, he shared that the podcast was recorded on Monday, which means the brothers were just ahead of Tuesday's also-record-shattering (for Instagram likes) engagement announcement between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.
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View StoryWhile the boys missed the chance to talk about the big news during the podcast, Jason did drop in with a sweet note to the newly-engaged couple. "We felt it necessary as a team here at New Heights to get together and send Travis and Taylor a giant congratulations for being engaged! The proposal heard 'round the world. F--k yeah!"
The boys did a "debrief" on Taylor Swift's August 13 appearance, with Jason quipping of their 20 million+ views, "It's all us," as his brother laughed. "I can pretty much guarantee everyone tuned in to New Heights for our bond."
The episode did, in fact, set a Guinness World Record, as revealed on August 26, per People, with "the most concurrent views for a podcast o YouTube" with a staggering 1.3 million fans tuning in at one time during the broadcast.
During the latest episode, Jason broke down the stats of Taylor's appearance. "Within the first 72 hours of Taylor's debut on New Heights ... there were 379 million views on Instagram, including a record-breaking IG reel. That's right, the most-viewed IG reel of all time happened in this time frame, which is crazy. There were 61.6 million views on Twitter, 34.5 million views on TikTok, 15 million views on YouTube."
"I see you, girl," Travis said with a smile, referring to his now-fiancée.
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View StoryJason went on to add that the podcast itself surpassed 3 million followers, gained 400,00 new YouTube subscribers. "It's all downhill from here," Jason admitted. "We'll never touch anything remotely close to this, unless Taylor wants to come on with another album."
"I think they tuned in because Taylor gave the world that she's never given them before," Travis said, as well as reminding them all that she did announce her new album, The Life of a Showgirl.
Travis went on to joke that he's "going to keep poking the bear" by sharing that he "keeps listening to this album" over and over, and even has favorite tracks already. "I know she mentioned that it’s gonna be a lot more pop beats, but it’s just still so poetic in her melodies and her references and stuff," he said Wednesday.
He said that he's been "dancing all throughout the house" to the tracks, before Jason asked him if there are any favorites. While Travis tried to play coy, he finally confessed, "I think ‘Opalite’ might be my favorite, though... At least right now, every time it comes on, I always catch myself [grooving]."
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View StoryJason then admitted that he's been "knee-deep" in "Easter egg hunting," laughing that he keeps sending his theories to both Travis and Taylor. "I know you guys don’t want to read it, but I'm freaking gonna make you guys read it because I’m interested," he said, adding, "You guys aren’t giving me f--king anything, which is pissing me off even more!"
"She's good at keeping the Easter eggs," Travis slapped back coyly, with Jason finally admitting that he kind of agreed with them keeping him out of the loop.
"I'm a very untrustworthy person, I get it. And I wouldn't trust me either. I can't keep a secret to save my life," he acknowledged. "I get excited."
While Travis wasn't willing to unpack or reveal any of the Easter eggs that may or may not (but probably did) exciting during the last New Heights podcast, he did talk about how Taylor felt after her appearance in the two-hour episode.
"She walked away, like, flying around," Travis said, adding that during the show "she was having so much fun getting to tell everybody about the album and obviously drop a few Easter eggs and see if everyone caught on."
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View Story"So there are Easter eggs!" Jason immediately picked up, taking his shot to try and confirm one thing he noticed. "What's that Pinocchio doing behind you? What's his cause? Is it still there?" Jason asked.
While Travis confirmed it was still there, he wasn't going to spoil any of the fun by revealing anything. Fans have speculated it might represent that Taylor had told a lie about her upcoming album, releasing October 3.
"I don't think it could have gone any better," Jason said of Taylor's appearance, giving all the credit to the pop star "because of how open and incredible" she was.
"The biggest thing I saw of the reactions of everybody out there," he explained, "was just [that] this is the first time they've seen Tay really unload for that long of a period of time in that authentic and transparent of a way. I think that it was incredible for her to feel that comfortable on the show to be able to do that, and it felt like it really resonated with the fans who watched it."
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View StoryTravis said that he went into it with no expectations, but "enjoyed the hell out of it." He added, "I knew it was going to get a lot of eyes and ears, but at the same time, you just never know how the world's gonna reaction." But he said the feedback he's received has been overwhelmingly positive.
Jason had nothing but kind things to say about Taylor's brilliance, humor and savvy, but there was one comment she made that really stood out for him -- and that's how she described his brother. It was certainly a viral moment for fans, but it resonated with Jason, too.
"I try to describe you to people a lot of the times," Jason said. "I'm like, listen, nobody knows Travis Kelce and dislikes him. He is the epitome of a great teammate ... and there's just a way about you that you've always been a magnetic human being, and you've gotten the best out of people and all this stuff."
"And when she said you were a human exclamation point, I was like, ‘Goddamn.’ Like, she is f---ing good with words!" he continued. "That is such a great way to describe [you]."
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View Story"I don't know where that came from, either," Travis laughed. Nevertheless, Jason is all about it, officially declaring it his nickname.
The latest podcast episode comes on the heels of Taylor and Travis breaking the internet all over again on Wednesday with their engagement news, accompanied by a photo carousel of the big moment,
The pics from the romantic proposal show Taylor and Travis surrounded by a lush garden of pink, white, and red roses. Another slide gave fans a close-up look at her Old Mine Brilliant Cut ring, designed by Kindred Lubeck.
"Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married 🧨" the couple captioned the post -- which you can bet Jason is also combing through for even more Easter eggs.
Congratulations to the future Mr. and Mrs. Human Exclamation Point!