It’s hard to compete with Taylor Swift. Katy Perry knows it. Billie Eilish knows it. Charli XCX knows it. Now, Kylie Kelce knows it.
Millions tuned in on Aug. 13 to see Swift make her podcast debut, appearing alongside her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, on an episode of his and Jason Kelce’s “New Heights.” Within the first 24 hours, the episode has amassed over 11.7 million views (the count as of the time of this writing). That’s pretty impressive considering the ‘New Heights’ YouTube channel only has 2.99 million subscribers.
Most episodes average views in the tens of thousands. A few, like the one where Adam Sandler appeared to talk about Travis’s role in Happy Gilmore 2, get up in the 100k mark. So, for the longest time, Kylie had the crown of the most popular episode: Ep. 52, with over 8.6 million views.
She was gracious in handing the crown over to Taylor.
Kylie Kelce Reacts to Taylor Swift Becoming the Most-Viewed Episode of ‘New Heights’
“Officially no longer the record holder for the most watched episode of the other podcast,” Kylie, 33, said on the Aug. 14 episode of her hit podcast, “Not Gonna Lie.”
“There's no way it's even close, and I love that for me,” she said. “It is very entertaining to watch the Internet break. It's just crumbling apart, and I love it. I love it.”
“I love that we know that a day before it releases my interview on the other podcast is going to lose its long-tenured reign as most-watched episode,” added Kylie, “and I welcome that whole heartedly. Let's drop that sucker down.”
Travis, Jason and Taylor referenced Kylie’s reign at the end of their chat. Jason, 37, spoke about his wife, saying that she enjoyed “being the No. 1 most-viewed episode for the time that she had.”
Both Travis and Taylor stood up for Kylie, telling Jason, “Don’t do that to Kylie.”
“Don’t do that,” added Taylor. “You guys throw Kylie under the bus, you’re gonna pay for it.”
Though Kylie is no longer the queen of 'New Heights,' she kicked off the year earning another crown: the debut episode of “Not Gonna Lie” dethrones “The Joe Rogan Experience” as the No. 1 podcast on Spotify.
Swift’s appearance on ‘New Heights’ coincided with the announcement of her new album, The Life of a Showgirl. The Aug. 13 episode was also where she debuted the album’s cover art.
In the promo clip hyping up her appearance, Swift joked about how she’s crossed over into the sports world, much to the chagrin of some viewers.
“As we all know, you guys have a lot of male sports fans that listen to your podcast,” she said in the teaser. “I think we all know that if there’s one thing that male sports fans want to see in their spaces and on their screens — it’s more of me.”
When Swift began dating Travis in 2023 and attended his games, female viewership rose 9% according to the Front Office Sports report, per IDX. It’s estimated that Swift’s presence led to 2 million more female viewers.