Wrapped around one another in coordinated outfits in a box at the men’s final of the US Open on September 8th, you’d be forgiven for thinking Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce were without a care in the world. And yet, the loved-up outing came just four days after a hoax contract circulated online, a contract which allegedly laid out a detailed PR strategy for how their breakup would play out at the end of this month.

Perhaps the couple’s relaxed attitude while they watched the tennis was understandable. After all the document has since been deemed ‘entirely false and fabricated’ by Kelce’s PR agency, Full Scope Public Relations. For those of you who didn’t see it, the ‘leaked’ plan was titled ‘Comprehensive Media Plan for Travis Kelce’s Public Relations Following Breakup with Taylor Swift’ and had 28 September listed as the supposed planned date that the couple would announce their ‘split’, a year after they first started dating.

Hoax or not, a viral story about your relationship being a fauxmance is far from ideal, especially for someone with a public image as masterfully administered as Taylor Swift’s. It’s unsurprising, then, that the couple was quick to deploy some apparent level of damage control. The day after the fake contract went viral on social media, all eyes were on Swift as she arrived to watch Kelce’s NFL team Kansas City Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens in their home stadium in Kansas City in an outfit seemingly designed for maximum impact: a denim Versace bustier, high-waisted denim shorts from Grlfrnd, and Giuseppe Zanotti thigh-high patent leather stiletto boots. The couple left smiling for the cameras and holding hands. They then flew to New York the next day for a PDA-filled weekend where they were spotted first on a pizza date, then at Karen Elson and Lee Foster’s star-studded wedding, the next day dancing to ‘I Believe in a Thing Called Love’ live on air at the US Open, before heading for a three-hour dinner in Manhattan. If anything says ‘we are happier than ever and an imminent breakup is not on the cards’, it’s four very public outings in three days.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=/Jtq2hovCHi8?si=paUtz1OlEVbk3JY_

A source tells Grazia, ‘The fake contract story was quickly proven to be total nonsense, so the debate turned to how Taylor and Travis would choose to handle it. The feeling is that they handled it with class and did well to avoid the pantomime, but they were irritated that it brought a lot of cynics out of the woodwork.’

More cynical corners of the internet have pointed out that, regardless of how quickly the document went viral after being posted on Reddit, and how swiftly it was dismissed as fake, it has at least done some heavy lifting to keep the couple in the spotlight. For one, it gave Kelce’s NFL opener a 23-year ratings high, with 33 million people tuning in to the second quarter.

And so a breakup on the 28 September is not looking likely. In fact, if anything, engagement rumours are what continue to swirl for the couple. ‘Their friends are of the opinion that it’s just a question of when versus if they tie the knot,’ suggests Grazia’s source. ‘For now, they’re just very happy together and putting the cynics firmly in their place.’