Makayla Stephens, a fifth-grade teacher, had just finished walking her students to lunch when she started heating up her own meal and noticed a missed call and several text messages.
At first, she didn’t think much of them. But then came a text from her husband with a link to an Instagram post, several “BABE”s, and a message that read, “It finally happened!” That’s when it hit her: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce were engaged.
“I am SO glad I was on lunch because I was seriously stunned in the moment,” Stephens, 27, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “Like, of course it was happening … but it was REALLY happening! It’s so strange to feel this much excitement for two people you don’t know personally.”
The news carried an extra layer of surprise for Stephens. Back in 2020, years before Swift and Kelce, both 35, began dating, she and her husband had dressed up as Swift and Kelce for Halloween.
It wasn’t until 2023, when rumors surfaced that Swift and Kelce had begun dating, that Stephens’ post went viral, with people commenting on how she seemed to have “manifested” their relationship.
“I don’t know any world in which Taylor Swift + Travis Kelce would be in the same room together, but apparently in this one they’re married? #HappyHalloween,” the mom captioned a photo of herself on Instagram dressed in the Lover Era, while her husband wore a Kansas City Chiefs jersey.
On Aug. 26, after the Reputation singer and football player announced their engagement on Instagram, Stephens’ post is resurfacing once again.
“I can’t really even comprehend a world in which I had any part in this, but the coincidence of my caption from 2020 is just so perfect for present day,” she says. “I genuinely thought the caption was an innocent and cheeky homage to my husband and me getting married only three months prior.
“But it holds so much more weight now!” she continues.
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While Stephens has been a fan of the couple’s relationship from the start, she adds how she was especially captivated by Swift and Kelce’s chemistry after listening to Kelce’s New Heights podcast.
“Since Travis released the podcast with her starring in it, I knew it was bound to happen,” she says. “They have such chemistry and speak so fondly of each other — their connection is so easy to see.”
“I think a lot of us wondered behind the scenes what they had in common and what their relationship could potentially be like, but ever since I watched the podcast, it just felt like they were endgame,” Stephens continues.
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While Stephens has yet to hear from Swift or Travis directly, she jokes she plans to check her DMs daily, hoping a team member might reach out with Chiefs tickets or even a wedding invite.
Halloween plans are already on her mind as well.
“I think we may need to recreate their engagement pictures — but then are we crossing the line into creepy-ville? Lol. TBD,” she says.
Makayla Stephens
The relationship also resonates personally for Stephens, paralleling her own life with her husband. She recently got a tattoo to celebrate their five-year wedding anniversary — a subtle nod to Swift and Kelce’s love story.
“My husband and I met in high school and have been together since we were 17, so her song ‘So High School’ has been our song since it was released,” Stephens says. “It connects to us personally as well as being a little nod to all of the joy the 2020 Instagram post has brought to our lives.”
