Travis Kelce Reveals the ‘Aura’ and ‘Magic to the Stache,’ Says ‘It Just Brings Success’ (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Travis Kelce on Sept. 5, 2024.Photo:Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty

Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty

Don’t even think about askingTravis Kelceto shave!

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end has become synonymous with a particular look — his mustache, that is — which begins to take shape just ahead of the start of a new NFL season and remains maintained in the 18-plus weeks that follow.

Kelce, 35, tells PEOPLE exclusively that the mustache move is strategic. “I grow out the stache every training camp — or at least I have the past three or four years since we’ve been making these title runs in honor of coach Andy Reid,” he says. “He is the walrus!”

Travis Kelce on Aug. 19, 2023.Michael Owens/Getty

Michael Owens/Getty

Although Kelce initially thought “it’d be funny to show up” rocking the same facial hair as Reid, now he and the team upkeep their upper lips to “keep the tradition alive.” In fact, the tradition has turned into a bit of victorious one, to say the least.

Reid has led Kelce and the Chiefs to three Super Bowl victories, including back-to-back wins in 2023 and 2024, since taking over as head coach in 2013. The team, which has clinched four NFL championships in its franchise history, is looking to earn a third consecutive, and fifth overall, title come February 2025.

Travis Kelce on Feb. 05, 2024.Luke Hales/Getty

Luke Hales/Getty

With that goal in mind, Kelce is mindful about the tactical decision to keep the mustache throughout the 2024-2025 season because “there’s always magic to the stache,” he says. “There’s an aura around it. It just brings success.”

While that’s likely true for the football season, Kelce hasn’t yet created a superstition around his latest on-screen endeavor as host of Prime Video’sAre You Smarter Than a Celebrity. Although the game show premiered amid the current NFL season on Oct. 16, his mustache was notably absent.

That’s because the athlete, who is seen sporting a trim beard on the show, filmed the series over the summer, along with the show’s contestants and celebrity guests.

Travis Kelce hosting “Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?".Adam Rose/Prime Video

Adam Rose/Prime Video

Kelce callsAre You Smarter Than a Celebrity?a “nice little twist” of the game show classic, sharing that he “always thought that was a really fun show.” He adds, “Now that I had a chance to revamp it a little bit, kind of make it my own and I don’t know… I was really excited about it.”

source: people.com