Couple Randomly Dressed as Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce for Halloween 2020. This Year They’re Doing It Again with a Twist (Exclusive)

This year, Makayla Stephens and her husband Nick rush ordered the Kanas City Chiefs 2024 AFC Championship merch

Ashley Newberry; Makayla Stephens

Makayla Stephens and her husband Nick dressed as Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce in 2020 and 2024
This time last year, a photo that Makayla Stephens posted of herself and her husband dressed as Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce for Halloween 2020 — years before the duo began dating — went viral. Now, the couple is dressing up as them again, this time with more intention!
Speaking to PEOPLE, Stephens explains that when the pair first dressed up as the pop singer and Kansas City Chiefs football player for Halloween in October 2020, it was an accident. It all started when her parents invited the couple to a Halloween party at their new house in Oklahoma, where costumes were required.

“My husband and I are not big costume people at all,” the 27-year-old mom of two tells PEOPLE. “He will tell you that he absolutely hates Halloween and dressing up. So, of course, we waited until the last minute to even discuss it.”

“When I was trying to decide what I should dress as, I thought, ‘Oh, I’ll just be Taylor,’ ” Stephens, a lifelong Swiftie, adds. “I decided on the Lover era and did a pink heart around my eye. Then I asked Nick, ‘What are you going to wear?’ ”

Ashley Newberry

Makayla Stephens and her husband Nick dressed as Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce in 2020
Eventually, Nick settled on wearing a Travis Kelce jersey he happened to have in his closet. At the time, Stephens posted a photo of the two of them in their costumes on Instagram, adding a caption that is hilarious in retrospect.

“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,” she wrote.

Then, in September 2023, rumors began circulating that Swift and Kelce were actually dating.
“My husband listens to Travis Kelce’s podcast with his brother, where he mentioned they went to the Eras tour and that he was going to give Taylor a bracelet with her name or his number on it,” Stephens explains.

“We joked about how funny and interesting that situation would be,” she adds. “We watch every Chiefs game together, and during the Chiefs vs. Chicago Bears game last year, Nick said, ‘Babe, she’s at the game for him.’ It was so crazy and funny.”

At the time, Stephens says she hadn’t even remembered that she and Nick had dressed up as them for Halloween until she was scrolling TikTok and saw a post that said, “Couples Idea for Halloween: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.”

“I was like, oh my gosh, we actually already did that on accident,” she says.

Makayla Stephens

Makayla Stephens and her husband Nick dressed as Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce in 2024
In September 2024, as the couple started planning their Halloween costume for this year, Stephens felt inspired to recreate the Swift and Kelce idea, this time going all out. She found a Chiefs shirt in her closet and styled it to resemble an outfit that Swift wore to a game. Instead of just wearing the jersey again, they ordered the hat and shirt that Kelce wore for the 2024 AFC Championship and recreated the pictures from that game, where Swift joined him on the field.

She posted another photo on Instagram of their costumes, which this time featured their children, too. She captioned it, “apparently there IS a world in which @taylorswift and @killatrav are in the same room together, but I’m going to take it a step further this time and say in this one they’re married with two sweet babies ❤️💛🏈🫶🏼.”

Makayla Stephens

Makayla Stephens and her husband Nick dressed as Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce in 2024
“I think they’re so perfect together,” the mom tells PEOPLE.

“Last year at this time, I didn’t know what to make of their relationship. I remember thinking how I hope their schedules align. I hope they can make it work,” she says. “Both are really high up in their industries, and you just never know how that’s going to play out. But looking back on their relationship over the past year, they both seem extremely happy, and I’m loving it. I hope they get married, have babies, and that we get to attend their wedding since we were the first!”

Makayla Stephens

Makayla Stephens re-creates a Taylor Swift look in 2024
While Swift and Kelce haven’t commented on the couple’s posts, Stephens says with all off the different fan accounts picking up the story she has a strong feeling Swift has probably seen it.
“That’s enough for me,” she adds.