Can you truly know your partner if you’ve never argued?

Few things are as satisfying as a really good argument. I’m not talking about screaming profanities, smashing plates, and cursing the day someone was born: those sorts of conversations belong in teen dramas and soap operas. I’m referring to a healthy venting of frustrations and lingering resentments, and establishing a set of compromises and boundaries to overcome them.

I’ve had major arguments with all of my closest friends, which isn’t surprising when you consider most of them have been in my life for at least a decade. At the time, the rifts feel debilitating. But afterwards, they’ve only ever brought us closer together. With romantic partners, it’s the same: arguments are key to overcoming difficulties, helping you get to know one another, and, in the best relationships, making you fall deeper in love with one another. I’ve only ever found them to be a net positive, like lifting the lid off of a pot of hot water that will happily simmer along for most of the time, but if left alone for too long, will inevitably eventually reach boiling point.

All of which is to say that when Travis Kelce revealed he and Taylor Swift have never had a single argument, I had concerns. Speaking on the episode of his podcast, New Heights, with George Clooney, the NFL star brought up the actor’s viral comments from earlier this year, when he revealed that he and his wife, Amal Clooney, had never had an argument during their 12-year relationship.

“No, I’m not lying,” Clooney doubled down when asked to clarify his comments. “Travis, shall we ask you the same questions?” Kelce laughed and added, “Well, it’s only been two and a half years, and you’re right. I haven’t gotten into an argument. Never once.”

Look, Clooney is one thing — he put it down to being 52 by the time he met Amal — but Kelce, who is 36, is another, not least because his partner is one of the most powerful (if not the most powerful) artists on the planet. The stakes in their relationship and impending marriage are astronomically high, and in our social media age, there are more eyes on them than there ever were on the Clooneys. How could they not have anything to argue about?

With that much power, money, and publicity involved, I refuse to believe there haven’t been times when these two have bumped heads over something. So, either Kelce is lying, delusional, or he’s in a relationship where nobody is saying how they really feel, which can’t be healthy.

The idea of an argument-free relationship sounds terrifying to me. Like something out of a suburban Stepford Wives simulation, where the flowers are always fresh, and the kitchens always smell like cookies. Then you look a little closer and realise said flowers are fake, and that smell is coming from a cookie-scented candle. Obviously, in order to benefit from an argument, you need to learn how to do it well. That means taking accountability, accepting responsibility, and articulating yourself calmly and clearly. It’s easier said than done.

But arguing well has been integral to so many of my romantic relationships, helping us to understand one another’s points of view and ultimately fostering a more meaningful connection based on acceptance, mutual understanding and trust. For Swift’s sake, I hope she has had some solid arguments with Kelce. Otherwise, we could be just a few years away from pop culture’s biggest divorce album yet.

Either that, or maybe people with that much wealth really are so siloed in their own gold-plated bubbles that they simply have nothing to argue about. I couldn’t possibly imagine.

The couple announced the news with a series of Instagram photos showing Kelce on one knee under an arch of roses in the center of a garden in August this year.

“Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” the joint post was captioned. A close-up photo showed off the massive engagement ring, a round brilliant-cut old mine diamond bezel-set in yellow gold, according to Vogue. Kelce himself worked with Kindred Lubeck of Artifex Fine Jewelry to design the ring. Swift, 35, was clad in a cream-colored Polo Ralph Lauren dress with black stripes and tan block heels accessorized with a diamond-encrusted Cartier Santos Demoiselle Quartz watch, while Kelce, also 35, opted to match his soon-to-be-bride in a Polo Ralph Lauren navy knit with khaki shorts and loafers.

The post garnered more than 1.5 million likes within 10 minutes of being shared by the couple — and over 10 million within an hour. The couple began dating in 2023, confirming their romance late in the year after months of speculation. Kelce initially shared how he tried — and faile However, months after his confession and after appearing to get his contact information to the “Love Story” singer after all, Swift began appearing at Arrowhead Stadium to cheer on Kelce as he played for the Kansas City Chiefs.

As romance rumors swirled, she even changed her own song lyrics during concerts to allude to her beau — “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs,” for example.

The Independent