ET spoke with a human behavioral expert to get her take on the body language Taylor and Travis showcased in recent paparazzi photos.
If football pundits can dissect every pass, catch, sack, tackle, kick, punt and block on an hourly basis for six months out of the year, then there's definitely time (right now) and a place (right here) to break down Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's body language as their budding romance continues catapulting to greater heights.
On the heels of the "Lavender Haze" singer and Kansas City Chiefs tight end enjoying a PDA-filled outing in New York City where their every move was captured by a throng of paparazzi, ET spoke with world-renowned body language expert Susan Constantine to get her take on the body language Swelce showcased and what it can potentially tell us about their romance.
Exhibit A: The Football Handgrip
This photo, snapped by photographers Sunday while they enjoyed a second date in the Big Apple, shows the "Blank Space" singer and the NFL star flashing smiles as they left the Waverly Inn restaurant hand-in-hand. But it wasn't just that they were holding hands. It's the way he held her hand, almost like a running back taking a handoff from a quarterback and protecting the rock at all costs.
"He's the oyster and she's the pearl. You couldn't protect anyone more. This is total complete protection," Constantine tells ET while dissecting the photo. "That's also one of the strongest indicators of real, deep love and intimacy."
"And also when we see her expression, she's enjoying it," Constantine continues. "She's putting her head down. That's that emotional moment, but she tends to kind of do that to guard herself from making eye contact and having to involve herself in communication with others and also the paparazzi taking photographs."
"There's many reasons why she's got her head down, but the fact that she's smiling, she's enjoying the emotional connection that they're having, and that he is protecting her," Constantine says. "And it's really interesting to see her a little bit more vulnerable. He definitely is the alpha in the relationship. That's not always true with all relationships, especially when they're power getters, but she loves being guided and led and she's allowing herself to be vulnerable that way."
"He's loving it too because he's very gentle," she continues. "He feels like she's surprised. You can see the great big smile. You can see the wrinkling around his eyes, so you know that he has a full-range expression of what we call true joy and happiness."
Exhibit B: Interlocking Fingers vs. The 2019 Loose Grip
During that same date night in NYC, Swift and Kelce were spotted holding hands, but it's the way they were holding hands that really had Swifties swooning. You can see how they interlock their fingers, almost as if to say, "I got you."
"That's showing me togetherness, closeness, right?" Constantine says. "They are intertwined. So, that's telling me that their relationship is growing and it's developing and it's becoming deeper."
ET showed Constantine a photo of Swift and her ex, Joe Alwyn, also taken in New York City back on Oct. 6, 2019. Swift, who broke up with the British actor earlier this year after six years, is also holding hands with Alwyn, but the vibe is off, according to Constantine.
"So, when I'm looking at this photograph, it's important to see it from head to toe -- they are facing slightly towards one another looking at the curb as they're coming up," she says. "So, that's the reason why they're looking down. But look at the handhold. It's a very loose, nondescript handhold. There doesn't seem to be some rolling intimacy in it ... or that they're really connected."
Exhibit C: The Protector
Everyone's seen the video by now, the one where Kelce places his hand on the back of Swift's security, who then moves out of the way and allows Kelce to open her door and help her out of her SUV.
"He sees the other person, very nicely, just kind of leads the guy out of the way saying, 'Hey, I got it from here,' because he wants to open the door for her," Constantine says. "So, he opens up the door and what does he do? He has his hand out like this, almost like a princess grip for her to grab on by the fingertips. He's treating her definitely like a lady."
"He's not just taking her and just kind of pulling her out or letting her get out on her own," she continues. "Then he waits there for just a moment, waits until she firmly plants herself on the ground. And then they move forward again. The very closeness they have when they're walking, the grip that they have together is very close. Again, they call this a clamshell grip that they have. I see him looking at her. He is like a clamshell and she's the pearl."
When ET shows Constantine the photo of that encounter, she gushes for obvious reasons.
"I love this photo. This photo is a princess grip," she explains. "It's interesting how he's processing because he's not doing this deliberately. This is subconscious. He's acting out how he feels about her emotionally and his body language is following. He looks at her as his sweet delicate flower, so to speak."
Constantine, with more than 20 years of experience in the field of human behavior sciences and one of the most sought-after body language experts, explains what the "princess grip" says about Kelce.
"That is a sign of a royal grab. We often see that with royals when they grab onto the fingertips, and it's very delicate, very soft and gentle. And that's what I've been saying all along when I'm looking at these photographs. The way he feels about her -- and I would say this, the way he feels about women in general -- I think that he has a great respect for women," she says. "I think he's been raised well. I think he's a natural gentleman. I think he's a very kind person and very thoughtful and caring, and he thinks about the other person. And he's also her protector, and he treats her like she's a little princess with a little princess grip."
Exhibit D: Leading the Way
Swift and Kelce hit up Catch Steakhouse in the Meatpacking District in NYC, and it was there where Kelce proved why he's an exemplary protector. During their hangout, a source told ET that, at one point, Kelce told one of Swift's security guards that "he could step aside, like he'd take it from here."
On their way out, Kelce could be seen leading the way while she followed suit hand-in-hand.
"He's leading the way. He is very alpha. So he's the man and there's no doubt what, where, how they feel what their positioning is in this relationship," Constantine deduces. "He feels very comfortable being the alpha, she feels very comfortable allowing him to lead. She loves that self-protection she gets from him. And she likes the fact that he takes the lead in things."
She continues, "She generally takes the lead in everything. It's kind of nice to be able to offer that power over to someone you feel safe with. The other thing you might want to notice is the foot placement. And the stride in which they are walking. Their stride is almost identical. And also the one foot in front of the other. The right foot is leading the left foot if you notice they are in rapport. So they're actually walking with the same foot out forward and then one step leading to the other end showing rapport and trust."
Constantine says this exhibits trust on Swift's part to allow Kelce to take the lead because "he knows where he's gonna go" and "he's very direct, but there's also that real kindness about him, so it's not like he's dragging her."
On his podcast, New Heights, with his brother, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, the Chiefs star explained why he feels "protective."
"I feel like whenever I'm on a date, I'm always having the sense that I'm a man in the situation," he said. "I'm protective, yeah, for sure. You always have to have that feeling or self-awareness, I guess."
Following their PDA-filled weekend, a source told ET that Swift's "super happy with Travis and she has been having a great time with him."
"They have a lot of fun together and she loves how chivalrous he is," the source said. "Taylor feels at ease with Travis and they are already very comfortable around each other."
And it shows.
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