Travis and Jason Kelce looked back on some of their favorite holiday hijinks while counting down to Christmas Day.
During a bonus episode of “New Heights,” released via Wondery+ on Thursday, December 19, the brothers opened their hotline once again to field questions from fans — but this time, they were a little more family friendly. When one caller asked whether it was “traumatic” when the siblings found out Santa Claus isn’t real, Travis, 35, and Jason, 37, revealed they learned the truth in very different ways.
Despite the caller’s assumption, Travis said his older brother didn’t ruin the illusion for him. “Well, Jason didn’t tell me,” Travis confessed. “I figured it out on my own when every single present had mom’s handwriting on it.”
Jason laughed as Travis recalled, “I was like, ‘This is how mom spells all of our names.’ I was just like, ‘What the f—? Where’s the one that’s from Santa and not mom?’ Santa and mom have the same handwriting, that’s crazy.”
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end admitted that he was usually “upstairs looking at all the gifts” and later realized that he “didn’t get a gift that wasn’t already upstairs,” calling himself “a little s—.”
Jason, meanwhile, had the spell broken by a classmate. “Somebody told me, and I don’t remember how old I was,” he said. “I was in elementary school. But I remember coming home and asking mom and dad and being sat down and them explaining to me, ‘Unfortunately, it’s not real. But we need you to not tell Travis.'”
Ed and Donna Kelce encouraged their older son not to “ruin it for your brother” who was “still in this deal.” They enlisted Jason’s help in order to keep Travis believing in Santa.
“They had me be a part of aiding and abetting them in their shenanigans after that,” he teased, to which Travis replied, “Nice, everyone team up on Travis. Love that.”
Travis added that he appreciated his parents’ approach. “That’s how you do it,” he said. “I mean, if you want your kids to have a pure heart and believe what you’re feeding them, don’t send them to school.”
Jason then revealed that his friend’s son, who is 7 years old, had the surprise spoiled at school. “He came home and he said, ‘Dad, is Santa real or not?’ And [his dad] said, ‘Son, the Christmas spirit and what Santa Claus represents is very real. What do you think?’ And [his son] said, ‘Yeah, I knew it. I knew it was real.'”
According to Jason — who shares three daughters with wife Kylie Kelce, with a fourth on the way — lying to your children is an important part of parenting. “I have been very adamant about this. … They gotta figure this stuff out on their own,” he continued. “If they can’t figure out the handwriting is the same, how are they gonna go around [in] life?”
The retired NFL player teased, “If I listened to everything Ed Kelce told me, do you know where I’d be?”
