Taylor Swift’s younger brother, Austin Swift, played a starring role in her wedding to Travis Kelce over the weekend.
Rather than having traditional bridesmaids, Taylor chose Austin to stand by her side as her “man of honour.” Travis, meanwhile, asked his older brother, Jason Kelce, to be his best man, opting not to have any other groomsmen.
The ceremony, officiated by family friend Adam Sandler, brought together two famously close-knit families alongside a star-studded guest list that included Bradley Cooper, Gigi Hadid, Lena Dunham, Dakota Johnson, Ellie Goulding, Jenny Han, Graham Norton, Hugh Grant, Zoë Kravitz, Kelsea Ballerini and Sabrina Carpenter.
Ed Sheeran and Cherry Seaborn, Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco, and Karlie Kloss and Joshua Kushner were also among the guests.
Austin’s prominent role came as little surprise given the close relationship he shares with both his sister and Travis. Since the couple began dating, Austin has frequently been spotted spending time with the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, from family dinners during the off-season to the groom’s bachelor party.
Last July, Travis offered fans a glimpse into their growing friendship, sharing photos of the pair hiking and fishing together on Instagram. Alongside the images, he wrote: “Had some adventures this offseason, kept it 💯.”
Their bond first became evident in December 2023, when Travis revealed Austin had surprised him with a thoughtful Christmas present while dressed as Santa Claus.
Speaking on the New Heights podcast, Travis recalled, “He actually made me feel like a child because his gift to me was straight out of the bag. It was in the Santa sack, whew, [he] whipped it out and handed me a VHS of my favorite football movie of all time.”
The nostalgic present turned out to be a VHS copy of Little Giants, the 1994 comedy centred on two brothers coaching rival youth football teams—a fitting choice for the brothers-in-law-to-be.
Ahead, everything you need to know about Taylor Swift’s “man of honour,” Austin Swift.
Who Is Austin Swift?
Born on March 11, 1992, Austin Swift is Taylor Swift’s younger brother, born just over three years after his superstar sister. The siblings spent their childhood on the family’s Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania before relocating to Nashville when Austin was around nine years old to support Taylor’s budding music career.
While music became Taylor’s calling, Austin gravitated towards film. A self-described movie enthusiast from a young age, he studied film and acting at the University of Notre Dame, later revealing that cinema became a source of refuge during his childhood.
“I would go to the movies, and Daniel Craig was my friend, and Christian Bale was my friend, and Clive Owen was my friend, and Viggo Mortensen was my friend,” he told Vanity Fair in 2017.
After graduating from the University of Notre Dame in 2015, Austin landed a role opposite Pierce Brosnan in John Moore’s I.T. He then moved to Los Angeles where, he says, he “found a group of cool people” and completed an internship at Lionsgate, where his responsibilities included making and sending out DVD screeners.
Despite his love of storytelling, acting wasn’t always part of the plan. Speaking to People in 2018, Austin admitted, “I’m pretty reserved in most circumstances, so [acting] never seemed like it would be a good fit. But I kind of got thrust into it and realised that it could be an opportunity to be creative.”
His confidence grew while starring in Six Characters in Search of an Author during university, although he later admitted the experience initially left him doubting himself.
“I got really worried I wasn’t good enough,” Austin explained. “It became clear I needed to either buckle down or walk away. I started staying after rehearsals every night and running the whole play by myself, over and over, acting every part until the sun came up…By opening day, it was a different play, and I felt like I was a different person.”
His career has also extended behind the camera. Austin served as an executive producer on Taylor’s Disney+ concert documentary Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions and, in 2022, earned an ACM Award nomination for producing the music video for “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version),” directed by Blake Lively.
Away from his professional achievements, Austin has also earned a reputation as one of Taylor’s fiercest supporters. Who could forget the moment he dramatically threw out his Yeezys during Taylor’s highly publicised feud with Kanye West?
His Instagram is filled with a plethora of heartfelt tributes that speak to the siblings’ close bond. To mark her 29th birthday, he posted a childhood photo of the pair, describing Taylor as his “best friend, a role model, and a caring, tireless, dedicated champion in my corner.”
The love is mutual. On National Siblings Day in 2020, Taylor paid tribute to her younger brother on Facebook, writing, “My brother Austin Swift is one of my best pals, and I’m really proud of him.”
What Is Austin Swift’s Dating History?
While his sister’s romantic life has long been immortalised in song and dissected in equal measure, Austin Swift has managed to keep his own relationships remarkably private.
The actor and producer has reportedly been dating model Sydney Ness since 2022.
While the couple rarely speak publicly about their relationship, they’ve made a handful of low-key appearances together, including cheering on the Kansas City Chiefs alongside Taylor Swift. Ness was also among the guests at Taylor’s annual Fourth of July party at her Rhode Island home in 2023.
Austin and Ness first sparked dating rumours in September 2022 after they were photographed holding hands in New York City. Outside of her relationship with Austin, Ness has established herself as a successful model, working with both Natural Model Management and Ford Models.
