EXCLUSIVE: Travis Kelce lunches at his favorite Kansas City restaurant ahead of potential reunion with Taylor Swift in Australia after teasing he would ‘venture to an island real soon’ and pre-recording next week’s podcast

If fans were wondering if Travis Kelce would head to Australia to be with his girlfriend Taylor Swift after his triumphant return to Kansas City and the tragedy that followed, the answer is: not yet.

So far, Travis has stayed close to home, with exclusive DailyMail.com photos showing the Super Bowl LVIII winner driving his Rolls Royce to lunch with a friend on Saturday.

Travis dropped a huge hint that he might be heading Down Under on this week’s episode of his New Heights podcast, claiming he’d be “venturing to an island soon” with the best of them being “south” of the US would find.

He added that next week’s podcast will be a pre-recorded guest episode in which he does not appear, leading fans to believe he would join his girlfriend in Sydney from February 23 – and perhaps travel with her to Singapore for her shows in the first week. of March.

On Saturday, however, the 34-year-old Chiefs took a leisurely drive through Kansas City with his windows rolled down, smiling and waving at fans who saw him.

Kelce spent less than an hour at one of his favorite spots in the city, Rye, and took a bag with him as he slipped out the back entrance of the busy restaurant.

He’s a regular at Rye, and Swift, 34, took his teammates’ girlfriends out for a birthday dinner in January — picking up the tab and opting to try the cinnamon roll, which is reportedly Kelce’s favorite.

Swift is currently on the Australian leg of her Era’s tour and fans have speculated whether Kelce would rush to support her in Melbourne after their romance dominated NFL coverage this season.

But Swift’s pal appears to be in no rush to make the long journey to Australia and looked calm as he walked into Rye – despite being criticized for his party antics.

The NFL star faced a barrage of criticism after he was pictured at a “scaled-down” party following the mass shooting at the Chief’s Super Bowl parade.

Both Kelce and Swift donated $100,000 to the victims of the shooting, which sent 22 people to the hospital with gunshot wounds and left one woman, a local radio DJ, dead. Police confirmed that about half of the injured were children.

The tight end’s donation came after he faced waves of criticism for his partying and posing for a smiling selfie with a police officer in the aftermath of the deadly shooting.

He was seen beaming at Granfalloon Restaurant and Bar on Wednesday, a snap exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com, along with several teammates and their WAGs — including Patrick Mahomes’ wife Brittany.

Kelce was part of a small group at the sports bar that also included Chiefs punter Tommy Townsend, center Creed Humphrey, tight end Matt Bushman, his wife Emily and Mahomes.

Earlier in the day, local DJ Lisa Lopez-Galvan was shot dead in the incident that investigators say started as a “dispute” between a group of two youths.

Two juveniles were arrested and charged Friday in connection with the incident, but Missouri law means their hearing took place behind closed doors and no other details have been made public.

The pair appeared in Jackson County Family Court on charges of weapons possession and resisting arrest.

Authorities expect more charges against the teens, which could allow them to be tried as adults.

If charged with first-degree murder, they could face the death penalty, according to Jackson County Court, as long as they were 16 years old at the time the crime was committed.

Nine children were injured during the incident, with Kelce donating the $100,000 through his charity, the Eighty-Seven & Running Foundation – an organization that aims to “help underserved youth become productive citizens.”

The GoFundMe page was started by friends of the Reyes family, whose two young daughters were injured in the shooting.

It has already surpassed its $100,000 goal, reaching $189,000 as of Saturday afternoon. Swift donated to Lisa’s fundraiser, who was related to the two girls.

Kansas City police and the FBI are looking for others who may have been involved and are calling on witnesses, victims and people with cellphone footage of the violence to call a special hotline.

All patients admitted to Children’s Mercy Hospital after the mass shooting have been discharged, while medics have treated 12 patients.

In total, at least 39 people were injured, 23 of them with gunshot wounds, including nine children.

The number of victims ranges from eight to 47, with the hospital confirming that the children should make a full recovery.

“Thank you for your support and grace for our team members this past week,” spokesperson Marlene Bentley said in a statement.

University Health said three shooting victims remain in the hospital’s care, with one in critical condition while the other two are improving.

In total, they treated eight patients with gunshot wounds and four with other injuries related to the gathering.