EXCLUSIVE: Crisis that’s driven Taylor Swift into hiding takes dark turn: ‘Desperate’ Travis Kelce is struggling to help… but there’s a crushing private battle she’ll never walk away from

After her whopping 21-month Eras Tour came to an end last December, Taylor Swift had been looking forward to a well-deserved rest alongside her devoted beau, Travis Kelce.

And with tight-end Kelce, 35, in off-season down time, the couple recently took a romantic international vacation away from the spotlight.

Now, having returned to the US, Swift was surely hoping to play house — in the peaceful confines of one of eight luxury homes.

Unfortunately, no such peace is to be found — for Swift is gripped in the maw of a stubborn and worsening personal crisis.

And she’s fighting fires on multiple fronts.

Last week, the Daily Mail exclusively reported that the superstar, 35, was ‘in hiding’, holed up with Kelce and cutting contact with many of her closest friends.

Last week, the Daily Mail exclusively reported that Taylor Swift, 35, was ‘in hiding’, holed up with Kelce (pictured in December) and cutting contact with many of her closest friends.

And then there’s the even more devastating fallout surrounding the custody battle over Swift’s godson. (Pictured: Swift at the Grammy Awards in February).

According to our source, this battening down of hatches is by design — as she tries to avoid being further dragged into the vicious legal battle between former best friend Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. (Swift has been mentioned in legal filings and has apparently been left feeling ‘used’ by Lively).

And then there’s the even more devastating fallout surrounding the custody battle over Swift’s godson.

In 2015, singer was made godmother to actress Jaime King‘s son, Leo Thames, who is now 9-years-old.

Having met at a Golden Globes party in 2014, Swift and King became fast friends — and over the years, the singer has shared snippets of her clear fondness for little Leo, including dedicating her hit ‘Never Grow Up’ to him weeks after he was born.

In a 2020 interview with People magazine, King shared that she had chosen the pop star to be her son’s godmother not because of ‘the name’ but because of Swift’s ‘morals and her values, the way that she treats people and how hard-working she is.’

But things aren’t all happy families now.

On Monday, King, 45, lost physical custody of her two sons to her ex-husband, filmmaker Kyle Newman.

A judge ruled that King only have supervised visits with her two sons until she finishes a mandated drugs and alcohol program that will last around six months.

In his legal filing, Newman branded King — who has been open about taking heroin as a teenager — ‘a chronic drug addict and alcoholic who refuses to acknowledge that she has a problem.’

All of which is said to have left Swift devastated.

An insider told the Daily Mail: ‘[Swift] will always honor and cherish her commitment to being a godmother to Jaime’s son Leo and any suggestions that she has ditched Jaime or Leo is false.’

Other sources have confirmed that Swift has in recent years grown more distant from King — in part due to her hectic schedule during the Eras Tour — but insisted she still ‘has so much love for Jaime, and always will.’

‘Taylor has not been personally afflicted by the disease of addiction, luckily. But she has had many people who she cares about in her life who are and who have been,’ our insider said, adding that ‘[Swift] has never walked away from anyone because of this.’

In the past, Taylor has faced accusations of ditching friends whenever their personal drama threaten her own reputation. When Lively, 37, filed her bombshell complaint accusing 41-year-old Baldoni, her It Ends With Us director and co-star, of sexual harassment in December, Swift began to distance herself.

When Baldoni, who denies all allegations against him, filed his countersuit, alleging defamation, Swift’s distance only grew stronger.

She also appeared to move away from longtime friend Selena Gomez, after the 32-year-old singer faced backlash online after sharing a video in January crying about Donald Trump‘s mass deportation of illegal immigrants, before promptly deleting it.

And, of course, Swift had to weather the public death of her close friendship with Karlie Kloss in 2017. The following year, the supermodel married Joshua Kushner — brother-in-law to Ivanka Trump.

On Monday, Jamie King lost custody of her two sons to her estranged husband, filmmaker Kyle Newman. (Pictured: Swift and King in 2014).

‘[Swift and Kelce] aren’t hanging out with Patrick and Brittany Mahomes right now,’ an insider told the Daily Mail. (Pictured: Taylor and Brittany together at a Championship game in January).

‘The two couples aren’t avoiding each other because of any tension, they just have other priorities right now,’ the insider added. (Pictured: Swift, Kelce, Brittany and Patrick at the US Open last September).

Hidden away together amid the storm, Swift’s mounting crises are said to have been tough on Kelce who is ‘desperate’ to protect his girlfriend from getting ‘sucked into anything more than she already has,’ another source said.

‘Travis is Taylor’s rock, and he will do anything and everything he needs to do to keep her safe,’ this source added. ‘She is the number one priority in his life right now.’

I can’t be easy — especially since Kelce appears to be without his usual support systems, too.

Indeed, even his Kanas City Chiefs teammate Patrick Mahomes, 29, and wife Brittany, 29, are not getting the usual face-time.

‘[Swift and Kelce] aren’t hanging out with Patrick and Brittany right now,’ a third insider tells us.

‘The two couples aren’t avoiding each other because of any tension, they just have other priorities right now,’ that insider added, referencing the fact that the Mahomeses welcomed a new daughter last month.

‘Travis and Taylor will get their friend and family fix in no time, but right now it’s all about the relationship.’