Travis Kelce wasn’t the only award-winning athlete sharing the spotlight with Taylor Swift at the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards.
Presenter, Olympic gold medalist and figure-skating sensation Alysa Liu found herself being showered with praise by Swift as the singer was accepting her award for Artist of the Year.
‘I just want to say, first of all, to receive this award from Alysa, who brought me so much happiness, and everyone else so much happiness with your performances,’ Swift began. ‘And I was so inspired by how much diligence and work and effort and love you have for what you do.’
Later Swift took several photos alongside Liu, including one with Kelce. The pop star and the Kansas City Chiefs tight end are set to marry sometime this year.
Swift was the most-nominated artist this year with a total of nine nods. She publicly thanked Kelce after winning Pop Album of the Year for her 2025 album The Life of a Showgirl.
‘”The Life of a Showgirl” was really inspired by the energy that I felt like looking into crowds and seeing you guys every single night,’ she said.
Taylor Swift and Alysa Liu at the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards held at Dolby Theatre
Swift, Liu and Kelce are seen at the Dolby Theatre during Thursday’s awards show
‘This album probably also feels very happy and confident and free because that’s the way that I get to feel every single day of my life because of my fiancé, who’s here tonight.’
Liu, meanwhile, continues to gain popularity back home after winning gold in Italy last month. She did withdraw from this month’s world championships, which wasn’t a complete surprise. Olympic gold medalists often skip the next major event after winning on the sport’s biggest stage.
The figure skater proved to be a major reason for NBC’s improved ratings at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. The network averaged 24 million viewers across its primetime coverage, which marked a 94-percent improvement from the 2022 Beijing Games.
The US women’s hockey team victory over Canada in the gold medal game combined with Liu’s final performance to average 26.7 million viewers NBC, USA Network, Peacock, and NBC Universal’s other digital platforms.
