Kayla Nicole Declares She’s 'More Than Just Travis Kelce's Ex'

Kayla Nicole is done being pigeonholed as merely Travis Kelce's ex-girlfriend! The 33-year-old sports journalist is adamant that it's time for people to "stop calling [her] someone's ex" and recognize her for everything she brings to the table.

In a candid conversation on the "Second Wind" podcast on Tuesday, May 6, Nicole opened up about the toll her past romance with the NFL star has taken on her public persona, especially now that Kelce, 35, is in a high-profile relationship with the pop superstar Taylor Swift, 35.

"You sit down and you do an hour-long interview with someone, and the headline is maybe one sentence that you said. Yeah, I was heartbroken and devastated because I went through a breakup and that's the headline," she vented to hosts Marion Jones and Suzanne Evans. "Like so-and-so's ex is devastated still and she's sad and she's depressed. It's like, d---, girl, did you listen to anything?"

Nicole acknowledges the chatter but takes it all "with a grain of salt."

"Until then, I'm going to ride this off into the sunset. I want you all to report on me and the things that I'm doing and not have any correlation or connection to someone in the past because really and truly at the end of the day, if I choose to share my story, it's because I'm sharing it because I think that someone needs to hear it," she stated.

Ever since her on-again, off-again relationship with Travis made headlines from 2017 to 2022, Nicole has continued to build her platform as a multimedia host and sports journalist. She even captured attention recently while speaking out about Kelce's new romance with Swift.

In an emotional Instagram post from October 2023, she stated, "It's always been really important for me to use my platform not to create division, but to elevate and unite women. Black women specifically."

She followed that up by reading a letter addressing what she called a "demoralizing and antiquated narrative," reassuring others that "you do not have to respond. Because there is power in your silence."

But the backlash didn't stop there. During a candid chat on Angel Reese's podcast "Unapologetically Angel," Nicole opened up about facing online hate from Swift's devoted fans. "I'd be lying if I said that that level of hate and just, like, online chaos, doesn't impact me. It does, even to this day," she confessed in the October 2024 episode. "You can go to my recent post and it will be people debating each other why I am worthless and I'll never be a talented person, and I have no career."

Yet, Nicole refuses to let the negativity define her.

She concluded, "I think there's something about that level of fame that attracts crazy people, and it's unfortunate because I've never done anything to warrant that kind of backlash."

In the midst of all this chaos, Nicole has also been generous with her compliments toward the Grammy winner. During a January episode of Special Forces, she admitted, "Going through a public breakup, just to be frank, it's been overwhelming. I've never experienced anything like it."