Travis Kelce's ex-girlfriend, Kayla Nicole, just had quite the reaction to news of his engagement to Taylor Swift. The 33-year-old sports reporter who dated Travis for five years responded awkwardly to a question asked by Daily Mail at a New York Fashion Week event about the proposal. Kayla replied: "Oh, no, no, no." Kayla and Travis broke up in 2022, just one year before he met Taylor and their whirlwind, global relationship began.
Their on-again off-again relationship started in 2017. Kayla sparked their romance after she sent him an Instagram DM. "He had been following me and insta-flirting for a few months," she previously revealed via her Instagram Story in June 2022. Apparently, Travis "liked" several of Kayla's posts, but never sent her a DM. "Soooo after a little liquid courage and a pep talk from [a friend] I dm'd him on New Years,” Kayla explained.
© Getty ImagesWhen Travis and Kayla broke up in 2022, there were many online speculations about why, one from Barstool Sports even alleging Travis made Kayla pay for "half of everything." At the time, Travis denied the reports, saying on The Pivot Podcast: "You've got to be crazy if you’d think I would never help or gave her a couple thousand to grab some food or she gave me some money to go get some food....We were in a relationship for five years. A hundred dollars here, a hundred dollars there wasn't even thought about."
© Getty ImagesTheir public breakup was hard on Kayla. During her appearance on the Special Forces: The World’s Toughest Test series, she said: "Going through a public breakup, just to be frank, it's been overwhelming. She continued: "It doesn't matter, I could post about the sky being blue and people will have a response about an ex and their new situation. It's inadvertently affected me to the point where it makes me question my overall value as a person."
Who is Kayla Nicole?
© FOX Image Collection via Getty IKayla always loved sports, long before dating the Kansas City Chiefs Tight End. She graduated from Pepperdine University with a degree in broadcast journalism and went on to become a sideline host for ESPN, most notably for the NBA and NFL. Kayla is also a fashion influencer, working for brands like Revolve, Crocs, and Savage X Fenty.
After breaking up with Travis, Kayla has stayed friends with several wives and girlfriends of professional athletes. She told PEOPLE: "That's a lot of history and friendship there, that doesn't change overnight. But publicly, because things are happening so quickly and so publicly, I have to protect myself. That's really all that is. The love is still there."
© Getty ImagesIn 2023, Nicole launched her fitness brand, Tribe Therepe, which focuses on the mental health component of working out. She told PEOPLE: "[Mental health] is really, really important for me and really resonates with me. I think that when your mind is in a healthy place, your body will follow."
