Travis Kelce Ex-Girlfriend: Her Career and Chiefs Playoff Comments

Travis Kelce’s ex-girlfriend Kayla Nicole is a sports broadcaster, content creator and wellness entrepreneur who dated the Kansas City Chiefs tight end on and off from 2017 until 2022. Although their relationship ended years ago, her work in sports media has occasionally brought her back into conversations about his performances, including her praise before the Chiefs’ January 2025 playoff meeting with the Buffalo Bills.

Nicole’s comments attracted attention because she offered two opinions that were perfectly compatible: she wanted a different team to reach the Super Bowl, but she still recognised Kansas City’s strengths. Her assessment of Kelce focused on his reliability as a player rather than their former relationship.

The discussion also highlighted a challenge she has spoken about publicly. Despite building a career across broadcasting, fitness and television, Nicole continues to face questions and online commentary connected to someone she stopped dating in 2022.

Who Is Kayla Nicole, Travis Kelce’s Former Girlfriend?

Kayla Nicole has worked as a sports reporter, presenter and digital creator. She graduated from Pepperdine University in 2013 with a degree in broadcast journalism, giving her a professional connection to sports coverage beyond her relationship with an NFL player.

Her career has included reporting and presenting work, including a role as an in-game reporter for the Los Angeles Lakers. She has also developed an audience through fitness content, interviews and conversations about personal wellbeing.

That background matters when considering her appearances on sports programmes. Nicole is familiar with discussing athletes, teams and competition, even when coverage of those discussions sometimes gives greater attention to her dating history than her analysis.

She and Kelce began dating in 2017. Over the next five years, they had an on-and-off relationship that included public appearances, sporting events and time around the Chiefs’ wider social circle.

Nicole regularly supported Kelce at games during their relationship. Their appearances together included basketball outings and other events away from football, offering fans occasional glimpses of their life as a couple.

They ultimately separated in 2022. Their history is often described simply as a five-year relationship, although that shorthand leaves out the periods when they were apart.

There is no need to attach an unverified explanation to the final breakup. Neither old social media speculation nor repeated internet claims should be treated as a complete account of why two people ended a relationship.

Nicole’s connection to Kansas City also involved friendships that developed over several years. Among them was her friendship with Brittany Mahomes, whose husband, Patrick Mahomes, played alongside Kelce.

After Kelce’s relationship with Taylor Swift became public in 2023, Nicole’s decision to unfollow Brittany and Patrick on Instagram generated its own headlines. She later explained that the situation involved personal boundaries and conversations that had taken place privately.

Her account did not describe friendship as something that could simply disappear after a breakup. Instead, she acknowledged the history involved while explaining that she needed to protect herself as public attention intensified.

That distinction is easy to lose in a social media argument. Unfollowing someone can become a dramatic headline, even when the person involved describes it as a practical decision about moving forward.

Nicole has also spoken about rebuilding her sense of wellbeing after a major breakup and life change. In an October 2023 interview, she said therapy helped her recognise that looking physically healthy did not necessarily reflect how she was feeling.

Her wellness brand, Tribe Therepe, developed around a broader approach to fitness that included emotional wellbeing. She wanted her content to reflect more than appearance or the visible results of exercise.

Television added another part to her public profile. Nicole appeared on the third season of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test and completed the demanding selection process alongside Brody Jenner in the February 2025 finale.

Her work therefore spans several areas, from sports conversations to fitness and entertainment. The label “Travis Kelce’s ex-girlfriend” explains a widely searched part of her history, but it does not describe the full range of her professional life.

What Kayla Nicole Said About Kelce and the Chiefs

The comments in the supplied story belong to January 2025, ahead of the AFC Championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills on January 26. They were part of an I Am Athlete discussion about which team would advance to the Super Bowl.

Nicole said she would welcome a Buffalo victory because she wanted a change from Kansas City’s repeated appearances on the biggest stage. Her preference was framed around wanting a different championship matchup.

At the same time, she explained why defeating the Chiefs would be difficult. Rather than allowing her preferred outcome to determine her prediction, she discussed the advantages that had made Kansas City such a difficult opponent.

Former NFL receiver Brandon Marshall asked about Patrick Mahomes and the experience of watching the Chiefs from close range. Nicole responded by describing the atmosphere at Arrowhead Stadium and the intensity of the crowd.

She also credited Mahomes’ preparation and experience. Her comments presented him as a quarterback whose success involved careful study as well as the ability to deliver during important moments.

The conversation included some teasing from her fellow hosts about how much she knew about the team. Nicole responded with humour, acknowledging her familiarity with the organisation without turning the exchange into a detailed discussion of her former relationship.

When the subject moved to Kansas City’s receiving options, she identified Kelce as someone Mahomes could depend on. Her point was that the Chiefs had players capable of completing important scoring opportunities under playoff pressure.

That was a football assessment. Recognising an ex-partner’s professional ability does not establish romantic interest, a reconciliation or a hidden message about the past.

Her conclusion also showed the difference between supporting an outcome and expecting it. Although she wanted Buffalo to provide a new Super Bowl storyline, she remained doubtful that the Bills would stop Kansas City.

Nicole’s position was straightforward: she could hope for a different winner while acknowledging that Kelce, Mahomes and the Chiefs remained formidable. Her personal history did not prevent her from recognising what made the team successful.

The response to her sports commentary also sits within a wider experience she has described. During an October 2024 appearance on Angel Reese’s podcast, Nicole discussed the hostility she encountered online after Kelce’s relationship with Swift became public.

She said negative comments extended beyond opinions about her former relationship. According to Nicole, people also attacked her abilities, career and personal worth, making the attention difficult to dismiss.

Those remarks reflected her own experience of online harassment. They should not be used to assign responsibility to an entire fan base or to suggest that either celebrity directed the behaviour.

Her account nevertheless explained why repeated comparisons could be exhausting. A relationship may have ended privately years earlier while remaining a recurring subject for strangers who encounter it through headlines and social media clips.

Nicole’s public comments have included efforts to establish boundaries, discuss recovery and continue working. Her sports analysis, wellness business and television appearances provide context for those efforts without requiring every project to be interpreted through the breakup.

The January 2025 podcast exchange remains a useful example. Asked to discuss a major football matchup, she expressed a preference, assessed the teams and gave Kelce credit for his ability.

Kayla Nicole and Travis Kelce’s relationship ended in 2022, but their shared history continues to draw interest. Her comments about the Chiefs showed that acknowledging that past and speaking professionally about football could exist in the same conversation, while her own career continued beyond it.