‘I would be lying if I said that that level of hate and online chaos didn’t impact me, even to this day.’
Travis Kelce’s ex may not have bad blood for the Kansas City Chiefs star, but she isn’t happy with how she has been treated by his new better half’s followers.
Kayla Nicole, who dated Kelce for five years until their breakup in 2022, opened up about the treatment she has received from Taylor Swift’s legion of fans – widely known as Swifties.
During an appearance on WNBA star Angel Reese’s podcast, Nicole discussed her breakup with Kelce and the hate she has received on social media since the Super Bowl champ started dating global superstar Swift last year.
“I think the combination of everything is the perfect storm to make you want to disappear from the world entirely,” she said.
“Behind closed doors, the hardest part is losing a partner, a best friend, speaking every day to cutting ties. Then you throw in social media.
“I would be lying if I said that that level of hate and online chaos didn’t impact me, even to this day. You could go to my most recent posts and people would be debating why I am worthless.
“It is nothing to do with me. I think there is something about that level of fame that attracts crazy people, which is unfortunate because I don’t think I have done anything to warrant that kind of backlash.”
Nicole, an influencer with nearly 800,000 followers on Instagram, also spoke about her relationship with Kelce and how she had thought they would one day get married.
“My biggest advice in dating an athlete is to always have your own. It is really easy to get caught up in their dream, their vision for their life. Something that I had to learn early on was that the relationship could be over tomorrow and what do you have?” she told Reese.
“At the time it was a long-distance relationship, I was going back-and-forth. I was in between apartments and thought, ‘It’s cool, we’re going to get married and I’m going to move into the house, I don’t really need an apartment.’
“We broke up, my lease was up, my lease on my car was up all at the same time.
“Thankfully we ended up getting back together but from that point moving forward I was like I don’t care who I date, I’m going to always have my own place, my own car. Support their career my prioritize my own goals.”
Nicole was complimentary about Kelce, calling him the “best tight end” and also that she enjoyed her time with him.
“It was a good time,” Nicole said. “It was great. He is a great guy, it was a good time in my life. So many lessons learned.”
However, she jokingly added that she probably would avoid dating athletes in the future and try to keep her relationships out of the public eye.
Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs are undefeated through five weeks. The Chiefs, who have won the past two Super Bowls and are going for an unprecedented third, are off this week on their bye.
So far this season, Kelce has 24 catches for 228 yards and has yet to find the end zone. He has seen increased usage in the past two weeks as the Chiefs deal with several injuries to key players on offence.