As much as Kayla Nicole has built herself and her brand from the ground up, being Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce's ex-girlfriend has been hard for her—especially once he started dating pop powerhouse Taylor Swift.
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PeopleTranscript
00:00Model and sports journalist Kayla Nicole is best known these days for her infamous ex.
00:05Hey, what's up, everybody?
00:08As much as Kayla has built herself and her brand from the ground up, being Kansas City
00:12Chiefs tight end Travis Kelsey's ex-girlfriend has been hard for her, especially once he
00:17started dating pop powerhouse Taylor Swift.
00:19Kayla admitted just how hard it was in a preview of the upcoming season of Fox's reality competition
00:24show, Special Forces World's Toughest Test.
00:27Through a public breakup, it's been overwhelming.
00:29Wait, who's your ex?
00:32When Travis and Taylor went public, Kayla even stopped following her old friend, Brittany
00:36Mahomes, wife of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, on social media.
00:40This led many to wonder if Kayla and Brittany were still friends, especially since Taylor
00:44and Brittany appeared to be close.
00:46Isolation and feeling the need to cut people out after a breakup can be a sign of struggling
00:50with depression, and Kayla has since opened up about her mental health struggles post-breakup.
00:56She told People magazine,
00:57"...Just full transparency, I went through this major breakup, major life change.
01:01I wasn't sleeping.
01:02I wasn't eating."
01:03This did get her to start taking care of her mental health on top of her physical health,
01:07however.
01:08The tragic ride wasn't over yet.
01:10When asked by People what advice she would give herself, Kayla said,
01:13"...You thought the worst had already come, but buckle up and take all of the tools right
01:17now and put them in your bag because you're going to need them."
01:20And she was not wrong.
01:21On top of the breakup, there were more tragic events right around the corner for Kayla.
01:25Once Travis went public with his relationship with Taylor in 2023, the online masses were
01:30quick to find Kayla.
01:32Still licking her wounds from the public breakup, a new wave of trauma came to crash over her.
01:37It got to the point where Kayla had to send a fiery message to Swifties to get them to
01:41back off.
01:42"...If I said that that level of hate and just, like, online chaos, does it impact me?
01:50It does."
01:52Kayla admits to still dealing with hateful comments even years after Travis and Taylor
01:55have made their smooches public.
01:57However, this vitriol has only inspired her to be and do better — not just for herself,
02:02but for others like her.
02:03"...They'll say you deserve the backlash and embarrassment.
02:07Because of your Blackness, you should've known better."
02:10After sharing an Instagram letter to herself and other Black women struggling to find love,
02:14it led Kayla to start her own mental and physical health and wellness brand.
02:18Using these handy tools at the ready has helped her turn trolling comments into positive affirmations
02:23full of inspiration and self-love.
02:26She once wrote on Instagram,
02:27"...I grant myself permission to love every version of me throughout every season, imperfections
02:32and all."