The on-air reporter was in an on-again, off-again relationship with the Kansas City Chiefs player for five years

PHOTO: ALLEN BEREZOVSKY/FILMMAGIC

Get to know Kayla Nicole, the former girlfriend of NFL star Travis Kelce.

The on-air reporter and record-breaking tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs started dating in 2017 and were in an on-again, off-again relationship for five years.

Following rumors about their breakup, including that they parted ways for financial reasons, the Ohio native set the record straight during an interview with The Pivot Podcast in January 2023.

During a September 2023 episode of New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce, Kelce talked about rejoining Tinder, asking his sister-in-law, Kylie, for her advice on choosing a profile picture. Shortly after the episode aired, Kelce sparked dating rumors with Taylor Swift as she was spotted attending his Kansas City Chiefs game on Sept. 24 and again on Oct. 1.

In mid-October, Nicole wrote a powerful open letter to Black girls amid the “backlash” she’s gotten from online trolls as Kelce moves on to a new relationship. In a candid interview with PEOPLE later that month, Nicole opened up about how she has been focusing on her mental health, including publicly unfollowing Brittany and Patrick Mahomes.

“For me in my life, I have to move forward and everyone has to respect that,” she explained. “And hopefully when they respect that, that means that they’re no longer inserting me into things that do not involve me.”

Here’s everything to know about Nicole, from her journalism background to her career in fashion.

She graduated from Pepperdine University

KAYLA NICOLE/INSTAGRAM

Nicole has had a passion for sports long before meeting Kelce and even went to school to pursue a career in the field. She posted a “friendly reminder” on her Instagram in 2018, letting her followers know that she graduated from Pepperdine University in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism.

“Hosting is where my heart is,” she captioned a video of herself sporting a Laker’s jersey while reporting from outside the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

She’s an on-air sports journalist

KAYLA NICOLE/INSTAGRAM

Upon graduating from Pepperdine, Nicole landed hosting gigs at sports media outlets including ESPN and Barstool Sports, among others. While she’s created a name for herself reporting courtside on the NBA and on the sidelines for NFL coverage, Nicole has also covered entertainment news as well.

She interviewed Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler for Global Grind during their 2017 press tour for The House and Sterling K. Brown during his 2019 press tour for Angry Bird 2.

She’s a fashion influencer

JON KOPALOFF/GETTY

In addition to her work in media, Nicole has also pursued a career in modeling and is an ambassador for several fashion brands, including Revolve, Crocs and Savage X Fenty.

Nicole shares her work on her Instagram, where she also posts her love of fitness and working out. Additionally, the model runs a fitness brand Strong Is Sexy.

She met Travis Kelce on Instagram

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While it remains unclear when Nicole and Kelce initially met, Nicole previously revealed that they first connected through Instagram. “He had been following me and insta-flirting for a few months,” she revealed in a since-deleted Instagram Story captured by TMZ.

“All double taps and no dm. Soooo after a little liquid courage and a pep talk from @iqueenb (something along the lines of ‘WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR’) I dm’d him on New Years.”

She had an on-again, off-again relationship with Travis Kelce

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After their initial Instagram DMs, Kelce and Nicole started dating in 2017. In the years that followed, they’ve broken up and gotten back together several times.

August 2020 marked the first time the couple split. Kelce confirmed the breakup news after fans speculated about their split when Nicole deleted pictures of the football player on her Instagram a week prior.

The confirmation came amid rumors that Kelce cheated on Nicole with a “Becky,” which he denied in a now-deleted tweet responding to the allegations. “This is fake news… a lie… and not why Kayla and I broke up,” Kelce wrote on Twitter, per a screenshot from TMZ. “Take all your hatred somewhere else please.”

A few months later, the pair got back together that November. Kelce confirmed their reconciliation when he referred to Nicole as “my girlfriend” during an Instagram Live with WNBA basketball player Chiney Ogwumike. “She’s the best,” Kelce said about Nicole. “She’s the absolute best.”

In May 2022, the couple broke up again. At the time, Barstool Sports alleged that the reason for their split was that Kelce forced Nicole to pay for “half of everything” while they were dating.

However, during an interview with The Pivot Podcast in January 2023, Kelce denied that he was “too cheap,” adding, “don’t buy into that s—.” He continued, “I would never say that I was supporting her. She had a very financially stable life and what she was doing in her career.”

He added, “But you’ve got to be crazy if you’d think I would never helped 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.”

In October 2023, fans noted that Nicole unfollowed Kelce’s teammate Patrick Mahomes and his wife Brittany on Instagram. The news came after Brittany stepped out with Kelce’s rumored new girlfriend Taylor Swift for dinner in N.Y.C. alongside Blake Lively and Sophie Turner. Swift and Mahomes were also seen sitting together in a box as they cheered on the Kansas City Chiefs at MetLife Stadium.

Amid speculation that a falling out had occurred between the two friends, Nicole exclusively told PEOPLE that “the reality” of their situation is much more complex — and that she’s addressed the situation privately with Brittany.

“That’s a lot of history and friendship there, that doesn’t change overnight,” she explained. “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.”

She uses her platform to speak her truth

KAYLA NICOLE/INSTAGRAM

On Oct. 9, Nicole read a thoughtful message she wrote in a video posted to Instagram. The open letter was penned to Black girls amid the “backlash” she’s gotten from online trolls as her ex-boyfriend Kelce.

“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 said to the camera before beginning her address.

“Dear Black girl, they may call you a traitor for falling in love. You’ll hope the ones closest will protect you, but you will quickly find out that people don’t protect what they don’t value. They’ll say you’re too much, too provocative, too boisterous, too outspoken, and in the same breath, tell you that you aren’t enough.”

Nicole continued in part, “They’ll say you deserve the backlash and embarrassment. Because of your Blackness, you should have known better. They’ll even try to tie your value to your net worth. But Black girl, please remember your value lies elsewhere. Your value is deep within your heart.”

She has her own fitness brand

KAYLA NICOLE/INSTAGRAM

In October 2023, Nicole revealed to PEOPLE that she is “very excited” to be relaunching her fitness brand, Tribe Therepe, based on “feel-good fitness” by incorporating the tools she’s learned in therapy into the workout routines she shares with her followers.

“It’s focusing on the mental health component of working out, which is really, really important for me and really resonates with me, and really just encouraging people to mentally take care of themselves,” she said, explaining, “I think that when your mind is in a healthy place, your body will follow.”

Following her “major breakup” and “major life change,” Nicole said that she “lost a substantial amount of weight within a very short amount of time” and wasn’t sleeping or eating. “I’m posting content and people are like, ‘You look so good. Tell us your tricks. You look amazing.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m miserable. I’m miserable. I’m depressed,’ ” Nicole admitted. “My abs were amazing, I had a six-pack. And it was like, ‘I had never felt so bad in my life.’ “

“So, I started going to therapy and quickly realized, okay, it’s one thing to be physically fit, but it’s another thing to be mentally fit. You could be in the best shape of your life, but mentally, if you are not a healthy person, it’s not going to feel good.”