Sports journalist and influencer Kayla Nicole recently launched her new podcast, The Pre-Game. However, it’s not her sports opinions that are getting attention. Though the two broke up in 2022, her relationship with Travis Kelce is still on viewers’ minds, and Kayla doesn’t mind spilling a little tea.
During the first episode of the podcast, which was released on April 3rd, the host took some time to answer viewer questions. She received various questions, including inquiries about her favorite fragrances and how many men slide into her DMs. Admittedly, she did not screen the questions before filming and came upon a question about her ex-partner, Kelce.
“Has dating someone who is in the public eye altered the way you move in relationships now?” the question read.
Careful not to name names, Kayla responded, “Absolutely.” She was adamant that she prefers to keep her romantic life private now and that the public “won’t ever see me with a man ever again until I’m married with kids.” You may recall that Kelce and Nicole’s on-again, off-again relationship began in 2017 and lasted for five years. The former couple announced their breakup in May 2022. A year later, he popped out with pop star Taylor Swift.
Though the journalist has made efforts to move on from her relationship with the football star, she reports that the relationship affects her current romantic decisions. She alluded to some men assuming she wants to be “sneaky.” However, she claims she just wants privacy.
“In reality, I’m protecting me, and I’m protecting you,” she said. “I don’t think that I ever want to publicly date another man until I am absolutely sure that they are my long-term person.”
“I want to protect the things that mean most to me, and sometimes when you’re a little too open and you’re a little too transparent, you open yourself up to a world of opinion, a world of entitlement. People want answers. People think that you owe them an explanation about every single thing in your relationship, every up and down and happy or sad moment,” Nicole added.
Check out the full episode of Welcome to the Pre-Game below.
As previously reported, Nicole was present at the 2025 Super Bowl. However, this time she was supporting the Philadelphia Eagles, who eventually defeated Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs. According to PEOPLE, the influencer recently won Fox’s Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test. After doing so, she reported feeling a new sense of accomplishment, having succeeded at something that can’t be attributed to her partner.
“My success has been attributed to people that [she] was in close proximity to,” she told the outlet. “That’s something that happens to women all the time, especially just in the entertainment industry and public fields.”
Nevertheless, Kelce is in the past for Nicole. During The Pre-Game’s premiere episode, Nicole reveals that she is indeed dating, but she is also hiding. Right now, her dating method is working well for her.
“I’m the queen of a private room in a back room in a corner closet. And I have no shame in it,” she revealed.
