After allegedly inspiring one of the songs on Taylor Swift‘s The Life of a Showgirl, Travis Kelce‘s ex-girlfriend, Kayla Nicole, is opening up about how it feels to be at the center of headlines.
Nicole, who dated Kelce on and off between 2017 and 2022, is frequently dragged into discussions about Swift and Kelce’s relationship, especially in the weeks since Swift’s 12th album was released on which the singer allegedly disses Nicole.
Now, in an October 23 interview with StyleCaster, the former sports journalist is getting candid about the backlash she receives.
“It’s so weird. I can’t lie. It has definitely taken some getting used to,” she told StyleCaster, seemingly hinting to the increased attention she has received since Swift and Kelce started dating in 2023. “It’s not an easy transition to make, because a lot of times, when I see the things written about me, to be honest, it comes off really dehumanizing.”
Nicole, who has a degree in broadcast journalism from Pepperdine University and spent most of her career working as a reporter before branching out into podcasting and reality TV, understands why these headlines get written but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t wish things were different.
“I know what it’s like to be in that position to feel like you have to write a story and make the headlines and get the engagement,” she said. “But I just wish that my peers, because I still consider other journalists to be my peers, would hold ourselves to a higher standard and remember there’s a human on the other side of these headlines.”
Nicole found herself named in countless headlines after the October 3 release of The Life of a Showgirl. Fans suspect Swift’s track “Opalite” references Nicole’s relationship with Kelce.
“You couldn’t understand it, why you felt alone / You were in it for real, she was in her phone / And you were just a pose,” Swift sings, an apparent reference to a video of Kelce complaining about Nicole being on her phone too much.
Nicole, though, thinks that some of what has been written about her may have pushed things too far.
“I understand what it’s like to be in the world of entertainment and journalism, and someone is trying to do their job,” she told StyleCaster. “But I just wish we wouldn’t do it at the cost of someone else’s mental health or the expense of someone else’s overall existence in life. I think we’ve normalized sensationalism and clickbait. I wish there were a better way we could all do our jobs.”
