Travis Kelce's Ex-GF Kayla Nicole Doesn't Believe in Perfect Romances

What Travis Kelce's Ex-Girlfriend Kayla Nicole Was Up to During Taylor Swift Wedding

Kayla Nicole won't just say "yes" to a fairytale romance.

In fact, the Pre-Game With Kayla Nicole podcaster—who dated Travis Kelce for five years before his relationship with Taylor Swift—doesn't "believe in the perfect love story."

“I’m grown now, you know what I mean?” Kayla told Spiritual Word in an interview published on July 13 from the 2026 BET Awards. "Love is hard. Love is a choice every day choosing the same person."

Explaining that a successful relationship is "hard work," she added, "I don't even know that I need perfection. I just need real."

That said, the 34-year-old is still a romantic at heart.

"I'm such a romantic girly. That's why dating right now is so hard," Kayla admitted on the May 28 episode of iHeartRadio's Two Personal podcast. "People lack intention. People are not creative."

Joking that "romance is quite literally dead," she continued, "The issue that I'm encountering often right now is just men are not intentional enough, and they don't reciprocate the energy that I give. I'm very intentional. I'm very considerate. I'll go above and beyond for someone that I'm literally just dating."

That's why Kayla, who split from the Kansas City Chiefs player in 2022, is more strategic about playing the field these days.

"Emotional intelligence is very important me," she explained. "I need to feel safe in our relationship."

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Especially since the model's been burned in the past. As Kayla noted in the April 18 episode of her Pre-Game podcast, “In my experience, I don’t have successful, monogamous relationships without any element of cheating."

She added, "It's hard to go into new relationships without the mindset of, 'I probably am going to get cheated on.'"

Kayla is also more private when it comes to sharing details about her love life.

Prince Williams/FilmMagic

“I am like John Cena now with men,” she quipped in an April 3 episode. “You don’t see me. You don’t see me with a man. And you won’t ever see me with a man ever again until I’m married with kids.”

“Some men take this as me being sneaky,” the model shared. “But in reality, I’m protecting me, and I'm protecting you. 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."

As for Travis? His romance with Taylor played out right in the public eye—from their 2023 hard launch to their MSG nuptials on July 3. Read on for a closer look at his love story with the singer.

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