Travis Kelce’s ex-girlfriend Kayla Nicole has a message for everyone watching her on season three of Special Forces: She’s not afraid of you.
“I would say I’m the opposite of being afraid of what people are going to see. I’m actually excited for people to see us stripped down, raw, vulnerable,” the 33-year-old influencer told Page Six during a recent press event. “I think people in general, the general public, need to be reminded that we’re all humans, right? We all have very real emotions. And I’m excited about that element [of] allowing us to be humans.”
Nicole has been a lightning rod for negativity and criticism throughout her ex-boyfriend’s highly publicized relationship with Taylor Swift—which began over a year after Kelce and Nicole’s breakup in May 2022. The sports reporter and NFL player dated on and off for five years before calling it quits for good.
Now, Nicole claims she and Kelce can’t even “acknowledge each other” in public for fear of the public’s reaction.
“I would be lying if I said that that level of hate and just like online chaos doesn’t impact me. It does,” Nicole told WNBA star Angel Reese during an October appearance on the Unapologetically Angel podcast. “You could go to my most recent post, and there will be people debating each other why I am worthless, and I’ll never be a talented person, and I have no career.”
Nicole continued, “I think that there’s something about that level of fame that attracts crazy people, and it’s unfortunate, because I’ve never done anything to warrant that kind of backlash.”
Not everyone says she needs to “move on.”
Most recently, the influencer-turned-reality star was clowned on the internet for bringing up her own breakup in the Special Forces trailer, which debuted last month. “Going through a public breakup, it’s been overwhelming,” Nicole says in one clip while appearing to wipe away tears. When asked to name her ex by another contestant in the next clip, she whispers, “Travis Kelce.”
Many keyboard warriors accused Nicole of “clout chasing,” while others urged the influencer to “move on.” Still, some Swift fans came to Nicole’s defense, with one self-proclaimed Swiftie writing, “She was in a relationship w this man for years. Then AFTER they broke up, weirdos sent HER hate becuz the man is now [with] Taylor. As a Swiftie: her feelings are valid.”
Still, Kayla Nicole credits her haters for preparing her for the grueling tasks on Special Forces. “God, I think that put things in full perspective, that social media is literally just that,” she told Page Six. “Social media, words on the internet and experiences like this put life into perspective.”
She continued, “Like, there’s people in the real world that are doing this on a daily basis to save lives. So the little tweets and the headlines could mean nothing to me when you’re put in an environment like this.”
Season 3 of Special Forces premiers on January 8 at 8 pm ET on FOX.
The post Travis Kelce’s Ex Kayla Nicole Responds to Online Backlash With a Message About ‘Little Tweets’ appeared first on Glamour.
