Everything We Know About Travis Kelce's Ex-Girlfriend Kayla Nicole

Brothers Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce will make Super Bowl history on February 12 as the first set of brothers to ever face off at the Super Bowl. "It's wild and kind of surreal," Travis remarked during the February 1 episode of "New Heights," a podcast he co-hosts with Jason. "I feel like I've been getting asked this question for my entire career ... 'What would you feel if you played your brother in the Super Bowl?' The entire time I've been like, 'That's been the goal' ... Now that it's actually happening, it's like, this is kind of sick," he added.

But while the brothers share many similarities and interests — like their love of football and podcasting — they also lead wildly different lifestyles. Jason is married with two children and another on the way. Meanwhile, Travis is living the carefree life of a bachelor. "You've said in the past to both of us that you root for me because I've given you grandkids," Jason joked to their mom, Donna Kelce, during another episode of their podcast. "I gotta start breeding, I gotta start breeding," Travis quipped back playfully. But not so fast. "Wait until you find the right person," Donna pleaded. "Find the right person," the matriarch added once more for good measure. 

But what about Travis' ex-girlfriend, Kayla Nicole? Was she not "the right person" for Travis? And why didn't their relationship work out? Here's everything we know about Travis' former flame.

The story goes that footballer Travis Kelce and sports journalist Kayla Nicole first met not on the football field, but on Instagram. "He had been following me and insta-flirting for a few months," Nicole dished in a now-deleted Instagram Story (via 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 recalled. By 2017, the pair were officially an item. And the rest is simply history ... until it wasn't, of course.

It's rumored that the couple's relationship was marred by many ups and downs — including infidelity. In August 2020, rumors began swirling that the pair had called it quits after Nicole unfollowed Kelce on Instagram. As reported by TMZ, Kelce finally confirmed the breakup news, but only after he was accused of cheating on Nicole. In a now-deleted tweet, Kelce adamantly denied the rumors that he had been unfaithful. "This is fake news ... a lie ... and not why Kayla and I broke up. Take all your hatred somewhere else please," he penned.

Infidelity rumors aside, just a few short months later, the couple appeared to be on again. During an interview with WNBA player Chiney Ogwumike (via TMZ), Kelce gushed about his "girlfriend Kayla" and referred to her as "the absolute best." Alas, this wouldn't be the end of the couple's troubles.

Tight end or tightwad?

In May 2022, Travis Kelce and Kayla Nicole broke up again. At the time, a blogger for Barstool Sports claimed that the breakup was a result of Kelce being cheap and forcing Kayla to pay for "half of everything" throughout the duration of their relationship. "Travis is very cheap. In the beginning he tried to make Kayla 'prove' that she wasn't with him for the money ... so she had to pay half of everything," a friend of Kayla's reportedly told the publication. "Half of every date, every trip, everything." 

Once again — just like with the infidelity rumor — Kelce faced the rumors head-on. "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 carefully noted during an interview on "The Pivot Podcast." Still, the NFL star was adamant that he was not too cheap. "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," he said. And there ya have it, folks!