Kayla Nicole recently opened up about the awkward and painful fallout with several Kansas City Chiefs WAGs, including her former best friend Brittany Mahomes, during her appearance on Angel Reese’s Unapologetically Angel podcast. The conversation shed light on how her breakup with Chiefs star Travis Kelce in 2022 led to significant changes in her friendships with women she had once been incredibly close to.
During the episode, WNBA star Reese, 22, asked Nicole, 32, if she remained friends with some of the women in the Chiefs circle after her relationship with Kelce ended. The question appeared to catch Nicole off guard, leading her to nervously laugh and mutter, “Mhm,” before clarifying that things were not the same anymore.
“Yes, I was,” Nicole confirmed, hinting that her friendships had changed significantly since the breakup. When Reese followed up, asking if she and these women were still friends, Nicole responded with a chuckle before admitting, “We were cool [but] we are not as cool as we once were.”
Nicole, who started dating Kelce in 2017, shared that the transition was particularly difficult because of how deeply she had bonded with some of the women, describing the relationships as “like family.” While she didn’t name anyone specifically, it was clear that she was referring to her close friendship with Brittany Mahomes, the wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
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Nicole and Brittany Mahomes had been inseparable for years, often seen vacationing together and sharing their friendship on social media. Their connection was so strong that Nicole was chosen as one of Brittany’s bridesmaids for her 2022 wedding to Patrick Mahomes, a testament to how close the two had been.
Nicole had even grown close to other members of the Mahomes family, including Brittany’s brother-in-law, Jackson Mahomes, and frequently appeared in their social media posts.
Even after Nicole and Kelce called it quits, she and Brittany maintained their friendship, with Nicole attending Brittany’s surprise birthday party as recently as August 2023. However, by October 2023, their bond appeared to have fractured, coinciding with Brittany’s growing friendship with pop superstar Taylor Swift, who began dating Kelce that summer.
As Swift and Brittany were spotted enjoying girls’ nights out together, Nicole unfollowed Brittany, Patrick, and Jackson Mahomes on Instagram, signaling that something had changed between the former friends.
Despite speculation about a rift, Nicole later clarified the situation during an interview, explaining that her decision to unfollow Brittany was about protecting her mental health.
“The reality is I know these people in real life,” Nicole said in the interview. “And so, in real life, I’ve communicated to these people why I’ve had to publicly make the decisions that I made.”
She emphasized that there was a lot of history and deep friendship between her and Brittany, saying, “That’s a lot of history and friendship there, that doesn’t change overnight.”
Nicole explained that while the love for her friends remained, the rapid changes in her public life necessitated some boundaries. “Publicly, because things are happening so quickly and so publicly, I have to protect myself. That’s really all that is,” she added.
Although Nicole insisted that the “love is still there,” the two women have not been seen together in nearly a year, even though both attended the 2024 Super Bowl.
Their once-tight friendship, built over years of shared experiences, now appears to be strained as both women navigate their own paths—Brittany with her growing friendship with Swift, and Nicole continuing to focus on her own personal journey post-breakup with Kelce.
