“Put you first.” That’s Kayla Nicole’s dating advice, and it doesn’t come from theory. It comes from experience. She’s lived the chaos—one breakup via text, another with Travis Kelce that played out in public, while her own dreams got benched. Now, she’s done sidelining herself. “Finding that balance is definitely a struggle,” she admitted—but she’s coaching herself differently these days. 

And while she may be done with her past, Kayla isn’t done with love—not even close. She told People Magazine she’d “take the risk of heartbreak over and over” if it meant getting to feel that kind of love again. Let’s just say her heart might’ve defrosted. Not for an athlete, though. That chapter’s closed. What sparked the shift? Let’s just say one wedding, a front-row view of real love, left her forever changed.

She didn’t expect it, but a friend’s wedding changed her perspective. On her podcast, The Pre-Game With Kayla Nicole while talking about her friend’s wedding, she revealed, “I have never in my 33 years of living on this Earth heard a man articulate his emotions and his feelings in the way that he did. I wish I could remember the things that he said, but something along the lines of I would eat your dirty drawers.”

“I left feeling like, wow, I might be able to unfreeze this heart of mine.” Jokes aside, it wasn’t just funny; it was raw and loyal. And for Kayla? It was a front-row seat to love she thought she’d stopped believing in.

But this wedding glow came after heartbreak. Again. When she met her friend, Kayla was going through the emotions with a breakup. “Damn, Kayla, I swear to God, all I’m ever doing is breaking up at this point,” she joked on her podcast, recalling where she was emotionally when she met the bride years ago. Both women were fresh from breakups, nursing wounds, and bonding over drama. The wedding was a full-circle moment and an emotional turning point.

Of course, healing hasn’t been private. Kayla’s relationship with Kelce turned her into a punching bag for online hate. “I would be lying if I said that level of hate and just, like, online chaos doesn’t impact me. It does, even to this day,” she shared once. Some trolls seem permanently stuck in 2022. But Kayla’s over it. Mostly. “People need to start doing psych evaluations before creating an Instagram account,” she clapped back. Because seriously, what’s love without a little sanity check?

Kayla proves honesty hits harder than any breakup

After messy endings and lessons learned, Kayla’s clear about the kind of man she wants next. Not someone still figuring it out. “I would love to date an executive of a record label or a movie producer so that we can go to the sporting events,” she says. She wants someone established, someone who already owns his spotlight so she doesn’t have to shrink hers. 

But behind that cool, courtside confidence is a memory she didn’t expect to relive: the way her ex, Iman Shumpert, broke up with her. Through a text message. Years later, she walked into an audition, and there he was, sitting across the room. “I had to audition with my ex,” she once shared, still slightly stunned. But she kept it professional. “I’m not bringing this up because I like talking about exes—I’m bringing it up to show how I handle myself.”

Because Kayla’s story isn’t just about exes and old wounds—it’s about how she shows up every time. Like that viral gym moment when a guy blew vape smoke in her face mid-set. She didn’t let it slide. “TF wrong with y’all?” she wrote on Instagram. It was raw and direct, just like her. Whether she’s dealing with breakups, bad behavior, or weird gym bros, Kayla says what people are too scared to. And somehow, every time she speaks, the room goes quiet.