Still friendly? Travis Kelce’s ex Kayla Nicole was spotted chatting with Patrick Mahomes’ younger brother, Jackson Mahomes, months after the sports reporter unfollowed the NFL star and his wife, Brittany Mahomes, on Instagram.
Kayla, 32, spent time with Jackson, 23, at the Aria’s High Limit Lounge in Las Vegas on Thursday, February 8, as seen in photos obtained by TMZ Sports. Eyewitnesses told the publication that the two talked for about an hour, although their meetup was reportedly not planned. Insiders said the two — who became friends while Kayla was dating Travis, 34, between 2017 and 2022 — appeared “warm” toward each other during their “engrossing” conversation.
Kayla and Jackson’s run-in comes five months after the journalist cut ties with Travis’ best pal and teammate Patrick, 28, and Brittany, 28. Fans noticed that she unfollowed the quarterback and his wife on Instagram in early October 2023, days after Travis went public with girlfriend Taylor Swift. The pop star quickly befriended Brittany, who was also close with Kayla during her and Travis’ romance. Kayla also appeared to unfollow Jackson at the time.
Later that month, Kayla confirmed that she did unfollow the Mahomeses and explained why.
“I do think it’s important to publicly address this because I did publicly unfollow people,” she told People. “The reality is I know these people in real life. And so, in real life, I’ve communicated to these people why I’ve had to publicly make the decisions that I made.”
Kayla said she did it because she had to “protect herself” amid Travis’ public romance with Taylor, 34, which also brought a wave of attention to the Pepperdine University graduate. However, she assured fans that she and Brittany still had “love” between them.
“That’s a lot of history and friendship there, that doesn’t change overnight,” Kayla added.
Kayla later had a flirty interaction with Jackson, who still followed her after her unfollowing spree, in December 2023. The influencer left a comment calling her “so pretty” on one of her posts at the time, and she replied, “Thanks Jack!” Kayla made her response even friendlier with a smiling emoji.
Kayla received backlash from many Swifties at the start of Travis’ romance with Taylor, seemingly because she was one of the tight end’s exes. At the time, Travis’ other ex Maya Benberry accused him of being a cheater. Kayla kept quiet amid the hate for weeks, but she broke her silence on October 9, 2023, with an open letter titled “Black Girl” on Instagram.
“When the world gets dark and times get hard, when you feel like your back is against the wall and your hands are tied like nobody knows or understands what it takes to be, you remember that you are a part of something way bigger,” Kayla said. “I want you to remember that you are loved, you are valued, you are allowed to take up space. You deserve protection and your feelings, they matter too, solely because you’re a Black girl.”
