I’m Terrified’: Kayla Nicole’s Emotional Confession After Taylor Swift’s Song Release

Kayla Nicole is continuing to speak out amid speculation that Taylor Swift referenced the media personality on a new song on The Life of a Showgirl.

After the pop superstar dropped her 12th studio album on Oct. 3, Swifties quickly scrambled to decode its lyrics — and many speculated that the track “Opalite” references Nicole and her previous five-year relationship with Swift’s fianceé Travis Kelce.

In the song, Swift seemingly sings about her winding road to love with the NFL star, describing past relationships before her fairytale romance with Kelce. In the second verse, the Grammy winner appears to turn the attention to Kelce’s love life, describing one of his former flames.

“You couldn’t understand it, why you felt alone,” sings Swift. “You were in it for real, she was in her phone and you were just a pose.”

In a viral video that resurfaced after Swift dropped the track, Kelce and Nicole appeared to argue while sipping on glasses of wine, with Kelce at one point telling his then-girlfriend, “Oh, my god. Get off your phone” — only further fueling fan speculation that the song is loosely inspired by Nicole.

Kayla Nicole is continuing to speak out amid speculation that Taylor Swift referenced the media personality on a new song on The Life of a Showgirl.

After the pop superstar dropped her 12th studio album on Oct. 3, Swifties quickly scrambled to decode its lyrics — and many speculated that the track “Opalite” references Nicole and her previous five-year relationship with Swift’s fianceé Travis Kelce.

In the song, Swift seemingly sings about her winding road to love with the NFL star, describing past relationships before her fairytale romance with Kelce. In the second verse, the Grammy winner appears to turn the attention to Kelce’s love life, describing one of his former flames.

“You couldn’t understand it, why you felt alone,” sings Swift. “You were in it for real, she was in her phone and you were just a pose.”

In a viral video that resurfaced after Swift dropped the track, Kelce and Nicole appeared to argue while sipping on glasses of wine, with Kelce at one point telling his then-girlfriend, “Oh, my god. Get off your phone” — only further fueling fan speculation that the song is loosely inspired by Nicole.

In an episode of Nicole’s podcast The Pre-Game With Kayla Nicole, released on Oct. 4, the mogul sat down with former television host Joy Taylor, where she opened up about critical comments she receives on her social media platforms.

“Mariah Carey said something so poignant the other day — love this queen,” began Nicole. “She said, ‘It’s so strange — if people want to talk about me and that’s what they want to do with their lives, then OK. Let them do it.’ ”

Joy responded lightheartedly, noting that at least hate comments increase engagement on your social media accounts.

“As someone who obsesses over the fact that I, on a daily basis, am terrified of my comments, am terrified of my DMs — I don’t want to be triggered, I don’t want to care, I don’t want to look — but you’re f—— right,” replied Nicole. “If you’re going to talk s— and run your mouth, please do it so I can pay a bill around here.”

In an earlier post on Nicole’s Instagram Stories on Oct. 3, the internet personality seemingly responded to the apparent reference Swift made to her on The Life of a Showgirl, sharing a clip from America’s Next Top Model in which contestant Eva Marcille was asked by Tyra Banks, “How do you compare yourself to the other girls out there?” to which she replied, “I don’t compare myself to other girls… I’m no comparison to anyone else.”

In October 2023, fans noticed that Nicole had unfollowed Kelce’s teammate Patrick Mahomes just days after Swift was seen out to dinner with Mahomes’ wife Brittany. Addressing rumors of a speculated falling about with Brittany, Nicole told PEOPLE at the time that “the reality” of the situation was more complex and that the pair had discussed the situation personally.

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“That’s a lot of history and friendship there, that doesn’t change overnight,” she said. “But publicly, because things are happening so quickly and so publicly, I have to protect myself. That’s really all that is. The love is still there.”

In September, when Nicole was asked to comment on Swift and Kelce’s engagement by Daily Mail during her first public appearance after the couple shared the news, she shut down the question, instead telling PEOPLE at the event that the biggest lesson she had learned in 2025 was that “the opinions of others are only as big as you make them.”

“So if I don’t allow it to affect me, it simply won’t,” Nicole said. “You know what I mean? Sometimes on social media, we think that it’s the whole world, and it’s really not.”