Kayla Nicole is setting the record straight with a bit of flair. The sports reporter is sharing the genuine inspiration behind her decision to dress up as Toni Braxton from her 2000 music video "He Wasn't Man Enough" for Halloween 2025, after much speculation that her costume was a subtle diss at her ex-boyfriend Travis Kelce and his fiancée Taylor Swift.
"I had a white best friend," Kayla recalled on the November 3 episode of her The Pre-Game With Kayla Nicole podcast. "Her name was Taylor, and she was the only house I could go over to as a kid because my mom didn't play that type of music."
One day, the 34-year-old got a ride home from school with her pal and made the surprising discovery that she wasn't the only fan of Toni's song "He Wasn't Man Enough." "Her mom was playing this song at the top of her lungs," Kayla explained. "It was like an 'ah-hah' moment where I thought, 'Wow, white people listen to Black people's music as well.'"
Kayla first unveiled her Halloween costume on Instagram on October 31, sharing a video of herself dancing to "He Wasn't Man Enough" while wearing a see-through chain-metal mini dress over a metallic silver bikini. "Did you know about us back then? / Do you know I dumped your husband, girlfriend?" she lip-synched in the clip. "I'm not thinking 'bout him / But you married him / Do you know I made him leave? / Do you know he begged to stay with me? / He wasn't man enough for me."
Captioning the video, Kayla wrote simply, "A very Toni Halloween." Following her costume reveal, several social media users speculated that the podcast host—who dated Travis on and off from 2017 to 2022—was throwing shade at the Kansas City Chiefs player and Taylor, who announced their engagement back in August. "This was a very SAVAGE move," one user commented under the Instagram post, while another added, "This is how you have the last laugh..."
Not to mention, the model raised eyebrows last month when she shared a cryptic message shortly after Taylor released her song "Opallite," which many suspected was taking a few digs at Kayla's past romance with Travis. Seemingly in response to the rumors, Kayla reposted a clip to her Instagram Stories on September 5 from the third season of America's Top Model in which host Tyra Banks asked eventual winner Eva Marcille, "How do you compare yourself to the other girls out there?" before Eva responds, "I don't compare myself to other girls...I'm no comparison to anyone else."
