Short answer: Travis Kelce has two publicly confirmed exes. Maya Benberry won his 2016 E! dating show and dated him briefly. Kayla Nicole dated him on and off for about five years, ending in 2022. Taylor Swift came next. The two announced their engagement on Aug. 26, 2025, and she is his current partner, not an ex. Other names that turn up in search results are rumors or misinformation, and we label them that way below.
Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift
The most recent development we can confirm is the engagement. Swift and Kelce announced it on Aug. 26, 2025 in a joint Instagram post with the caption “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.” No wedding date was given then.
Some reports this summer said the couple has married, and one entertainment outlet cited a July 3 date. We have not been able to confirm a wedding through a primary source, meaning a statement from either of them, their representatives, or a wire service like the AP. Until one exists, we describe them as engaged. We’ll update this line once there’s on-the-record confirmation.
Why the topic keeps trending: interest in Kelce’s dating history jumps every time the Swift story moves, whether that’s the first game she attended, a Super Bowl, the engagement or wedding rumors. Most people searching for his ex-girlfriends want to check one fact, usually who he dated before Taylor Swift. The answer is Kayla Nicole.
What happened: why Travis Kelce’s ex-girlfriends became a search topic
Before 2023, Kelce’s love life was mostly a sports-media and reality-TV footnote. That changed when Swift went public with him. She sat in a suite at Arrowhead Stadium on Sept. 24, 2023, and almost overnight his past relationships were being read by tens of millions of people who had never watched a Chiefs game.
Many of the pages that showed up are low-quality list sites that contradict each other and include names with no sourcing. Our rule for this article is simple. A relationship goes in the main timeline only if it was publicly confirmed by Kelce, by the other person, or through a public record such as a TV show. Everything else is labeled as a rumor.
Timeline: Travis Kelce’s ex-girlfriends in order
| Name | Approximate dates | Status | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maya Benberry | 2016 (a few months) | Confirmed | Won E!’s Catching Kelce, which aired in 2016 |
| Zuri Hall | Dates vary by source | Rumored, not confirmed | Tabloid and fan speculation only; neither has confirmed it |
| Kayla Nicole | ~2017 to 2022, on and off | Confirmed | Public appearances together; both have discussed it |
| Taylor Swift | 2023 to present | Confirmed (engaged) | Public since Sept. 2023; engagement announced Aug. 26, 2025 |
Maya Benberry (2016)
Benberry, from Atlanta, won Catching Kelce, an E! reality show in which 50 women, one from each state, competed for a relationship with him. They dated after the show, and the relationship ended within months. Years later, after the Swift relationship went public, Benberry told interviewers she believed Kelce had not been faithful. That is her account. Kelce has not responded to it publicly.
Kayla Nicole (about 2017 to 2022)
Kayla Nicole Brown is a media personality, model and fitness entrepreneur. Of everyone on this list, she has the longest confirmed history with Kelce. They dated for roughly five years, with at least one breakup and reunion during that time. She often appeared at Chiefs games during the team’s Super Bowl runs. The final split was widely reported in May 2022.
Neither of them has given a full, on-the-record reason for the breakup. Reports at the time pointed to the general strain of a long, off-and-on relationship. You may see a specific “real reason” on social media. Unless it comes from Kelce or Kayla Nicole directly, treat it as speculation.
Zuri Hall (rumored, not confirmed)
Zuri Hall, the TV host and correspondent, is often linked to Kelce on list sites. We could find no confirmation from either of them, and the dates differ from one site to the next. That inconsistency usually means the claim is weakly sourced. We list her only because people search for her, and we label it as a rumor.
Taylor Swift (2023 to present)
Kelce has said on his New Heights podcast that he tried to give Swift a friendship bracelet with his number at her Eras Tour show in Kansas City in July 2023. They were dating by that fall, went public at Arrowhead that September, and got engaged in August 2025. See the update at the top for where things stand on the wedding.
Names that circulate but are not confirmed
Fact-check box: Some pages name Christina Milian, Kelsea Ballerini, Jayma Mays and others as Travis Kelce exes. We found no credible, on-the-record confirmation for any of them. The Ballerini claim seems to come from a short-lived 2023 rumor that she shut down. Brittany Mahomes, who also appears on some lists, is married to Kelce’s teammate Patrick Mahomes and has never been romantically linked to Kelce. She’s a family friend. Leave these names out of any “Travis Kelce ex-girlfriends list” you rely on.
Who is affected
The attention has landed hardest on Kayla Nicole. She has said in interviews and on podcasts that she received a wave of online harassment from some Swift fans after 2023, including racist comments. She has also pushed back on the image of herself as a “bitter ex.” She has kept up her media and wellness work, and the extra attention has grown her audience, though not on terms she chose.
Two recurring meme formats deserve a neutral note:
- The “ex-girlfriends vs. Taylor Swift” and “all Black exes” posts. Viral posts and Reddit threads have compared his earlier partners with Swift, sometimes focusing on race. Those threads are where much of the harassment Kayla Nicole described came from. We aren’t reproducing them here.
- The Halloween-costume claims. Fans have pointed to Halloween posts and called them digs at the Swift relationship. We couldn’t confirm that anyone meant a costume that way, so we aren’t treating any of these as a statement from the people involved.
We’re leaving out personal details such as family members, addresses and private social accounts. That kind of information doesn’t answer the question people search for, and it has been used for harassment.
Florida note: The tie here is small. Kelce’s Chiefs lost Super Bowl LV to the Buccaneers in Tampa in February 2021, during the Kayla Nicole years. Beyond that, nothing in this story is specific to Florida.
Official response: what Kelce, Swift and his exes have said
- Travis Kelce has talked about the Swift relationship many times on New Heights and in interviews. We found no detailed public comment from him about why things ended with Kayla Nicole or Maya Benberry, and no direct response to Benberry’s cheating claims.
- Taylor Swift has talked about Kelce in interviews and songs. She has not publicly commented on his past relationships.
- Kayla Nicole has spoken publicly about the backlash and her life after the breakup. She has generally avoided criticizing Kelce or Swift directly.
- Maya Benberry has given interviews about the 2016 relationship and her view of how it ended.
- Zuri Hall has not confirmed a relationship with Kelce.
If you see a quote attributed to any of these people, check it against the original video, podcast or post. Fabricated quotes go around constantly on this topic.
What happens next
The open question is the wedding. Watch for three things: a statement or post from Swift or Kelce, confirmation from their representatives, and reporting from established outlets like the AP, People or ESPN that cites named sources. A single unsourced report, however widely shared, doesn’t count.
We’ll update this article if a wedding is confirmed, if any of the people listed make a significant new public statement, or if a rumored name is confirmed or ruled out. Each update will carry its date at the top.
Related reading
For more entertainment coverage, visit our Entertainment section. For more of our verified, what’s-confirmed explainers, read Janai Norman leaving ABC after contract non-renewal, what John Cena disclosed about his eye parasite diagnosis and how American Idol eliminations actually work.
FAQs
Who was Travis Kelce’s girlfriend before Taylor Swift?
Kayla Nicole, a media personality and fitness entrepreneur. They dated on and off from about 2017 until a widely reported split in May 2022. He went public with Taylor Swift in September 2023.
Who are Travis Kelce’s ex-girlfriends in order?
The confirmed order is Maya Benberry (2016, after she won his E! show Catching Kelce), then Kayla Nicole (about 2017 to 2022). Taylor Swift followed in 2023 and is now his fiancée. Zuri Hall is sometimes listed, but that relationship has never been confirmed.
Why did Travis Kelce and Kayla Nicole break up?
Neither of them has given a full, on-the-record reason. Reports at the time described the strain of a long on-and-off relationship. Claims of a specific ‘real reason’ on social media aren’t confirmed.
What is Kayla Nicole doing now?
She continues her work in media, modeling and wellness. She has also spoken publicly about the online harassment she faced from some fans after Kelce began dating Taylor Swift.
Are Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift married?
They announced their engagement on Aug. 26, 2025. Some reports say they have since married, but we have not seen confirmation from the couple, their representatives or a wire service. Until that confirmation exists, they are engaged.
