‘To everyone it’s like, “Oh, you broke up a year ago,” and that meant it’s like a light switch, you turn it on and off and everything goes dead and black and you don’t ever speak to anyone ever again,’ she told People.

‘That’s not reality. I have ongoing relationships with all parties involved,’ she said, adding, ‘That’s a lot of history and friendship there, that doesn’t change overnight.’

Protecting herself: Travis Kelce’s ex Kayla Nicole, 31, said she unfollowed his Kansas City Chiefs teammate Patrick Mahomes and wife Brittany, both 28, in order to ‘protect’ herself; seen with Kelce in 2022

Moving forward: The influencer said she still has ‘love’ for her friends but had to cut ties publicly to ‘move forward’, amid the NFL star’s, 34, new romance with Taylor Swift, 33; Patrick and Brittany seen in July

‘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.’

Kayla – who recently shared a video about ‘backlash and embarrassment’ – added that she and Brittany ‘have had our conversations’ and ‘she knows that I love her.’

Travis’ ex also made it clear that she had private conversations to let Brittany and Patrick know why she decided to hit the unfollow button.

‘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 went on to express: ‘For me in my life, I have to move forward and everyone has to respect that. And hopefully when they respect that, that means that they’re no longer inserting me into things that do not involve me.’

Elsewhere in the interview she revealed that her breakup with Kelce has physical ramifications, causing her to lose ‘a substantial amount of weight within a very short amount of time.’

‘I wasn’t sleeping, I wasn’t eating. I was really abusing melatonin to sleep at night,’ she said.

Since then she reveals she has gone to therapy and is now encouraging people to ‘mentally take care of themselves.’

in contact? Kayla also claims that she still has contact with everyone involved, which seemingly includes Swift’s beau Travis, as per People; Kelce and Swift seen on October 15

Friendships: ‘To everyone it’s like, “Oh, you broke up a year ago,” and that meant it’s like a light switch, you turn it on and off and everything goes dead and black and you don’t ever speak to anyone ever again. That’s not reality. I have ongoing relationships with all parties involved’

All love: ‘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’; Brittany and Patrick seen in 2023

Awkward: Earlier this month it was revealed Brittany had unfollowed Patrick’s wife

She still follows Kayla! All three however still follow her

Pals: Kayla and Brittany became friends during her five-year relationship with Kelce, prior to their break up in May of 2022

Growing bond: In recent weeks, Brittany’s been pictured enjoying her time in the stands with Swift, as they cheer on their men; seen on October 22

Their men: The duo want to take their new friendship to the next level by planning double dates with their NFL partners, sources revealed; Mahomes and Kelce seen at Sunday’s game

Kayla and Brittany became friends during her five-year relationship with Kelce, prior to their break up in May of 2022.

Kalya was even among the eight ladies present at Brittany’s bachelorette weekend in February of 2022.

In recent weeks, as Kelce’s whirlwind romance with the Bad Blood singer continues to grow, Brittany’s been pictured enjoying her time in the stands with Swift, as they cheer on their men.

Taylor and Brittany have been been roasted online for their secret handshake at last weekend’s Kansas Chiefs game.

However insiders have claimed the new friends are feeling far from ’embarrassed’ and are in fact in the process of taking their bond to the next level by planning double dates with their NFL partners.

The pop sensation and Brittany debuted their new move as they celebrated the Chiefs’ first touchdown against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night.

Their victory dance, which saw them clapping the backs and fronts of their hands before bumping hips, was slated by bitter keyboard warriors who branded it ‘cringe’.

But sources close to the pair claim they are shaking off the hate as they busily plan double dates with their respective partners.

‘It’s hard for Taylor to make new friends she can trust,’ a source told DailyMail.com exclusively.

Timing: Travis and Taylor went public with their romance during his September 24th football game, and have been spotted on numerous outings since; seen on October 14

The way they were: Kayla dated Travis on and off for five years from 2017 until they called it quits for good in 2022; seen with Travis on July 20, 2018

‘At first Brittany was threatened with everything that came from Taylor taking her spot at Kansas City, but after a few conversations and hangouts, she is eating it all up when it comes to them being friends.’

The insider continued: ‘Now they are friends, they both want to please each other and are working on building their relationship, so when people see their handshake and doing the girly girl thing, it’s exactly what people close to them expect to happen. They aren’t embarrassed by it.’

Turning their attention to the longevity of their budding friendship, the insider added: ‘Taylor and Brittany will hang out in the future.

‘There has been talk that after the season is done that Brittany and Patrick will see one of her shows overseas.

‘Although their friendship is mostly at the stadium, slowly but surely they are going to be doing double dates and hanging out with each other more and more.’

Travis and Taylor went public with their romance during his September 24th football game, and have been spotted on numerous outings since.

The singer has attended four of his games so far, and he reportedly plans to join her next month when the International leg of her Eras tour kicks off in November.