It started as a Halloween costume and eventually landed Kayla Nicole onstage with Toni Braxton.
During a recent appearance on Joy Taylor’s Too Personal podcast, the ex-WAG shared new details about how her surprise appearance during Braxton’s performance of “He Wasn’t Man Enough for Me” actually came together. According to Nicole, the opportunity began with a direct message from the R&B icon herself after Nicole’s Halloween tribute to the song went viral.
“I dress up as her for Halloween,” Nicole explained before describing how Braxton reached out afterward. “She DMs me casually and was just like, ‘Hey, niece.’”
Nicole said Braxton invited her to attend a Los Angeles tour stop, adding that the singer personally offered to host her and her mother at the show.
The invitation evolved from a concert outing into something much bigger.
Nicole said Braxton later had her team contact her to coordinate logistics. Then came another surprise. According to Nicole, Braxton’s manager informed her that the singer wanted her to join the performance onstage.
“They're like, ‘Hey, you know, Toni is just so thankful that you have supported this song and this record and this viral moment. She would love it if you would come out on stage with her when she does the song,” Nicole recalled.
Even then, Nicole thought she would simply make a brief appearance. Instead, she learned just days before the show that she would be participating in the full routine.
“They called me again. They're like, ‘Hey, we want you to be a part of the background dancers. We want you to wear a wardrobe. We want you to do the routine. And we want you to do the dance on stage with Toni,’” she said.
The challenge was made even more intense by the limited rehearsal time. Nicole said she received just one walkthrough with Braxton’s dance team roughly an hour before showtime.
The performance marked the latest chapter in a storyline that has followed Nicole for months.
Last Halloween, Nicole recreated Braxton’s “He Wasn’t Man Enough for Me” music video on social media. The post quickly became a topic of discussion online, with many viewers linking it to her past relationship with Travis Kelce and his engagement to Taylor Swift. Nicole later said the costume was inspired by a childhood memory involving a friend named Taylor, not Swift.
The Halloween post sparked weeks of online conversation. That attention intensified following the release of Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl album, particularly the song “Opalite,” which some fans interpreted as referencing one of Kelce’s former relationships.
Since then, Nicole has appeared in a Super Bowl commercial, launched a Valentine’s Day campaign with skinBUTTR, and addressed public scrutiny during multiple interviews.
But among all those headlines, Nicole described the Braxton moment as something entirely different.
“That was probably the most insane moment of my life,” she said.
