Kayla Nicole on Special Forces, Skin Care, Travis Kelce & Taylor Swift Headlines

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Kayla Nicole’s first job out of college was as Harvey Levin’s assistant at TMZ. “A lot of people don’t know this. I was in the studio doing research and filling Harvey’s water,” she tells StyleCaster. “They’ve actually talked about it on the show, which is so funny, because they’ll talk about me, and a girl will be like, ‘Don’t you remember she used to work here?’” 

Fast forward more than a decade later, and Nicole has come a long way from her days as the lowest-level staffer at Hollywood’s most notorious tabloid. Since then, she’s launched her own podcast, The Pre-Game With Kayla Nicole—the title of which is a nod to her long career as a broadcast sports journalist for outlets like ESPN and Barstool Sports, reporting everywhere from the sidelines of NFL games to the courtside of NBA matches. 

After years in the sports industry (she was also on track to become an Olympic gymnast as a teenager before quitting to go to prom), Nicole also founded her own wellness brand, Tribe Therepē, where she markets her own workout equipment. Since leaving broadcast journalism, Nicole has also found herself back in front of the camera—this time as talent instead of the reporter—appearing as an actress in Peacock’s Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist and as herself on FOX’s reality competition show, Special Forces: World’s Toughest Yet, which she won the third season of. “The way the staff and the DS would scream at you is very similar to how my coach would talk to me in gymnastics,” she says. 

But while she’s found success from her own name, Nicole’s transition from interviewer to interviewee hasn’t come without its side effects, as she’s found herself at the center of her own headlines. “It’s so weird. I can’t lie. It has definitely taken some getting used to,” she says. “It’s not an easy transition to make, because a lot of times, when I see the things written about me, to be honest, it comes off really dehumanizing.”

And though Nicole—who graduated with a degree in broadcast journalism from Pepperdine University and spent most of her adult career as a reporter—has an understanding of the articles written about her, she also wishes there could be empathy for the subject of those stories.

“As someone who went to school for journalism and is really passionate about storytelling, it’s conflicting for me, because I know what it’s like to be in that position to feel like you have to write a story and make the headlines and get the engagement,” she says. “But I just wish that my peers, because I still consider other journalists to be my peers, would hold ourselves to a higher standard and remember there’s a human on the other side of these headlines.”

She adds, “I understand what it’s like to be in the world of entertainment and journalism, and someone is trying to do their job. But I just wish we wouldn’t do it at the cost of someone else’s mental health or the expense of someone else’s overall existence in life. I think we’ve normalized sensationalism and clickbait. I wish there were a better way we could all do our jobs.”

But the bad doesn’t outweigh the good. With her newfound fame, Nicole has helped to empower dozens of women in the wellness space and has collaborated with fitness brands like Alo, Fabletics, and Champs. Now, she’s sharing her secrets. Ahead, StyleCaster sat down with Nicole to break down her must-haves in the gym and the essential items she uses to pick herself back up after a bad day. 

What are the essential items in your gym bag?

I always have some lip balm in there at some capacity. I’m a lip chap girly. I already look crazy enough in the gym. At the very least, I could probably put on some lip balm. I use Laneige
. I challenge myself to make it to the bottom of the pink pot every time before losing it. I’ve been doing pre-workout these days. I’ve been doing 6 a.m. workouts, and at that ungodly hour, I need something to get me through, especially because the sun isn’t out. It’s dark. It’s cold. I need something to boost me to get me through the workout. Orgain
Sport Energy is the name, and it’s plant-based, which I love. The third thing probably would be my Tribe Therepē Essentials, which has a variety of resistance bands that I’ll use throughout my workouts to elevate the workout if I’m not trying to do heavy weights all the time. Because at this big old age, I can’t lift the weights the way I used to, so having resistance bands can help to give me a more dynamic workout. It’s accessible and it’s not super bulky.

LANEIGE Lip Sleeping Mask

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Orgain Organic Vegan Protein Powder

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Did you have any go-to products when you were on Special Forces?

I had a tub of Vaseline
. There weren’t mirrors, even if we wanted to bring our skincare kits. But we weren’t allowed to have anything. I didn’t sneak that in there, but I was afraid they weren’t going to let me have that, so I tucked it deep in the backpack. I used it for Chapstick. Also, we were in and out of water so much. My skin is already very naturally dry, so even when we would go to sleep, sometimes at night, I would put it on my hands, on my feet, a little bit on my face. That’ll make you break out, which I was on the show. I actually did also sneak in some edge control because I thought that laying my edges would be important. I don’t think I used that once. 

Vaseline Original Healing Jelly

What are your go-to products to wind down after a long day?

Lately, the everything shower. If I’m really exhausted, I will spend two hours in my shower doing anything I possibly can. I love it in there. It has become like a ritual in my reset routine. I love a good exfoliator. I have really dry skin, so I have to exfoliate pretty regularly, and I use a full-body exfoliating scrub. The brand is Kate Somerville
, and it’s called Exfolikate. They actually have a matching face scrub
, and they have also a face exfoliating cream
. I live by that, whether it’s summer, spring, fall. If I’m in a bikini or not, I’m exfoliating on a regular basis. I like to feel like a dolphin at all times.

Kate Somerville ExfoliKate Resurfacing Body Scrub

What are your favorite products to turn your week around if you’ve had a bad day?

I have a four-step body care routine. to me. The base you can use Jergens
or whatever lotion you have on hand. Then I go in with a shea butter cream. The brand is skin BUTTr. It’s actually one of my girlfriend’s brands. It’s super, super thick and really rich, so when you’re using it, you have to literally lather up and massage it into your skin. It’s gonna take you a minute—a little elbow grease—but I love how hydrating it is. For the next step, I use the L’Occitane Supple Skin Oil
. That’s a spray, so it’s easier to apply, not super fragrant, but also very hydrating. It will give you this really pretty glow. The final step is a brand called Kopari. It’s the Sun Shield Body Glow
. That’s the final step. It makes you look like a glazed donut. After I do all of that after a really long day, I look delicious. I can go and sit on my couch in my robe, glowing.

Jergens Ultra Healing Dry Skin Lotion

L’OCCITANE Almond Supple Skin Oil

Kopari Sun Shield Body Glow

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