Jilted NBA Bride: 'No Hard Feelings'

July 22, 2009 — -- Tabloids and gossips rags have painted Kesha Nichols as a jilted bride whose NBA star boyfriend left her at the altar days before the ceremony. But the founder of Sugar&SpiceNYC dance group and former New Jersey Nets dancer resents being depicted as a weak girl who was ditched at the altar; she sees herself as a strong woman who is dealing with a temporary setback.

"That's my philosophy, just keep dancing for life," Nichols told "Good Morning America" today. "Just keep picking up the pieces and keep going."

Nichols, who dated popular San Antonio Spurs forward Richard Jefferson for five years, said the entire ordeal had been humiliating, but she that she held no ill will toward her former partner. She denied reports that she'd been dumped in an e-mail but said there was an e-mail that simply "confirmed what we already talked about."

"I have no hard feelings. I will always care about him. ... My heart is broken. I'll miss him as a friend," she said.

Nichols said she wasn't mad at Jefferson and wouldn't have stayed in the relationship with him for so long if he wasn't a good person. She added that she still hasn't had a chance to digest what has happened and has relied heavily on family, friends and a vacation to ease her mind.

Nichols said she hasn't had a chance to miss Jefferson yet, though at some point she will because he was her best friend.

She hasn't spoken to the NBA star in "two weeks and two days" and had an agreement not to for some time, she said. Perhaps in the future they can be friends, but for now, she said she needs him out of her life so that she can think clearly about what she wants to do next.

Canceling a wedding days before a ceremony is a woman's worst nightmare, she said.

To date she hasn't seen the designer wedding dress she planned to wear and probably never will. She still has her ring, which she keeps in a North Carolina safe deposit box.

Dealing with the breakup also has been difficult because of the media coverage. Nichols said the relationship's disintegration has caused a dissemination of misinformation.

Reports claimed the ceremony had a $2 million price tag and that Jefferson broke up with Nichols via e-mail. Nichols said neither of those claims is true.

She said the true cost of the wedding was $500,000, and 70 percent of that was lost.

"They were talking about how much was spent on the wedding; the No. 1 thing to me was marrying the person I was in love with," Nichols said.