Kaitlyn Bristowe is opening up about her love life and how her past impacts her romantic future.
“Because of my own inner demons and trauma,” the Bachelorette alum, 40, told E! News in an interview published on Friday, August 15, referring to her attempts at dating following her breakup from ex-fiancé Jason Tartick.
“I’m so hyper-independent that, when I start dating, I’m like, ‘Alright, do long-distance forever and we can do our own thing and then come together on the weekends or whatever,’” she added. “My therapist always tells me it’s my coping mechanism. So, I feel like the challenge itself is just on me.”
Bristowe was previously engaged to Tartick, who appeared on The Bachelorette season 14 in 2018. The former couple were together for four years before they called off their engagement in August 2023.
Years later, Bristowe accused her ex of stealing her “dream baby name,” Teddy, and using the moniker for his new dog.
Kaitlyn Bristowe Confirms She’s Dating After Jason Tartick Split
“It’s not that I’m not over him. I’m very much over him. I ended the relationship. I did not want to be in that. It felt icky to me. It felt like everything was for Instagram and numbers. I did not want to be in it. But to get a dog, name that dog my dream baby name that I’ve had in my baby names for 10 years,” she claimed. “I said, the day I met him, ‘I want to name my baby Teddy.’”
She continued, “I know I seem very angry, but it’s more like, I don’t like feeling disrespected. I just have so many gross feelings from that because for so long I was made to feel crazy, and now I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m not crazy.’ I just saw what other people are seeing now. It’s just not aligned. What I want out of life is not what he wants, and two people shouldn’t be together like that. I’m not fully angry. I’m just really grossed out and disappointed.”
Despite the breakup, name drama and her “demons,” Bristowe confirmed earlier this year that she is, in fact, dipping her toes back in the dating pool.
Kaitlyn Bristowe Doubles Down on Being Over Ex Jason After Tell-All Podcast
“I’ve been protecting my peace the most that I ever have in my life,” she told People in April, adding that she’s “definitely dating and happy.”
“And that’s opened up some really beautiful doors for beautiful humans to enter, and I’m really happy where I’m at,” she continued at the time. “I’ve always been a little too comfortable speaking out about my whole life, so I am trying to reel it in, but I’m also trying to re-approach how I speak about things because in the past, I’ve learned really tough lessons and I’ve been selfish.”
She added, “So now, I try and speak my truth while also reflecting and holding myself accountable for things as well, because I do think that’s also part of vulnerability.”
