Former “Dancing with the Stars” champion Kaitlyn Bristowe opened up about the demise of her engagement with Jason Tartick in a new podcast appearance, and she did not mince words.
Season 29 DWTS winner Bristowe and former “Bachelorette” contestant Tartick announced the end of their engagement in August 2023, noted People. During an appearance on Kristin Cavallari’s podcast, Bristowe got real about some of the difficulties she experienced in her relationship with Tartick.
She admitted of Tartick, “I felt like everything was very performative and for social media.”
Here’s what you need to know:
Kaitlyn Bristowe Eventually Decided Continuing the Relationship Wasn’t Right for Either of Them
During the July 2 episode of Cavallari’s “Let’s Be Honest With Kristin Cavallari” podcast, Bristowe admitted, “I wasn’t, like, all in and I wasn’t out” throughout her relationship with Tartick.
Bristowe acknowledged she brought her own issues into the relationship. Even so, she noted regarding Tartick, “I didn’t feel like there was a realness there.”
The “Dancing with the Stars” champ added that it seemed everything from Tartick was “performative and for social media,” but Bristowe added, “that’s part of my fault too.”
Cavallari noted the two ladies met nearly four years ago. She pointed out, “I think it’s safe to say now that the whole time I knew you, you always had something in the back of your head saying, I don’t know if this is right.”
Bristowe recounted an 8-hour-long therapy session she and Tartick had several months before their split. It brought her a lot of clarity, she recalled. “I think we got lost in social media.”
The “Dancing with the Stars” champion admitted that as they were engaged and theoretically moving toward marriage, she now realizes, “I wasn’t fully leaning in. And I just felt like there was something that was blocking that.”
The breakup came about six months after that 8-hour therapy session Bristowe admitted as she mentally worked through it all during that session, she realized, “This is unfair to him. This is unfair to me.”
The DWTS Champion Braced Herself for Blowback Ahead of the Split
During Cavallari’s podcast, Bristowe recalled that before announcing the split, “I had to mentally prepare myself for being destroyed on social media just because the other person seems perfect to a lot of people.”
Bristowe added that she anticipated people assuming it was her fault the relationship didn’t last. “It must be messy Kaitlyn, you know, messy Kaitlyn strikes again, can’t keep a guy,” she quipped.
At one point, Cavallari shared, “I saw you put your heart and soul into it and really try everything.”
The podcast host, also an alum of “Dancing with the Stars,” continued, “And if it’s just not there, it’s not there. And thank God you did it now instead of marrying him.”
Bristowe explained she thought she had found “the one” in Tartick after “All these years and heartbreaks and toxic relationships.”
She believed, “This must be real love if it’s not toxic.” Bristowe did note that Tartick is “a nice guy, he’s not terrible” and she said their relationship wasn’t toxic.
However, Bristowe also shared, “I just want somebody who can own all their struggles…I just want somebody to know completely who they are.”
The response to Bristowe’s appearance on Cavallari’s podcast seemed mostly positive.
“It makes me so sad people would turn on [Bristowe] in such a vulnerable time,” one person wrote on Instagram.
Another Instagram user commented, “I really hope she finds her better half!! She has soooo much to offer!”
“It’s so infuriating that people rip her apart just because a relationship ended. People are allowed to move forward and you can BE HAPPY for both parties,” added someone else.
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DWTS Champ Reflects on Former Fiance: ‘Everything Was Very Performative’