Getty Blake Horstmann & Caelynn Miller-Keyes
“Bachelor in Paradise” star Blake Horstmann addressed his recent hangout with former fling Caelynn Miller-Keyes in a February 2023 Instagram story.
Here’s what you need to know.
Blake on His Unexpected Hangout With Caelynn: ‘We Are Adults’
Horstmann was spotted in the background of Clayton Echard’s February 1 Instagram story alongside other Bachelor Nation alums, including Miller-Keyes and former Bachelorette Rachel Recchia.
Fans were surprised to see Horstmann hanging out with Miller-Keyes, given their history. The two hooked up in 2019 at the country music festival Stagecoach. Months later, in the summer of 2019, the two appeared on season six of “Bachelor in Paradise” where Miller-Keyes told the other contestants that Horstmann made her feel like a “disgusting secret” and revealed the Bachelorette runner-up asked her to lie about their rendezvous.
Horstmann shared details about the unexpected hangout on his February 7 Instagram story after a fan asked him if it was weird hanging out with Miller-Keyes and Unglert.
“Ya know, it is what it is,” he wrote. “We are adults and if our job requires us to work together we do it.”
“Time heals a lot,” he added. “It’s not easy living with anger in your heart. Need to eventually move on.”
What Happened Between Caelynn & Blake?
What happens at Stagecoach certainly doesn’t stay at Stagecoach. Horstmann arrived on the sandy beaches of Paradise in 2019 with the hopes of finding love but instead, he found himself at the center of controversy.
It was revealed on the show that Horstmann had slept with two contestants on the show at Stagecoach-Miller-Keyes and Kristina Schulman. When Miller-Keyes arrived on the beach, it didn’t take long before she began sharing the details of her time with Horstmann with one of the other beach-goers.
When Miller-Keyes confronted Horstmann about the situation, she told him he made her feel like a “dirty secret,” People reported.
“I feel like a slimy, disgusting secret that you’re ashamed of. You literally told me to lie for you,” she told Horstmann on “Bachelor in Paradise.”
After Horstmann got backlash on social media, he decided he needed to tell his side of the story.
In August 2019, he released text messages between him and Miller-Keyes from Stagecoach. People published the texts in an article.
The texts began with Miller-Keyes texting the former Bachelorette star, “I’m coming,” to which he replied, “no.”
Further down the thread, Horstmann wrote in a message to Miller-Keyes, “We can cuddle but no sex lol.”
“Yes sex. only sex,” Miller-Keyes replied.
“If I come over it’s strictly for sex,” she wrote in a separate text to Horstmann.
Horstmann followed up the texts with an Instagram post addressing the situation.
“I’ve felt a lot of shame and have been in a dark place for a while now and especially these last few months,” he wrote. “I take full responsibility for my actions at Stagecoach and will forever regret the decision I made that weekend…. With all of that said, I want to get the truth out…. Caelynn and I were NEVER in a relationship. I NEVER ghosted Caelynn, I NEVER called her a mistake and I absolutely NEVER EVER EVER silenced Caelynn.”
Miller-Keyes responded to the leaked texts in an August 7 Instagram post.
“I am not here to deny those text messages or the conversations that took place. Things got taken out of context on the show, and a large part of the story is missing,” she wrote. “The reality of the situation is that Blake was not a one night stand at a music festival and the 5 am text exchange that Blake chose to share is not an accurate representation of our past relationship.”
The North Carolina native said she takes ownership for her actions on the beach but disputed claims that she went to Paradise with the intent to “ruin someone’s character.”
“I attempted to address my feelings and the situation with Blake face to face,” she wrote. “It’s unfortunate that I didn’t get the same respect in return, and I am absolutely mortified our private texts were put out there for the world to see and judge by someone who I trusted and consider a friend nonetheless.”
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