See ya, 2019! Bachelor in Paradise star Blake Horstmann is excited for what’s to come in 2020 and is ready to put the past behind him following his television drama this past summer. “2019 was a bumpy road,” the 30-year-old captioned a photo of himself hanging out in Times Square in New York City on Wednesday, January 1, via Instagram. “Mistakes were made and lessons learned. Never been more excited to ring in a new year … 2020 is gonna be a good one. #HappyNewYears #IHaveABlackEye #NewYorkNewYork #Byeee2019.”
Of course, Bachelor Nation couldn’t help but show their support for the Colorado native on the ‘gram. One person wrote, “I’m rooting for you!” while another echoed, “Making mistakes makes you human. It’s just harder making them in the spotlight. Asking forgiveness as you did, making it right, moving on [and] doing better is what makes you grow and learn.” A third person chimed in, writing, “I hope 2020 is your year, @balockaye.h. You deserve a year full of great things.” Kevin Wendt — who appeared on the ABC show the year before Blake — poked fun at him as well. “What mistakes? Care to elaborate? LOL,” the Canada hunk wrote in the comments section.
We can take it from here, Kevin! Blake was very popular during his time on the beach in Mexico this past summer. So much so, he pursued Hannah Godwin and even admitted to visiting her in Alabama prior to filming. Additionally, the sales representative previously was intimate with Caelynn Miller-Keyes and Kristina Schulman at the Stagecoach Music Festival in April 2019. When Caelynn, 24, saw Blake for the first time in Mexico, she admitted it was awkward between the two of them and claimed Blake had told her not to tell anyone that they previously had sex. Later on, Blake released text messages about what went down with Caelynn during their rendezvous in California earlier this year. “The reason I released those text messages is because of the allegations that you said that were not true,” he said on the Bachelor in Paradise reunion in August. “If I were to sit on this stage and say, you know, we talked, she came on to me. I would have been laughed off the stage.”
Naturally, Caelynn was upset with Blake for what he had done. “I never felt so exposed or violated my entire life. I truly feel disgusting that everyone has seen that sh–t,” she said while tearing up. However, Blake called Caelynn to let her know he was going to post their interaction online. “I knew she would get attacked for embellishing the truth, but what I saw and what was hard to see was the fact that she was getting attacked for having sex,” he said.
At the end of the day, the reality star explained why he did what he did. “Listen, I knew that people were going to be mad at me, but I felt like I had to defend myself because I had no idea she was saying those things,” he admitted. “She said that I played her, sweet talked her into bed — those are not light allegations.”
Ultimately, Caelynn found love with Dean Unglert while Blake is ready for bigger and better things in the new decade. Will Blake make another appearance on Bachelor in Paradise? We’re going to go with probably not, but you never know!