Single or taken? Former Bachelorette contestant Blake Horstmann is “going slow” with a mystery girlfriend following an awkward stint on Bachelor in Paradise and placing as the runner-up during Becca Kufrin’s season.
The reality stud, 31, hopes changing his dating style will add to the longevity of his new relationship. “[Even] before The Bachelorette, I would jump into a relationship. I’d meet somebody and be like, ‘OK, here we go.’ Like boom, I’m in a relationship,” he told Bachelor alum Taylor Nolan on her “Let’s Talk About It” podcast on July 16. “I fall hard, I fall fast. So I’m trying to navigate this in a different way and do this differently instead of doing that, and maybe it’ll be a different outcome. So that’s kind of where we’re at right now. Because I do go in hard, and either I get scared or she gets scared, so I’m trying to do this one a little bit different.”
He gave barely any hints about the identity of his new lady but teased that she does not live in his home state of Colorado. “We’re going slow and everything, that kind of thing. But yeah, we’re keeping it private,” he said while noting they’ve had “a lot of Zoom” dates.
The Bachelor Nation star seemingly stepped away from the dating pool briefly following his disastrous appearance on season 6 of Bachelor in Paradise. He kicked the season off by taking Tayshia Adams, 29, on a date, despite his flirtation and interest in Hannah Godwin. Then, Caelynn Miller-Keyes arrived and aired all his dirty laundry to the cast (and viewers at home). The former beauty queen, 25, said she had sex with Blake at Stagecoach Music Festival in April 2019 and that he also hooked up with fellow contestant Kristina Schulman the next day.
It was then revealed, prior to appearing on the beach in Mexico, he flew out to Hannah G.’s hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, to hang out. Although he continued to pursue the model, 25, the former Bachelor contestant decided to move forward with her relationship with Dylan Barbour, and they are now engaged.
Caelynn continued to slam Blake’s actions on the beach, and during the August 6 episode, the Colorado native released private text messages between him and the Virginia native in an attempt to show they were not exclusively dating during Stagecoach. The alleged screenshots showed Caelynn saying she wanted to meet up “strictly for sex.”
The former contestant from Colton Underwood’s season said the messages were “taken out of context” and “a large part of the story” was missing.
Their messy ordeal ended with Blake apologizing — but still feeling justified for his actions. Caelynn did end up with a happy ending when she left Paradise with Dean Unglert, and they are still dating.
Prior to Paradise, Blake fell hard for Becca, 30, but she ended things with him during the finale and got engaged to Garrett Yrigoyen. Their relationship is strained at the moment with many fans thinking they have already split.
Love is tough, but it looks like Blake is ready to give it another go!