Setting the record straight! Kaitlyn Bristowe clarified the reasoning behind her thorny comments about the Bachelor franchise — and even said her ex Shawn Booth isn’t to blame.
The “Off the Vine” podcast host, 34, turned heads with a lengthy Instagram caption describing her “bitter feelings” toward one person in Bachelor Nation on January 6. While many were convinced that Bristowe was calling out her ex, 32, the fan-favorite quickly cleared the air.
“Let’s be honest, everyone is going to immediately think, ‘Oh, she’s talking about her ex,’ but no. I could be petty, but not that petty,” Bristowe told Us Weekly exclusively at the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards presented by Capital One on Friday, January 17. “I would just say it if that’s who I was talking about. It’s someone who I would just rather not say the name anymore and just move forward, because there’s so many people I love in that franchise.”
In celebration of the premiere of season 24 of the Bachelor, Bristowe posted a major throwback on Instagram of her promo photo from when she competed on the dating show in 2015.
“I always question watching every season due to a little PTSD, overwhelming emotions, and knowing a little too much. But I just always want to support the people going through this ‘journey,'” the Canada native wrote on January 6. “So while I have bitter feelings towards one person, out of hundreds, I will choose to love the hundreds of others who changed my life. I will try to remember the positive experiences. Let’s please all try really hard to not hate, or bully contestants this year. Try to remind yourself they are humans, not characters.”
The former Bachelorette star later added to her post that the “one person” was “not a contestant,” making it clear that the individual who tainted her experience had more of a behind-the-scenes role, making some fans think she was rehashing her old feud with the show’s creator, Mike Fleiss. In October 2019, Bristowe alleged that Fleiss, 55, was the reason she never competed on Dancing With the Stars — even though so many men from Bachelor Nation had gotten the chance.
“I will say this with a mic in my hand and a smile on my face, that Mike Fleiss is a piece of s–t! He is the creator of The Bachelor, and he hates women,” she said in a candid interview on the “Talkhouse” podcast.
Bristowe got engaged to Booth during the finale episode of her Bachelorette run, but the two called it quits in November 2018 after three years together. Six months after their split, Bristowe told Us that the two haven’t kept in touch but still remain friendly.
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“If I ran into him on the street I would say, ‘Hey, how’s it going?’ It’s not like there’s any hate there, but … we don’t talk or anything,” she said at the time.
The former dance instructor has since moved on with fellow Bachelor Nation alum Jason Tartick.
With reporting by Emily Marcus
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