As they continue to navigate life after calling off their engagement, Kaitlyn Bristowe admitted that she feels like ex-fiancé Jason Tartick “didn’t protect” her from online hate surrounding their breakup.
“We talked about protecting each other through it because, of course, when you go through breakups you want to have your side and someone to have their side,” Bristowe, 38, shared during an episode of her “Off the Vine” podcast from Tuesday, September 19. “To justify it and say all these things. We really agreed on protecting each other.”
Bristowe took issue with Tartick, 34, uploading a video of himself packing his belongings into a moving truck with the help of a friend. In the Instagram Reels video, Tartick noted that the move “physically and mentally sucks,” while including clips of his and Bristowe’s dogs — Ramen and Pinot — looking sad while he put stuff into boxes.
“When he was, kind of, leaning into that sad — I was like, ‘Bro,’” Bristowe shared on “Off the Vine. “It didn’t protect me because it made me look like I was taking the dogs away from him.”
Bristowe noted that Tartick’s decision to post that video made her “really sad” because they’ve been making their dogs a “priority” amid the split.
“We are both obsessed with them and we have made it very clear we’re going to be sharing them,” Bristowe said, noting that she confronted her ex about the video.
“The messages I got after that were just … and he was like, ‘Well I didn’t get one message about it,’” she said.
Overall, Bristowe said she assumed the public’s reaction to their split “was going to be bad” but she was not anticipating the hate.
“I didn’t know it was going to be that bad of what people were saying to me,” she added.
Bristowe and Tartick announced their decision to end their engagement on August 6 after four years together.
“After sharing the news with family and close friends first, and taking the time to properly process it ourselves, we are saddened with heavy hearts to share that we have decided to end our engagement,” the former duo shared in a joint social media statement. “We are thankful for all of you who gave us the time and space to process this life altering decision as there are many emotions and changes to navigate.”
They made it clear that “Ramen & Pinot will continue to be cared for together as brothers,” even though they weren’t together romantically anymore.
“Continuing our friendship is incredibly important to both of us. We feel grateful to be ending our engagement with love and respect for each other,” the statement continued. “It’s heartbreaking and sad to say goodbye, but our care and admiration for one another will never die.”
Concluding their post, Bristowe and Tartick made it clear that they “will always have that level of support for each other” and asked fans to “try to hold space for us in your hearts.”
As for the reason behind their split? Bristowe previously made it clear that it was an amicable decision between the both of them.
“I think people assume if people break up, something bad happened. And I think that’s the hardest part of this whole breakup — nothing bad happened. It’s just been over time. We have both not made each other a priority. And this is what happens,” she said on an August episode of her “Off the Vine” podcast. “We are both so sad. You think you’re going to spend your life with somebody. … I don’t want to sit here and cry. We’re grieving a loss.”
