Kristin Cavallari is “all in” on her Montana boy, Mark Estes, despite their 13-year age gap.
“Me dating a 24-year-old is not something that I was searching out. It’s not something that I at all ever thought would ever happen,” Cavallari, 37, shared during the Tuesday, March 12, episode of her “Let’s Be Honest” podcast. “I understand what it looks like to the outside world. I really do. I get that. He is not a typical 24-year-old.”
Cavallari went public with Estes on February 27, posting a photo of them on vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. “He makes me happy 🤍,” she captioned the snap.
Fans started to speculate days prior that Cavallari and Estes were dating after TMZ shared a photo of the duo at the airport ahead of their Mexico getaway. Cavallari confirmed on Tuesday’s podcast that she was in Mexico for her Uncommon James jewelry line summer collection photoshoot — and Estes joined her.
Cavallari gushed over her “sweet” man on the podcast, telling a story about how Estes surprised her with flowers during the vacation before they headed to dinner.
“The thought that went into that blows my mind because he could have gone and gotten me a bouquet of flowers and just brought them back to the room and given them to me,” she said. “But he hid them. He came up with his little story. The whole thing was just so f–king sweet.”
Keep scrolling for more revelations about Cavallari’s romance with Estes:
How They Met
Cavallari and Estes first connected after she saw him on TikTok.
“Three weeks later, I get a DM on Instagram from the Montana Boyz that just said, ‘I love you,’” she recalled on Tuesday’s podcast, before booking them as guests on a future episode.
Months went by and they gradually started talking. “That attraction was always there, but when I met him, I was like, he’s actually a really nice, good guy,” she said. “He’s very sweet from the jump. He was so sweet to me.”
He’s Met Her Kids
Before Cavallari’s first official date with Estes, he met her kids. (She shares sons Camden, 11, and Jaxon, 9, and daughter Saylor, 8, with ex-husband Jay Cutler.)
Her kids were “big fans of his” right off the bat, she said. “I think, more than anything, my kids are really excited for me,” Cavallari added.
The Age Difference Discourse
The 13-year age difference was touched on throughout the podcast episode.
“I really think age is just a number,” she admitted. “It’s what you’ve been through in your life, how you were raised. There are just so many factors that go into maturity other than age.”
Cavallari admitted that “the age thing was a hang-up” at first. “Now, I don’t give a f–k and I’m all in with this guy and I don’t actually care what anybody thinks,” she added.
Hard-Launching Their Romance
Their Instagram hard launch was never the plan.
“I would say it was a little early to hard launch someone, 100 percent. However, what we’ve been talking about, I feel very different with this man,” Cavallari said. “But also, I got a call from my publicist that TMZ was going to write an article about us. … I’ve been in this business for 20 years. The media has always controlled the narrative to a large degree. And part of me was like, ‘I want to take it in my own hands.’”
Voicing Her Concerns
Because Estes is so young and he just moved to Nashville, Cavallari was concerned about starting a relationship with him.
“I’m following his lead on this, you guys. … I’m not going to put everything on blast — because I do care about him and this is different,” she explained. “I do want to, kind of, keep this one close to my chest, but he’s in a place where he’s ready for a relationship. And so here we f–king are.”
