Yikes…! Bachelor in Paradise alum Blake Horstmann opened about how badly the release of his text conversations with costar Caelynn-Miller Keyes backfired, as it ultimately led to him being subjected to death threats.
“My family started getting DMs … and when your family comes in [the picture], it changed everything for me. I was just like, ‘Yes, this is hard,’” Blake, 31, said during the “Bachelor Happy Hour With Rachel & Ali” podcast on Wednesday, September 25. “Lots of death threats. My grandma started getting DMs at one point.”
The Colorado native also detailed what went down the night he posted the text messages to his Instagram Stories. Speaking with cohosts Rachel Lindsay and Ali Fedotowsky, he said it was “such a hard decision” to unveil his private conversations with Caelynn.
“That night, when I released those text messages I was breathing into a paper bag. It was incredibly difficult for me,” he said. “A decision like that, you do reach out for advice and especially advice from people who have been in situations like me in Bachelor Nation. A lot of people, they didn’t even really say, ‘No, don’t do it.’ They were like ‘If you do it, know what the consequences are.’ … I did reach out and there were a few that were like ‘The things she’s saying, you have to do it. I don’t see any other choice.’ When people say it was premeditated or whatever, it was such a hard decision for me.”
Blake continued, “I felt like that was the only thing I could do to get my truth out there, because I didn’t know a lot of things she was saying when I was down there. Had I known that she said I was silencing her and all of these things, I would have addressed it on the beach with her. But I had no idea she was saying those things. And, so when I watched it, I was shook.”
During the August season 6 premiere of Paradise, the Miss USA 2018 runner-up accused Blake of hooking up with both her and costar Kristina Schulman back-to-back in April when they attended the Stagecoach Music Festival. The sales rep attempted to share his side of the drama on Instagram, where he admitted to having “made a lot of mistakes this past year that I’m not proud of” and stated that he was “never” dating Caelynn exclusively. However, he also announced his plan to release the pair’s convos because his “name and character are being attacked.”
The texts posted to his Instagram Stories positioned Caelynn unfavorably, resulting in her receiving backlash. Blake eventually took down the screenshots because fans were “attacking” Caelynn.
“I attempted to address my feelings and the situation with Blake face to face,” Caelynn wrote on Instagram soon after. “It’s unfortunate that I didn’t get the same respect in return, and I am absolutely mortified our private texts were put out there for the world to see.”
Earlier this month, the scandal was addressed during Bachelor in Paradise’s reunion. Blake noted that he shared the “text messages to show my side” after Caelynn bashed him on TV, but the cast urged him to apologize to her.
“I didn’t want to hurt you,” he said. “I am so sorry that you got attacked and I am so sorry you are feeling the way you are. I want to apologize to everybody.”
