Kaitlyn Bristowe, former “Bachelorette” lead, and Jason Tartick, former “Bachelorette” contestant, shocked fans when they announced they called off their engagement.
Following the split, Bristowe now says she feels Tartick did not “protect” her from online hate and scrutiny.
Kaitlyn Bristowe and Jason Tartick Split
The couple, engaged since 2021, took to Instagram to announce the split last month. “After sharing the news with family and close friends first and taking the time to process it properly, we are saddened with heavy hearts to share that we have decided to end our engagement,” the pair wrote on social media. “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.”
The pair continued to explain how they plan to remain friends and will continue to care for their two dogs, Ramen and Pinot, together. “Our dogs Ramen & Pinot will continue to be cared for together as brothers,” they wrote. “While their humans are no longer romantically involved, we will love and care for them together.”
“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,” they continued. “It’s heartbreaking and sad to say goodbye, but our care and admiration for one another will never die.”
Tartick and Bristowe concluded, “We are beyond thankful for the memories made together and for your support of us and the boys throughout the years. Moving forward, we will always have that level of support for each other. We don’t know what the future holds, so please try to hold space for us in your hearts.”
Kaitlyn Bristowe Faces Online Hate
Following the split, many took to social media to bash the former “Bachelorette” lead, blaming her for the break. Now, Bristowe is saying Tartick didn’t do anything to protect her from that online hate.
After admitting she “knew” she would get most of the hate from fans for ending her engagement to Tartick after four years together, she said on her podcast, “It was already my fault when we weren’t posting enough, and people were questioning everything. It was always like, ‘God, you’re ruining another good thing! This is what you do!’”
She said, “I will hold myself accountable for certain things in the relationship… but [the fans] don’t know anything.”
“I knew it was going to be bad, but I didn’t know it was going to be THAT bad of what people were saying to me,” she shared.
Bristowe then was asked if she wanted Tartick to defend her publicly, to which she admitted, “Yeah, a little bit.”
She continued, “We talked about protecting each other through it because, of course, when you go through breakups, you want to have your and someone to have their sides. You want to justify it and say everything, but we agreed on protecting each other.”
The former “Bachelorette” lead then said she confronted Tartick about a video he posted on social media, which led to much hate. “The messages that I got after that were just [awful],” she said on the podcast before adding, “And he was like, ‘Well, I didn’t get one message about it.’ And I was like, ‘I did!’”
“And it just made me sad because the dogs are our No. 1 priority through this,” she said. “We are both obsessed with them and have made it very clear that we’re going to be sharing them.”
Unfortunately, Bristowe admitted she does not see them doing that forever.