Kaitlyn Bristowe first allowed fans into her love life in 2015 when she appeared on Chris Soules’ season of The Bachelor, and now 10 years later she’s opening up about what went wrong in her engagement to Jason Tartick. The update comes after the latest season of the ABC reality dating show wrapped on the 2025 TV schedule, and Bristowe’s got some pretty hot tea about how her ex-fiancé handled their finances.
One of the most famous people to come out of The Bachelor franchise, Kaitlyn Bristowe didn’t find love on The Bachelor or as The Bachelorette in Season 11, but she did find Jason Tartick — a member of the Season 14 cast — off camera in 2019. The couple got engaged in 2021 but broke up two years later, and Bristowe said on her Off the Vine podcast (via Page Six) that she felt “very used” by Tartick in their relationship, telling listeners:
Although my house was paid off, I would have to go to him on the first of every month being like, ‘Can you split bills?’ That makes me feel cheap. We had both very similar income. I felt like he was riding a wave.
Jason Tartick is a banker who talks all things finance with members of Bachelor Nation and other celebrities on his podcast Trading Secrets, so while it’s no surprise that he would have taken his and Kaitlyn Bristowe’s money very seriously when they were together, I can’t imagine he loves these details being aired out now.
Because Kaitlyn Bristowe did not hold back. She said she felt he was using their public relationship to make strides in his career. She continued:
And I’m not saying he didn’t love me because I think he did, also unsure, but it felt like [he was] riding coattails, riding a wave, [to get to] where he wanted to get to.
Following their breakup in 2023, Jason Tartick dated influencer Kat Stickler, but they broke up last year. Lately rumors have circulated about him and The Bachelor alum Kelley Flanagan from Peter Weber’s season.
Meanwhile, Kaitlyn Bristowe — who was engaged to Shawn Booth for three years after her season of the dating show — may have also dipped her toe back into the Bachelor Nation dating pool. Since January 2024, she’s been attached to Zac Clark, who was engaged to Season 16 Bachelorette Tayshia Adams until 2021. In the most awkward of twists, Bristowe had even interviewed Adams on camera about her breakup with Clark.
Nobody said Bachelor Nation wasn’t messy!
I’m sure we’ll see more of that messiness — though not from Kaitlyn Bristowe — when Bachelor in Paradise returns to ABC. Contestants from the Golden spinoffs will join the young singles on the beach, and I can’t wait to see if new showrunner Scott Teti makes any big changes to the format. No specific date has yet been announced, but it’s expected to premiere this summer.
