A decade after handing out roses as the Bachelorette, Kaitlyn Bristowe is keeping her current relationship offline.
“Privacy is so hot, like, I am turned on by being private. There’s something really special and sacred about it,” Bristowe, 40, told Us Weekly in a joint interview with her Are You My First? cohost Colton Underwood.
The season 11 Bachelorette was engaged to Shawn Booth for three years, calling it quits in 2018. She subsequently started dating Bachelorette season 14 alum Jason Tartick. The twosome, who got engaged in 2021, confirmed their split in summer 2023.
“Obviously, I had two very public relationships, and I’m an over-sharer and an open book, and it’s very hard to not share certain things of my life, but it feels so right,” Bristowe continued to Us. “Relationships from Bachelor franchise or people online, like, it starts to feel a bit performative at times. And I feel like that was where it was going for me last time, and it did not feel good.”
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Bristowe has most recently been linked to Bachelorette season 16 winner Zac Clark (who was engaged to lead Tayshia Adams for about a year). Bristowe and Clark were first spotted together in January 2024, and earlier this month, fans were convinced they heard his voice and saw his watch via her Instagram Stories.
“So this time around … ” she told Us. “I’m like, ‘Look, I just turned 40. I am in the best place of my life in every aspect — personally, professionally, spiritually, in a good place, and protecting my peace can come with some privacy.’ And I’m into it.”
Another former Bachelor Nation lead, Underwood came out as gay 2021 and is married to Jordan C. Brown. The couple welcomed son Bishop, 10 months, in September 2024.
“Bishop is the love of my life, and it’s really cool to watch my husband be a father. I think it’s so sexy,” Underwood gushed to Us. “Bishop is the best, he really is. I was even [telling] Kaitlyn today that I’m so in love with Bishop and, like, wanting to be there and be the best I can that I actually think it’s probably going to delay and push baby No. 2, just because I really want to be in this moment with him.”
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Underwood added that he has sperm frozen and “ready to go.”
Bristowe and Underwood recently teamed up to cohost Hulu’s new dating show, Are You My First?, which featured 21 virgins looking for love.
“The goal of the show was never to get them laid,” Underwood told Us. “I remember joking about that on my Bachelor season like, ‘That is not the goal of the show.’ The goal is to connect with somebody, to experience these things. And people experienced their firsts on Are You My First? in different ways. On a deeper level, I think some of the cast experienced the first self-love and self-acceptance, like, having that deeper understanding of their virginity was the goal of this.”
Are You My First? is currently streaming on Hulu.
