Becca Kufrin and Blake Horstmann were apparently talking and considering taking each other out of the friend zone before Becca decided to appear on Bachelor in Paradise's seventh season.
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But Bachelor in Paradise previews have shown Becca arriving on the beach in Mexico, ready to look for love after announcing her breakup from The Bachelorette 14 winner Garrett Yrigoyen in September 2020.
Following Becca's split from Garrett, Blake, 32, shared on the Friday, August 20 episode of the "Reality Life With Kate Casey" podcast, "We did kind of chat here and there, and we were back in touch within the last, like, six months," according to Us Weekly.
"It kind of came down to if she was going to do Paradise or not."
Becca, 31, has been single ever since her devastating breakup with Garrett, whom she had been engaged to, but rumors have swirled about Becca and Blake dating and flirting for months now.
"I always thought they would never break up. So like, I completely put her out of my head," Blake explained.
"It was never something, like, 'When they break up...' because I never thought they would. When they did, it was, like, this weird thing of, 'Well, I wonder if there's anything still there?'"
But Bachelor in Paradise previews have shown Becca building a connection with Katie Thurston's The Bachelorette villain Thomas Jacobs.
In one clip of a future episode, Becca gushes about how she can't stop smiling around Thomas while the pair is on a date.
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"I would be willing to talk, of course. But we'll see how Paradise works out because she's going to Paradise," Blake said on the podcast.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW"And I don't know, that show can change you and those producers get a hold of you. The show doesn't like me, the show doesn't want to see us together. She has, like, the ABC podcast ["Bachelor Happy Hour"]. That's kind of her thing. She is very much involved in that show. We'll see."
Blake -- who appeared on Bachelor in Paradise's sixth edition and came across like a playboy -- recently said on his Instagram Stories that he doesn't think Paradise producers have cast members' best interest in mind.
"It's like having a life coach who pushes you to do the wrong things," Blake claimed earlier this summer, adding how he's in a good place and doesn't want to risk his well-being for "some followers and [social-media] engagement."
Blake confirmed in March that he and Becca were friends and had a "great relationship" on Us' "Here for the Right Reasons" podcast.
One month later, fans questioned if Becca and Blake were back together or if something was going on between the pair due to their obvious flirty dynamic on Instagram.
But a source told the magazine in May that Becca and Blake were "both single" and not dating one another.
"Becca and Blake are just friends," the source said, adding that just because the former couple has been seen "flirting with each other," it "doesn't mean they're dating."
Shortly after announcing on September 1, 2020 her engagement to Garrett had ended, Becca made a "last-minute decision" and moved to Los Angeles, CA, to embrace a "new adventure" in her life.
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And after competing on Becca's The Bachelorette season, Blake had flings with The Bachelor alums Caelynn Miller-Keyes and Kristina Schulman.
Blake was also romantically interested in Hannah Godwin on Bachelor in Paradise's sixth season, but she chose to pursue a relationship with Dylan Barbour instead.
Blake and Becca "both care a lot about each other and have always been supportive of one another," the source explained to Us earlier this year.
In addition, The Bachelorette exes "run in the same group and hang out from time to time," according to the insider.
Becca and Blake's breakup on The Bachelorette finale in August 2018 was excruciating to watch considering Blake said he was madly in love with the show's leading lady at the time.
Blake was admittedly "blindsided" by Becca's decision to dump him because he appeared to be her frontrunner all season long.
"I truly thought that if it came down to me proposing, that she wouldn't say no," Blake told Entertainment Tonight in 2018. "I thought what we had was real."
Blake added it was "incredibly hard" to get over his heartbreak at first.
"It made for some really hard days, but I had a great support system. My family was amazing. We talked through a lot of things and they were there for me," he said at the time.
Becca starred on The Bachelorette after having her heart broken by Arie Luyendyk Jr. on The Bachelor's 22nd season, which wrapped in early 2018.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
