The Bachelorette alum Kaitlyn Bristowe has insinuated that she reached out to Tayshia Adams about wanting to date her ex-fiance Zac Clark and the conversation turned pretty ugly.
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(Tayshia, who was previously engaged to Zac, and Kaitlyn, who has been linked to Zac since January, had co-hosted Season 17 and Season 18 of The Bachelorette together in 2021).
What was supposed to be a friendly "heads-up" type of conversation quickly turned into a heated confrontation, according to Kaitlyn.
"I just think communication is everything... All I want from my friends is a heads-up, like, 'This may not feel good, but I wanted to get a pulse check on how it makes you feel.' That's what I would expect from friends," Kaitlyn said.
Kaitlyn suggested a polite question would be, "If I go out to dinner [with a guy], would that make you feel uncomfortable?... I also wonder, 'Was the breakup bad? Did he do something wrong?'"
Kaitlyn went on to say, "I have a really great example that I can't believe I'm going to share. So, I went on a date with somebody from the franchise and I reached out to the girl that he used to be with."
The Bachelor alum explained how she wanted to see how this woman, whom she knew from a former "work situation," would react to the potential dating headline.
"[This woman and I] hadn't talked in months, and no, we're not [friends]," Kaitlyn admitted. "We probably look like friends on the outside, but we're not."
According to Kaitlyn, "a guy from Bachelor Nation" had DM'ed her on Instagram following her August 2023 split from ex-fiance Jason Tartick and asked her out on a date.
Before Kaitlyn officially accepted the date invitation, she texted this man's ex -- who is also a member of Bachelor Nation -- essentially seeking permission or, even better, a blessing to test the waters.
"Thinking it would be the situation where they'd go, 'Well, I mean, I don't love it, but of course I'm not going to say [no].' It was not," Kaitlyn claimed, before bursting into laughter.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW"I wasn't saying, 'If this is a problem, then I won't [go out with him].' I was just giving a heads-up."
Kaitlyn, presumably speaking about Tayshia, elaborated, "We haven't talked and we weren't friends anymore and it wasn't somebody I [hung out with]."
"It was somebody that I said, 'You know what? She's been moved on for a while now and she seems really happy,'" Kaitlyn continued, "So I was like, 'I'm just going to get a pulse check and see how it makes her feel and see what happens."
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Kaitlyn went on to share what she had written in her message.
"I [texted her], 'Hey, so-and-so DM'ed me and we've been chatting. I know you're really happy in a relationship, so I don't actually know if this would bother you or not,'" The Bachelorette alum recalled.
Tayshia is currently dating Summer House alum Luke Gulbranson, although the couple has kept their romance very hush hush.
"It was enough for her to give me a phone call, but it clearly just seemed like a text thing to me," Kaitlyn said.
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Kaitlyn said her jaw dropped to the floor and her immediate reaction was to apologize in that moment.
"You should've seen my face on the call," Kaitlyn quipped. "I was like, 'Oh!' And I was just like, 'I am so sorry. I actually did not think you were going to respond. I am actually really sorry.'"
Kaitlyn confirmed that she went out with this man regardless, and she suggested that the woman had embarrassed herself "especially since she had a day to think about it" and cool off before calling.
"So, I sent the text and the next day she called. I am the type of person where I react with big emotions. I probably would have done the same thing that she did in the moment," Kaitlyn confessed.
"But then I would have hung up and I would've said, 'Ooh, that was not a reasonable reaction.'"
Kaitlyn insisted she would've thought things through and course corrected.
"I probably would've talked to my therapist about it... and then called back and said, 'You know what? I apologize for the way I spoke to you. It doesn't feel good that you're doing this, but at the end of the day, I am happy, and thank you for giving me a heads up,'" Kaitlyn explained.
"[Her reaction] confirmed it for me, like, 'I knew we weren't friends.' I actually knew that she didn't really actually like me in the first place."
Kaitlyn admitted she thought "talking it through" with this person would avoid conflict, hard feelings, or problems in the future -- but she was clearly wrong in this case!
The Bachelorette alum said she never heard back from this woman again.
Tayshia, meanwhile, has yet to publicly address Kaitlyn and Zac's rumored romance, which first made headlines when the pair had partied together in Kaitlyn's Nashville home for New Year's Eve.
Kaitlyn and Zac have since been spotted together multiple times, with sightings in New York and at a wedding.
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"And I've had to attend two weddings with that person there! We just [smiled at each other] and avoided. It was fine. It felt mature, actually."
Kaitlyn concluded, "I wonder if she regrets that. If she called me and said [sorry], I would be like, 'Let's go grab a glass of wine and talk about it!'"
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Kaitlyn hinted Zac is her type when she shared how she'd love to date a man who runs a non-profit organization and has a dad bod. Zac, a former addict, is the founder of a rehab program called the Release Recovery Foundation.
The Bachelorette also said she'd be interested in dating a former athlete who works as a coach or mentor now, and Zac is a passionate runner who often races in marathons.
Zac had proposed marriage to Tayshia at the end of The Bachelorette's sixteenth season in 2020, but they announced their split in November 2021.
When Kaitlyn and Tayshia had co-hosted The Men Tell All together for Michelle Young's The Bachelorette season in December 2021, Tayshia admitted she was "heartbroken" by the breakup.
Neither Tayshia or Zac, however, has ever revealed specific details on why their engagement didn't work out.
Once fans began gossiping about Kaitlyn and Zac possibly dating, Kaitlyn said people were acting like she had "murdered someone" on social media.
The former Dancing with the Stars winner vented on Instagram of the backlash, which included allegations she had broken "girl code" with Tayshia, "You would think by now I'd be used to the hate. I'm not. Your words hurt. Your shaming hurts."
Kaitlyn noted, "But you don't even know the truth, and your HATE should actually come with consequences. I truly worry about some of your mental health. It's not OK. It's. Not... Shame. On. YOU. Not me."
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Zac's good friend and fellow The Bachelorette alum Blake Moynes described Zac as a genuine man who has "no ulterior motive" for dating another woman in Bachelor Nation.
"[Zac] does not give me the guts, because when I have asked [about Kaitlyn], he makes it awkward," Blake said during a March 2024 appearance on "The Ben & Ashley I: Almost Famous Podcast."
Blake continued, "He moves with so much poise and calmness, and he's so happy in his own life and so wrapped up in trying to continue to help people through his recovery foundation and all his work that there's no money aspect to this at all."
Blake said it's not Zac's goal to be in the public eye and have attention on him.
"He's just easy to be around... because there's no other noise or any sh-t. You just get an actual true friend and the show stuff... is just so to the side," Blake explained of his pal.
"It's nice, because when I'm with him... we never talk about the show. It's always about what he's doing, what I'm doing, and work."
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
