Former The Bachelorette star Kaitlyn Bristowe has revealed she almost canceled her first meeting with now-boyfriend Jason Tartick one year ago but fate stepped in and took over.
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Kaitlyn and Jason met one year ago when he appeared on her Off the Vine podcast, but that meeting almost didn't happen.
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"EMOTIONAL ALERT. On this day last year.... I walked into a studio in Seattle to podcast with Jason and [The Bachelor alum Olivia Caridi]," Kaitlyn captioned a photo of the three people together on Wednesday.
"I almost canceled because I had been bawling my eyes out in an Uber, going through some crap, and I was crying on FaceTime to my dad when he came in."
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Kaitlyn said her first impression of Jason was a fantastic one. He was apparently sweet and open, and he immediately hugged her when he noticed she had been crying.
"We had never met, but he hugged me, and told me he had just cried too at a charity event he came from," Kaitlyn continued.
"He looked at me and said, 'Let's have a soft Tuesday together.' He almost canceled as well because he had an eye infection. He brought a nice bottle of wine, and I had asked Olivia to join me for the podcast because I thought I would need someone to help keep the energy up, since I was so sad."
But Kaitlyn quickly came to discover she and Jason didn't need to be saved.
"If you spend two seconds with Jason you realize his energy is electric and you can't help but be in a good mood," Kaitlyn shared.
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"My day had changed. I didn't know what was going to happen. I thought of Jason as a friend, and wanted him to be the Bachelor."
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At the time, Jason was one of the frontrunners to star on The Bachelor's 23rd season, along with his pal Blake Horstmann, but the position ultimately went to Colton Underwood from Becca Kufrin's The Bachelorette season.
"[Jason] actually helped me through a hard time. I just wanted him to be happy. J, I met you 365 days ago and from what felt like was a goofy friendship, turned into a beautiful love story," Kaitlyn wrote.
"Thank you for always lifting me up, being my rock, and thank you for stepping foot into that studio with your Cyclopes eye. You're my Lobster."
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In an interview with People earlier this year, Kaitlyn revealed how her romance with Jason -- which began in January -- came as a big surprise to her.
"My relationship with Jason was definitely not something I expected," Kaitlyn said at the time.
"When I met him, dating anyone wasn't even on my radar, especially dating anyone in Bachelor world, but something in my mind was rooting for him. And I thought, 'Whoever dates him is a lucky girl.'"
Kaitlyn and Jason went on their first date nearly three months after Kaitlyn had announced her split from then-fiance Shawn Booth, who had won her heart and proposed marriage on The Bachelorette's eleventh season.
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But Kaitlyn and Jason hit it off right away, and their relationship moved quickly. It didn't even take long for the couple to express their love for one another.
Kaitlyn and Jason -- a Buffalo, NY, native -- subsequently moved in together in Nashville, TN, in June and adopted a dog from South Korea. Jason had relocated from his place in Seattle, WA, to be with the podcast host.
Kaitlyn and Jason told Entertainment Tonight in June they've talked about getting engaged and starting a family together.
"That's why we moved in together, because we were just so ready to take the next step. We just have, again, the confidence in our relationship to take the next step, where now [engagement is] naturally something we talk about anyways," Kaitlyn shared.
"I want two dogs, three kids," Jason said.
"I mean, I'm fine with one or two," Kaitlyn noted of welcoming children. "I used to want five [kids], but now I'm like, 'Okay, I'm turning 34 tomorrow,' and I'm like, 'You know what? One would be great!'"
Kaitlyn first competed for Chris Soules' heart on The Bachelor before starring on The Bachelorette's eleventh season in 2015 and getting engaged to Shawn, whom she had dated for three years before calling it quits.
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As for Jason, he fell hard for Becca on The Bachelorette's fourteenth season and finished in third place, leaving him devastated.
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