The Bachelorette alum Blake Horstmann says he doesn't regret releasing personal text messages with Caelynn Miller-Keyes in 2019 that were designed to prove their relationship was allegedly just about sex.
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"I'm never gonna regret [or] apologize for defending myself."
Blake previously owned up to having sex with The Bachelor alums Caelynn and Kristina Schulman in the same weekend at the April 2019 Stagecoach music festival in California, but Caelynn also alleged on Season 6 of Bachelor in Paradise that Blake suddenly ghosted her and ended their "exclusive" relationship, calling her "a mistake."
After Caelynn also accused Blake on the show of being "scum" and silencing her because he didn't want anyone finding out about their relationship, Blake unleashed a lengthy statement as well as a series of screenshots and videos on Instagram in August 2019 to share his side of the story and attempt to disprove Caelynn's allegations.
One of Caelynn's alleged pre-Bachelor in Paradise text messages to Blake at Stagecoach read, "If I come over it's strictly for sex. Nothing more nothing less."
Blake also denied ever having an exclusive relationship with Caelynn, ghosting her, calling their romance "a mistake," and silencing her so no one would find out.
Caelynn said she felt "absolutely mortified" over the text messages being made public.
"I am not here to deny those text messages or the conversations that took place. Things got taken out of context on the show, and a large part of the story is missing," Caelynn wrote on Instagram in August 2019.
"The reality of the situation is that Blake was not a one night stand at a music festival and the... text exchange that Blake chose to share is not an accurate representation of our past relationship."
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Blake subsequently apologized on Instagram, admitting he had made a lot of mistakes with women and felt ashamed and regret, but he said he had "no choice" but to release the private texts with Caelynn because she had attacked his character and his name on Bachelor in Paradise's sixth season.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOWIn his appearance on Us' podcast, Blake compared his situation with Caelynn to The Bachelor alum Rachael Kirkconnell's racism controversy during Matt James' season.
"Do I wish that situation would have never happened, do I wish there was any other way? I mean, the way I look at is -- remember how this season, Rachael, like, they wouldn't let Rachael put out a statement? That's kind of what would have happened to me," Blake claimed.
Racism rumors began swirling about Rachael in early January after The Bachelor's 25th season premiered. Weeks then passed with more evidence emerging of Rachael's wrongdoing and past racially-ignorant and insensitive actions, but she didn't post a public apology until February 11.
"But I told them to F off," Blake explained of his text-message scandal. "I was like, 'No, I'm gonna fight.' So no, I don't regret that, I don't. And I would do it again if I had to. I just wish it didn't have to come to that, but it did."
As shown on Bachelor in Paradise's sixth edition, Blake was condemned for having sex with Kristina the night before he flirted with Tayshia Adams and then slept with Caelynn at Stagecoach.
Caelynn claimed she had been dating Blake exclusively -- FaceTiming and talking every day -- for a few months. Caelynn said she and Blake even talked about potentially skipping Paradise to be together and he really hurt her.
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"He ghosted me, just, like, fully stopped communication... And then we saw each other at a music festival and he ended up sweet talking me, and so we spent the night together," Caelynn told bartender Wells Adams on Bachelor in Paradise.
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But in the text messages Blake released, Caelynn allegedly told Blake she wanted "sex, only sex" from him at the music festival -- while he was pleading with her just to cuddle instead.
When asked whether he regrets appearing on that scandalous Bachelor in Paradise season, Blake appeared to be at peace with the decision.
"Oh gosh, for a long time, I did [regret it]. But now, not really. I've become very passionate about mental health; we've able to help a lot of people. I've kind of embraced that role in Bachelor Nation, which has been pretty fun and pretty cool," Blake shared with Us.
"And at the end of the day, like, all those people that were, like, 'hurt' by me, they're freaking all happy and engaged or in relationships, and all of that. So, it's like, had I not gone down there, would it have happened the way it did? I don't know."
Blake added, "So no, I don't necessarily regret it... I'm the only one who's still alone! I'm the only one, it's brutal! Well Kristina, I guess, isn't seeing anyone too."
Blake -- who initially competed for Becca Kufrin's heart on The Bachelorette's fourteenth season -- left Paradise in 2019 single, but Caelynn fell in love with her current boyfriend Dean Unglert.
Hannah Godwin, who had a brief fling with Blake in Mexico on the 2019 BIP season, got engaged to Dylan Barbour during the season finale. And Tayshia ultimately starred on The Bachelorette's sixteenth season last year and is still engaged to her winner, Zac Clark.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
