Kaitlyn Bristowe opened up about the issues in her romance with ex-fiancé Jason Tartick, revealing that finances created major issues in their relationship.
“Although my house was paid off, I would have to go to him on the first of every month being like, ‘Can you split bills?’” Kaitlyn, 39, claimed about Jason, 36, during the Thursday, April 3, episode of her “Off the Vine” podcast, adding that she felt “very used” when it came to finances.
She said that it made her “feel cheap,” especially since they both had “very similar income.” She continued, “I felt like he was riding a wave.”
Kaitlyn went on to claim that Jason was leveraging their relationship in order to advance his career. “And I’m not saying he didn’t love me because I think he did, also unsure, but it felt like [he was] riding coattails, riding a wave, [to get to] where he wanted to get to,” she continued.
The former Bachelorette star began dating Jason in 2019, and they got engaged in May 2021. Despite appearing to have a strong relationship, Jason and Kaitlyn announced their split in August 2023.
“Continuing our friendship is incredibly important to both of us,” they wrote in a joint statement at the time. “We feel grateful to be ending our engagement with love and respect for each other. It’s heartbreaking and sad to say goodbye, but our care and admiration for one another will never die.”
Both Jason and Kaitlyn have been open about the struggles they faced in their relationship following their split. In fact, Jason previously hinted that money was a problem for the pair.
“With the chaotic year of learning how to navigate the Wild West of reality TV and social media just behind me, the excitement of my new romance, and the gut punch of the unexpected loss of my job, I neglected to look at life’s balance sheet,” Jason wrote in his April 2024 book, Talk Money to Me: The 8 Essential Financial Questions to Discuss With Your Partner. “Prior to June 2019, before we moved in together, my ex and I never had a candid conversation about money. I never told her the important numbers that defined my financial health, and she didn’t tell me hers. Hell, I didn’t even ask.”
Meanwhile, the Canada native continued to drop even more bombshells about their issues during her recent podcast episode.
After noting that Jason adopted a golden retriever in March and named him Teddy, Kaitlyn claimed that he stole the name from her after she previously told him she wanted to name her future child that.
“I said, the day I met him, ‘I want to name my baby Teddy,’” Kaitlyn claimed, adding that she felt “disrespected” by her ex’s actions.
Kaitlyn said that she had “so many gross feelings” about the situation “because for so long I was made to feel crazy.”
“Now I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m not crazy.’ I just saw what other people are seeing now,” she continued. “It’s just not aligned. What I want out of life is not what he wants and that is [why] two people shouldn’t be together like that. So, I’m not fully angry, I’m just really grossed out and disappointed.”
After Kaitlyn made the claims about Jason, she said that the April 3 podcast episode would “probably be the last time” she ever discussed the Buffalo, New York, native publicly.
“I didn’t for so long, and that felt really good because I had let it go,” she said. “That kind of just fired something up in me again. I think it’s OK to talk about.”
