Kristin Cavallari is opening up about her new relationship! During a recent episode of Bunnie Xo’s podcast, Dumb Blonde, the former star of The Hills, 37, discussed moving on from her breakup with Mark Estes in September.
When prompted about her dating situation, Cavallari revealed she is seeing someone new but is not quite ready to go public with it. “I’m kind of dating someone else now,” she shared. “I’m not gonna say who it is, and it’s really new.”
Cavallari then offered a hint, saying, “He is a retired athlete, which I will tell you.” When Bunnie joked about her affinity for athletes, Cavallari replied, “They love me, I think!” She expressed her enthusiasm, saying, “I’m a f—ing WAG through and through.
He’s such a good guy, and it’s new, but he checks all the boxes where I’m like, ‘F—, this is what I’ve been needing.’” She noted that he retired a couple of years ago and appreciates his depth, adding, “I just love talking to him. He’s 40.”
Anticipating their upcoming time together, Cavallari mentioned that the mystery man would be visiting her for a few days that week, something she was eagerly looking forward to. “We connect on so many different levels, which is awesome,” she gushed.
Reflecting on her past relationship with the younger Estes, who is only 25, Cavallari explained that their 13-year age difference was not the sole issue they encountered, as it contributed to other challenges in their relationship.
“I think when you are young and you don’t have life experience, coupled with maybe not a lot going on in your life, there’s not a lot to talk about,” she clarified. “There’s not a lot to bring to the table. And so, yes, I came out of it and was craving real depth and emotional intimacy.”
Despite the challenges, Cavallari maintained that she and the social media star “did have a real connection” and emphasized that there were no hard feelings between them. “He’s a really good guy,” she noted. “It was a beautiful relationship. I have nothing bad to say. It was fun until it wasn’t.”
Cavallari highlighted that “people forget that the last 5 years have been my dating era,” referring to the time following her 2020 divorce from Jay Cutler after seven years of marriage. “I always had boyfriends — I met Jay when I was 23,” she recalled.
“I never was able to date and figure out exactly what I want and figure out myself through dating. And so that’s what I’ve been doing the last 5 years, and that was really fun for me.”
She described her recent dating experiences as a distraction, saying, “It was really easy. It just sort of naturally fit into my life. I said this on my podcast, but, you know, it’s maybe selfish looking back, but I didn’t really have to bend for [Estes] in a lot of ways. He just kind of fit into my life.”
In November, Cavallari and Estes unexpectedly crossed paths at Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk Rock N’ Roll Steakhouse in Nashville during a night out. TMZ obtained photos capturing their reunion for the first time since their breakup, with Estes joined by fellow Montana Boyz member Kaleb Winterburn. “Everyone’s on good terms,” a source told PEOPLE at that time.
Cavallari echoed this positive sentiment on the October 1 episode of her Let’s Be Honest podcast, saying, “He’s been the best boyfriend I’ve ever had. I just know long-term he needs to experience life, he’s young… I started to feel the age a little bit with life experience.
I look back when I was 24 and how much life has happened between then; those are crucial years, those are formative years, they’re when you find yourself, and he needs to be able to do that.”
