Blake Horstmann has thoughts about ex Becca Kufrin after she made her Bachelor in Paradise debut.
On Wednesday, Sept. 1, Blake shared his feelings about Becca during the Behind the Rose podcast. On the episode, co-host Erik Bradley asked about Becca's own podcast claims that her recent reconnection with Blake was not as romantic as her runner-up from her season of The Bachelorette had made it seem.
"I was hurt by the podcast—and like you said, it's no secret that we were hanging out prior," Blake, 32, said. "My friends certainly know the truth. Most of the people in Bachelor world know the truth. Her friends sure as s--t know the truth. So, it is what it is. The one thing I'm gonna say is maybe Becca is protecting something or someone, and for that I respect her for that. But it just sucks that it happened the way it did."
It's unclear if Blake was implying that Becca, 31, established a relationship in Paradise that he believed she was trying to protect. But he went on to say he "just never expected that from her."
Blake added, "I'm just never gonna talk about her again. Because anytime I do, s--t gets written in everything, and it just gets everything blown up more so. The f--king podcasts are—it really, really hurt. But it is what it is, moving on."
Public discourse around the pair was revived after Blake was a guest on the Aug. 20 episode of the Reality Life with Kate Casey, where he said he had recently been back in touch with Becca. The former Bachelorette chose Garrett Yrigoyen over Blake in her series finale that aired in 2018, but she and Garrett split in August 2020.
Blake said on the Aug. 20 podcast, "We did kind of chat here and there, and we were back in touch within the last like six months."
This led Becca to share her own take on things during the Aug. 26 episode of her Click Bait With Bachelor Nation podcast. She told co-hosts Joe Amabile and Natasha Parker that the pair have "always been friends" but implied it would be staying platonic.
"We've always been supportive of one another," Becca explained. "In terms of the 'talking,' yeah, we've been in touch very sporadically, but nothing that I would say would warrant…a potential relationship."
After things didn't work out between them on The Bachelorette, Blake was a hot commodity during the 2019 season of Bachelor in Paradise. However, his stint on the show was a bit of a dumpster fire after he found himself embroiled in drama involving Caelynn Miller-Keyes, Kristina Schulman and Tayshia Adams.
Back in September 2019, as Paradise was wrapping up, Becca was supportive of him during an interview with E! News but appeared to suggest the show wasn't his best look. "I wish him the best, and I want him to find love, but Paradise isn't for everyone," she said back then.
Will it end up being for Becca? We'll have to find out when Bachelor in Paradise airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on ABC.