Bachelorette’s Jason Tartick Slams Rumors He Was “Disloyal” to Ex Kat Stickler
Breaking up in public hasn’t been a rosy experience for Jason Tartick.
The Bachelorette alum spoke out about his recent split from ex Kat Stickler to put an end to rumors about the cause of the separation.
“It’s really no one’s business what happened,” he said on the Jan. 27 episode of his Trading Secrets podcast. “But I will say, I’ve just seen every rumor out there—none of them are accurate.”
The reality star—who was previously engaged to fellow Bachelor Nation alum Kaitlyn Bristowe before they called it quits in 2023—stressed that his breakup with Kat, 30, was anything but hostile.
“You put a gun to my head, I would never, ever, ever be disloyal to her,” Jason, 35, declared. “I have a ton of respect and care for her.”
But even though the former couple, who ended their six-month romance in October, ended things on good terms, that doesn’t mean it was easy.
“Just before the breakup and then after, that was probably one of the hardest months of my life,” Jason shared, “because it was so abrupt, and it was so unexpected.”
On top of that, the Talk Money to Me author admitted the public speculation surrounding the circumstances of the split affected him deeply.
“I’m just sitting in my house, like, pulling my hair out,” he went on. “Like, you got to be kidding me. That was a really tough month. Really, really, really, really hard month.”
Fortunately, Jason was able to draw some wisdom from the situation, thanks in part to his previous split with Kaitlyn, 39.
“The sad thing about being in public breakups—which now I've been in two—is that immediately, what people wanna do is they wanna know why, and they wanna point the finger,” he reasoned. “It is what it is, and breakups happen and this is why you date.”
Jason announced his split from Kat—who shares 5-year-old daughter Mary-Katherine, nicknamed MK, with ex-husband Mike Stickler—in October after a few months of dating, writing in an Instagram Stories post that he would “forever be grateful for her and of course, sweet MK.”
As for the TikToker, she similarly dismissed any notion that there was drama between the two.
“It just didn't work,” she said in an Instagram Stories video at the time. “It's not love wasted. I feel like sometimes, it's so easy to think when a relationship ends that the love was wasted but love is never wasted.”
Keep reading for more on the love lives of other members of Bachelor Nation.
Joan Vassos & Chock Chapple
After appearing on the first-ever season of The Golden Bachelor and leaving Gerry Turner's season early, Joan Vassos handed out the roses on the debut season of The Golden Bachelorette. It was there that she met and got engaged to contestant Chock Chapple.
"We are living proof that no matter what life throws at you that there is still hope, even at our age," Joan said on The Golden Bachelorette's November 2024 finale before Chock proposed in Bora Bora. "I waited 'til this moment in this amazing location to tell you that I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to wake up next to you in the morning, and I want to kiss you when I go to bed at night."
Jenn Tran & Devin Strader
During the season 21 finale of The Bachelorette, it looked like The Bachelor alum Jenn Tran was finally getting her happy ending with her final pick Devin Strader. But Jenn, 26, revealed on After the Final Rose back in September that Devin, 28, gave her the cold shoulder as soon as the cameras stopped rolling.
"He was making bold proclamations of love and then suddenly the next day he was like, nothing and he denied ever being in love," Jenn told host Jesse Palmer during the Sept. 3 episode. "All the promises he had made to me, all of the love that he had wanted to give to me wasn't there anymore."
Drama continued to play out when Devin shared a 13-minute video recounting his side of the story to Instagram, where in addition to taking "accountability” he shared insight into why he ended the relationship in a 15-minute phone call.
While Jenn alleged he dumped her during the call in August, he claimed that Jenn demanded to know what was wrong as he tried to find a way to break the news in person.
"I didn't really know what else to do," he explained, noting he had been waiting to tell her in person. "She kind of forced my hand."
Since then, Jenn waltzed over to Dancing With the Stars and possibly into the heart of her partner Sasha Farber as they have continued to spark romance rumors since their Oct. 29 elimination.
Victoria Fuller & Greg Grippo
In November 2022, Greg Grippo (one of Katie Thurston's suitors on The Bachelorette a year prior) joined Victoria Fuller on the season eight finale of Bachelor in Paradise. There, the two announced that they were in a relationship. In April 2024, he revealed the two had called it quits.
Johnny DePhillipo & Victoria Fuller
Before Victoria Fuller and Greg Grippo went public with their romance on the finale of Bachelor in Paradise's eighth season, she and her costar Johnny DePhillipo ended their engagement.
Theresa Nist & Gerry Turner
Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist got engaged in November 2023 during the finale of the inaugural Golden Bachelor and tied the knot in a January 2024 televised ceremony.
However, three months after their nuptials, the couple announced that they were breaking up.
“Theresa and I have had a number of heart-to-heart conversations and we've looked closely at our situation, our living situation, so forth," Gerry said during a joint appearance on Good Morning America with Theresa April 2024. “We've come to the conclusion mutually that it's probably time for us to dissolve our marriage."
They reached a divorce settlement in June 2024, according to court records reviewed by E! News.
Joey Graziadei & Kelsey Anderson
After courting 32 potential brides, tennis pro Joey Graziadei found his perfect match in project manager Kelsey Anderson. "I can't wait another minute to tell you that I love you," Joey told his final rose recipient, before getting down on one knee during his season's March 2024 finale. "There is something about you. You have this infectious energy that makes me smile. It's a feeling I've never had before."
Imagining his forever with the Louisiana native, he continued, "I have known for a while that I've wanted to have a beautiful life, but I truly didn't know how beautiful that life could be until I met you."
