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Did Becca Kufrin and Blake Horstmann Date Before ‘Bachelor in Paradise’? Everything We Know
Former Bachelorette star Becca Kufrin and ex Blake Horstmann sparked romance rumors since her split from fiancé Garrett Yrigoyen. Many fans have wondered: Did Becca and Blake date before she went on Bachelor in Paradise?
“We did kind of chat here and there, and we were back in touch within the last, like, six months,” Blake, 32, said during an appearance on the “Reality Life With Kate Casey” podcast in August 2021. “It kind of came down to if she was going to do Paradise or not.”
The Colorado native competed on Becca’s season in 2018 and made it to the final rose ceremony. However, the leading lady, 31, opted to get engaged to Garrett, 32, during the last episode, leaving Blake completely crushed.
Becca and Garrett were together for two years before their 2020 split. The Minnesota native broke her silence about their breakup in September 2020 after months of speculation.
“I always thought they would never break up,” Blake admitted about the longtime Bachelor Nation couple. “So like, I completely put her out of my head. It was never something, like, ‘When they break up …’ because I never thought they would.”
However, Becca becoming single definitely stirred up some unresolved feelings. “When they did, it was like this weird thing of, ‘Well, I wonder if there’s anything still there,’” he confessed. “I would be willing to talk, of course … But we’ll see how Paradise works out.”
The DJ had a rocky stint on season 6 of Bachelor in Paradise and voiced his concern about the reality franchise “changing” his ex.
“I don’t know, that show can change you [when] those producers get a hold of you. The show doesn’t like me, the show doesn’t want to see us together,” he said.
That being said, Blake revealed he “went through some testing” to appear on season 7 of BIP during an Instagram Q&A in July.
“I didn’t feel it was right for me,” he wrote at the time. “I am in a good place in my life. Personally, professionally and mentally. I didn’t want to go back into an environment that breeds toxicity and emotional abuse.”
While it appears Blake and Becca may have briefly sparked a flirtation before she went on Paradise, the pair previously denied any romantic interest in each other.
In November 2020, Blake responded to rumors he and his ex were “chatting” following her split from Garrett.
“OK, I’m gonna go ahead and answer this once,” he wrote at the time. “Me and Becca are friends. Let the woman be single for a while, she don’t need no damn man to be happy. She is living her best life. We put so much pressure on women to find a man (especially in BN) and it’s ridiculous.”
