The main focus of the season finale of Bachelor in Paradise was the fate of the final four couples, but Blake Horstmann couldn’t avoid being called up to discuss his drama from this season. Of course, that included his decision to post his text messages with Caelynn Miller-Keyes on Instagram after she accused him of trying to keep their pre-show hookup on the down low, and he wanted to prove that that wasn’t how it really went down. Blake was highly criticized for his decision to share the private messages on social media, and although he publicly apologized to Caelynn, he still defended what he did during the reunion show.
Blake started out by explaining what his relationship with Caelynn was like pre-Paradise. “I did like Caelynn and Caleynn liked me. At no point were we in any kind of exclusie relationship,” he explained. “We talked from January to March. Stagecoach happened and w talked after that. A week before Paradise, we decided if someone asked us, we were going to tell people. So going into Paradise, that was my thought — she said, it’s not a big deal if we don’t make it a big deal. So I didn’t go in making it a big deal.”
Caelynn explained that the reason she was so upset when she got to Paradise was because Blake ignored her on the beach, which is what caused her to “explode.” She said she “fully regrets” doing that. “I take ownership for everything, but there was a lot of hurt feelings there,” she admitted. “I don’t think you’re a bad guy. Watching back, I know you’re not a bad guy, and it sucks that it’s come to what it has. But I was hurt and that’s the emotion you saw.”
From there, Caelynn revealed that Blake had only posted “carefully selected” texts from their various conversations, which made her look bad and him look good. “The reason I released them is because the allegations you said [about me] were not true,” Blake explained. “If I were to sit on this stage and say I didn’t sweet talk her, she came onto me, I would’ve been laughed off of this stage. No one would have believed me.”
At that point, Caelynn started tearing up, as she told Blake, “I never felt so exposed or violated in my entire life. I feel disgusting that everyone has seen that s***. That, to me, is the lowest of the low.” Blake admitted that he decided to delete the texts after seeing that Caelynn was getting attacked online for wanting to have sex. “I told you that was going to happen!” Caelynn exclaimed. “You called me right before you posted those and I told you!” Dean Unglert jumped in to defend Caelynn with a similar sentiment.
Caelynn added, “This was premeditated. You’ve been holding onto this since July. Your whole point was to discredit me and you’ve done far more than that. You discredited me in every aspect of my life.” Blake said that he couldn’t understand why people thought he was ‘slut-shaming’ Caelynn in the text messages, and she blew up. “Airing my 5:00 a.m. text messages….that’s…come on….” she said.
When Chris Harrison asked Blake if he realized his leaking of the texts was a violation, he responded, “I knew that people were going to be mad at me, but I felt like I had to defend myself. She said that I played her, sweet talked her and silenced her. Those aren’t light allegations.” Caelynn apologized for overreacting and making those statements about Blake while she was “hurt,” but said she would never stoop so low as to release the texts.”
Blake continued to defend himself, adding, “People say both of us made mistakes, but no one would know if she made any mistakes had I not done what I did! Do people not realize that?! I released text messages to show my side.” Various cast members tried to get Blake to see that he was in the wrong, and he finally concluded, “I didn’t want to hurt you. I know people think it was a malicious act. I tried to get my truth out and I’m so sorry you got attacked and that you are feeling the way you are. I want to apologize to everybody because it seems like a lot of you feel that my actions ruined some of your guys’ experience. That’s not what I wanted to happen. Clearly, I made some mistakes and I’m going to learn from them.”
Blake’s drama on the show started from the very first episode, when it was revealed that he had hooked up with Caelynn and Kristina Schulman just one night apart during the Stagecoach Music Festival earlier this year. Both ladies were upset with Blake for not being truthful with them about what went down from the get-go. Meanwhile, Blake also came to Paradise with a crush on Tayshia Adams, who he asked out on a date during episode one, and Hannah Godwin, who he tried to pursue after Tayshia said she wasn’t interested.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for Blake with any of these women, and he went home after a last-ditch attempt to try and rekindle something with Kristina. She turned him down, and they both decided to leave the show on their own accord.