Kristin Cavallari Shares Challenges From Mark Estes Romance, Confirms New Relationship

Kristin Cavallari is embarking on a new romance!

On the latest episode of Bunnie Xo’s podcast Stupid blonde, the Hills alum, 37, shared that she has moved on following her breakup with Mark Estes in September. When asked how her dating life has been going, Cavallari admitted that she has a new beau — but she’s not ready to make things public just yet.

“I’m kind of dating someone else now,” she said. “I won’t say who it is and it’s really new.”

Cavallari then revealed, “He’s a retired athlete, which I’ll tell you.”

When Bunnie said, “You love the athletes,” the reality star replied, “They love me, I guess!”

“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 had need’,” she continued. “He retired a few years ago, and he’s got so much depth. And I just love talking to him.”

Cavallari also said the mystery man would be coming to stay with her for a few days this week, which she admitted she was looking forward to.

“We connect on so many different levels, which is great,” she said.

Reflecting on his relationship with Estes, who is only 25 years old, Cavallari said their 13-year age difference wasn’t the only challenge the two faced, but it caused other problems in their dynamic.

“I think when you’re young and don’t have life experience, coupled with maybe not a lot going on in your life, there’s not much to talk about,” she explained. “There’s not much to bring to the table. And so, yeah, I came out of it craving real depth and emotional intimacy.”

Still, Cavallari said she and the social media star “had a real connection” and insisted there was no bad blood between them.

“He’s a really good guy,” she shared. “It was a beautiful relationship. I have nothing bad to say. It was fun until it wasn’t.”

She added that “people forget that the last 5 years have been my dating era,” referring to the period following her 2020 divorce from Jay Cutler after seven years of marriage.

“I’ve always had boyfriends — I met Jay when I was 23,” Cavallari said. “I’ve never been able to date and find out exactly what I want and find out for myself through dating. And that’s what I’ve been doing for the last 5 years and it’s been really fun for me.”

“It was a distraction,” she continued. “It was really easy. It fit into my life quite naturally. I said this on my podcast, but you know, it might be selfish looking back, but I didn’t really have to bow to (Estes) in a lot of ways. He kind of fit into my life.”

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In November, Estes and the mother of three ran into each other at Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk Rock N’ Roll Steakhouse in Nashville during a night out. Pictures taken by TMZ featured them together for the first time since their split, along with one of Estes’ fellow Montana Boyz members, Kaleb Winterburn.

“Everyone is on good terms,” an exclusive source told PEOPLE at the time.

Cavallari echoed that sentiment in an episode of her on October 1 Let’s be honest podcast: “He’s been the best boyfriend I’ve ever had. I just know that in the long run he needs to experience life, he’s young… I started to age a little bit with life experience. I look back when I was 24 and how much life has happened between then, those are defining years, those are formative years, that’s when you find yourself, and he has to be able to do that.”