Blake Claims Caelynn Was In Talks To Be The Bachelorette While They Were Dating

If you're a loyal member of Bachelor Nation, then you know the best (i.e. messiest) drama often takes place when the cameras aren't rolling. The latest season of Bachelor in Paradise may have ended in three proposals, but that time spent in Paradise created just as much hostility as romance — especially for Blake and Caelynn. The latest juicy tidbit in this ongoing saga: Blake Horstmann claims Caelynn Miller-Keyes wanted to be The Bachelorette, which is to be expected for a former Bachelor contestant — except that she was supposedly in negotiations while she and Horstmann were still dating.

During his Sept. 18 appearance on the podcast Bachelor Happy Hour with Rachel & Ali — as in, former Bachelorettes Rachel Lindsay and Ali Fedotowsky-Manno — Lindsay brought up how emotional Miller-Keyes appeared during the March 5 Women Tell All special, specifically while talking about her relationship with Colton Underwood (who was the Bachelor for Miller-Keyes's season). At the time of the taping, she was reportedly dating Horstmann — but apparently, it was complicated. "[Her behavior on Women Tell All] was a little bit confusing for me, too," Horstmann replied, "because the whole time we were talking, she was in negotiations to be Bachelorette and wanted to be Bachelorette." Oh, really?

Let's review the timeline of Horstmann and Miller-Keyes's tumultuous relationship, because it's confusing AF. As Horstmann revealed during the Sept. 18 podcast, the first time he and former pageant queen ever talked was on FaceTime in mid-December of last year after Underwood set them up, and they "talked until about mid-March." He estimated that the two FaceTimed "12, 15 times" during those three months, clarifying, "We definitely didn’t FaceTime three times a day. We did FaceTime, but it wasn't three times a day," as Miller-Keyes formerly claimed. Horstmann also emphasized that Underwood knew they were talking that whole time.

The Stagecoach drama wouldn't go down until April, after the two had supposedly stopped talking, but apparently, some sketchy stuff was happening even before the music festival. Horstmann explained how, initially, Miller-Keyes was straightforward about her desire to become The Bachelorette and even sought Horstmann's advice. "She had asked me certain things about the process," he explained, as he'd been in the running to be The Bachelor the year before. Again, that wouldn't be a big deal — except for the fact Miller-Keyes later reportedly made their relationship seem much more serious than it supposedly was.

"She wanted to be The Bachelorette and she was ready to leave and do that right away," Horstmann continued, "but suddenly it's, like, this very serious and exclusive relationship," alluding to Miller-Keyes's claims that they had been in a more committed relationship than he let on. Horstmann asked, "Why act how you did on Women Tell All and the fact that you want to be Bachelorette and months later, we're in this very serious relationship?"

OK, so... who exactly am I supposed to believe? The drama makes it unclear exactly how serious Horstmann and Miller-Keyes' relationship really was before that Stagecoach mess — you know, when he reportedly hooked up with Miller-Keyes only a day after reportedly sleeping with his ex-girlfriend, Kristina Schulman. Horstmann's new claims suggest that he feels justified in double-timing Miller-Keyes — or, at least, not as guilty as he appears — but honestly, I'm just about ready for these two to leave that drama back in Paradise and carry on.