Kaitlynn Carter Says Her Miley Cyrus Breakup Completely Changed Her Life

This is just speculation, but it seems to me that dating a celebrity is kinda rough — even if you're a celebrity yourself. Apparently, Kaitlynn Carter's breakup with Miley Cyrus had a major impact on her life, and probably not for the reason you'd expect. During an April 15 Instagram Live chat with fellow Hills: New Beginnings star Whitney Port, Carter shared what she learned from her (very) public romance with Cyrus. Though she knew the relationship would probably get a lot of attention, here's what Carter never expected: that the media would still hound her after the breakup.

"... after Miley and I went our separate ways, I thought, 'OK, my life's just kinda going back to the way it normally was for me when I'm on my own,'" Carter told Port. "I had no expectations that anyone would give a sh*t about me by myself." Imagine her surprise when — two weeks after splitting with Cyrus — Carter found herself back in the public eye. After a night out with a friend, tabloid headlines reported that Carter was "out on the town, partying with a mystery man." As Carter explained, "The narrative was so not what the actual situation was and that was such a wake-up call for me."

As you probably recall, the reason that Carter and Cyrus' relationship was such a big deal was mostly due to timing. In Aug. 2019, the same day that Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth announced their separation (and just days after Carter and Brody Jenner parted ways), photos surfaced of Cyrus and Carter vacationing on Italy's Lake Como together. Cyrus later took to Twitter to shut down those cheating rumors, making it clear that she and Carter didn't strike up a relationship until both had called it quits from their respective partners, but some fans remained skeptical.

According to her conversation with Port, Carter imagined that — after her relationship with Cyrus ended in Sept. 2019 — the public would lose interest in her. Spoiler alert: She was wrong. Of course, Carter grew accustomed to the paparazzi during her relationship with Jenner, but she wasn't used to being a public figure outside of a relationship. "In relationships especially, I have always taken a back seat a little bit and sort of trusted the person I'm with to run the show, especially publicly because it's never really been something that I wanted," Carter said. "I never really wanted to put myself out there that way." And sadly, it doesn't seem like she had a choice in the matter.

Ever since her September breakup, Carter has had to consider her public image in a way she's never had to (and never wanted to) do before. And while Instagram feels like a safe space within her control, she understands now that she can't control public perception all of the time. "...that was not really something that I was ever [ready for]," she admitted to Port.

Here's hoping that — as more time passes and she puts her relationship with Cyrus behind her — Carter will finally get a little more privacy.