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While Peter Weber’s Bachelor season just recently ended, fans are wondering which fan favorites from his season will be heading to Paradise. Last season on Bachelor in Paradise, we saw heartache occur, love flourish, and serious drama go down. And we can’t forget that Blake Horstmann was at the center of quite a lot of controversy.

Prior to the show, Horstmann had romantic relations with Caelynn Miller-Keyes and Kristina Schulman at Stagecoach Music Festival. And it caused quite a stir on the beaches of Mexico when other contestants found out. Now, Horstmann’s reflecting back on that time period with Ben Higgins and Ashley Iaconetti on their Almost Famous podcast. And he thinks Miller-Keyes and her boyfriend, Dean Unglert, might still dislike him.

Blake Horstmann released private texts between him and Caelynn Miller-Keyes to clear his name

Blake Horstmann on 'Bachelor in Paradise'
Blake Horstmann on ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ | John Fleenor/ABC via Getty Images

Horstmann and Miller-Keyes were involved in a seriously dramatic scandal prior to Paradise. Once she arrived on the show, she told others that she and Horstmann had been getting close — but Horstmann pulled the plug on their pseudo-relationship. While Miller-Keyes noted she and Horstmann hooked up at Stagecoach Festival and talked about skipping BIP to be together, she also added that she found out Horstmann had his sights set on Hannah Godwin and Tayshia Adams. This left her more confused and hurt than ever.

Horstmann has a different tale regarding what went down, though. According to him, he and Miller-Keyes were never serious, and it was clear to both of them that their relationship had no strings attached. To clear his name further, he released private texts between him and Miller-Keyes that showed Miller-Keyes stating she wasn’t looking for anything serious.

“Releasing the text messages was the last thing I wanted to do,” Horstmann tearfully said on his Instagram Story. “I know that it’s not good but I feel like I have no other choice but to release those, and I hope Caelynn can forgive me one day.”

Horstmann thinks he was treated unfairly by production and his co-stars

Horstmann got a ton of hate for how he was portrayed on BIP. And he later noted it seriously affected his mental health. “Frustrating seeing people from BIP and producers act like they didn’t bully me for an entire season. Told things like I was a ‘terd that won’t flush’, ‘ugly’ etc. #practicewhatyoupreach,” he tweeted.

Demi Burnett has spoken out against Horstmann in the past. But even she has since repented for the way she spoke about him. “I know I’ve said it several times, and you’ve forgiven me, but I’ll say it again. I am extremely sorry for how I talked about you on BIP,” she tweeted. “I thought things were funny when they weren’t. I took it too far. I deeply regret the things I said and I hate that I hurt you.”

So, is it water under the bridge for Horstmann? It seems he still might be affected by it all, though he’s forgiven Burnett.

“It was just a hard time in my life to have … not only when I was on the beach, having everybody gang up on me and bully me and kick me while I was down, but like afterwards, too, a lot of people I trusted did the same thing,” Horstmann said on the Almost Famous podcast.

He thinks Miller-Keyes and her boyfriend, Dean Unglert, might still be against him

On the podcast, Higgins noted he was there for Horstmann when Horstmann’s whole world was collapsing. But Horstmann noted that he lost a ton of friends and support when everything that occurred at Stagecoach was coming to the surface.

“They were nice to my face, and then watching the things they were saying in interviews and the things they were saying to each other in group chats … not only was it shocking, but it hurt so, so bad,” Horstmann said.

Horstmann noted that many folks have apologized to him since, and he’s been able to come to an understanding regarding their behavior.

“Are there people who still don’t forgive you?” Iaconetti asked Horstmann.

“No,” Horstmann answered. “I think … well, maybe Dean and Caelynn. Maybe those are the only two.”

Unglert and Miller-Keyes met in Paradise, and they’re still together now. Miller-Keyes has since claimed that it’s all water under the bridge with Horstmann — but it seems he’s not so sure that’s the case. Either way, it seems everyone involved in past scandals is over it and moving forward peacefully.

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