Kristin Cavallari Dumped Her Hot Young Boyfriend

Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Getty Images

All good things come to an end, including Kristin Cavallari’s romance with a hot 24-year-old TikToker. Cavallari, 37, and Mark Estes, a former college-football player who posts with his friends on the TikTok account @montana.boyz, hard-launched their relationship in February, but a source told People last week that the formerly smitten couple have gone their separate ways. On Tuesday, the former Hills cast member confirmed the breakup, and claimed she was the instigator, during an episode of her Let’s Be Honest podcast. “It’s hard, because I broke up with Mark because I just know long-term it’s not right — and it’s not because of love lost or something bad happened.”

Cavallari went on to explain that nothing in the relationship had soured: No one “cheated” or was “mean,” which she says made the breakup that much more difficult. Estes had been nothing but “sweet and supportive,” she said, going so far as to call him the “best boyfriend” she’s ever had. “I just know long-term he needs to experience life; he’s young … I started to feel the age a little bit with life experience,” she added. “I look back when I was 24 and how much life has happened between then. Those are crucial years. Those are formative years. They’re when you find yourself, and he needs to be able to do that.”

Despite their age gap, which Cavallari says she has “always been well aware” of, the former reality star doesn’t regret taking their relationship public or introducing Estes to her kids. (She shares Camden, 12; Jaxon, 10; and Saylor, 9, with her ex-husband, Jay Cutler.) But she said she believes letting him go is “actually the best thing for him.” “He will make someone so happy one day … and he will have a beautiful family of his own,” she said. “I know that one day he will look back and understand it, and I actually think one day he will look back and thank me.”