Let's Untangle Blake Horstmann's Bachelor In Paradise Hookup Mess

We first realize something is amiss with Blake Horstmann, so-called “King of Bachelor In Paradise,” during his season 6 introduction. As Horstmann goes running through a Denver park, time-honored Bachelor Nation sleuth Katie Morton pops out from behind a tree wearing a detective-friendly trench coat. “Blake, I see you,” she says before hiding behind a bush. If Morton’ got Blake in her sights, we can assume he’s hiding something (ask Bachelorette 2019 cast-off Scott Anderson).

Once Horstmann gets to Sayulita, Mexico his secrets come spilling out. Apparently, Horstmann has been running through Bachelor Nation women in a way that makes former leading BIP fuckboy Dean Unglert look like a saint. The herald of all this drama is Caelynn Miller-Keyes, a woman who has “spent the night” with Horstmann, as she says, and is now stuck on a Mexican beach with her ex.

However, Miller-Keyes isn’t the only person in Horstmann’s love polygon. Bachelor favorite Tayshia Adams, her co-star Hannah Godwin, and Bachelor 2017’s Kristina Schulman have also found themselves drawn into Horstmann’s messy romantic orbit due to one fateful trip to Stagecoach music festival. As conversations around Paradise season 6’s Monday night premiere signal, drama around Horstmann is going to dominate this year’s summery The Bachelor(ette) spinoff. The teaser only promises more catastrophe around the Colorado native.

So let’s unravel this tangled web that is Blake Horstmann’s post-2018 Bachelorette dating history using the interviews, social media evidence, and Paradise soundbites available.

Rumors about Horstmann and Schulman’s romance have lingered for nearly a full year. Way back in October 2018, Horstmann visited Ben Higgins and Ashley Iaconetti’s Almost Famous podcast to talk about the supposed love connection. “I can confirm I am single right now,” he admitted. “I mean, we talked, we chatted, we did hang out a couple of times. She’s amazing, she’s great, and you know, we get along really well. But right now, you know, we are hanging out, but it’s nothing serious right now.”

Then, in April 2019, the Bachelorette alum confirmed on The Morning Toast he did have a full relationship with Schulman. “We dated. I’m not going to act like we were just flirting. She came to Denver and visited me a couple of times,” he said. Things didn’t “work out” because Horstmann, fresh off of his Becca Kufrin breakup and in contention to be the 2019 Bachelor, was in too “strange” of a place for a relationship.

This interview came a few weeks ahead of the 2019 Stagecoach Festival, where the Horstmann love polygon spins out of control. As both Schulman and Caelynn Miller-Keyes confirm in the Bachelor in Paradise premiere, Horstmann and Schulman slept together at the California music festival. “I thought Kristina and Blake dated for a little bit and then they were done,” Miller-Keyes says at one point in the Paradise premiere. “And when we were talking, Blake told me that he had nothing with Kristina.” This is a sentiment she repeats throughout the episode.

For Schulman’s part, she confirms to host Chris Harrison during her BIP entrance that she hasn’t spoken to Horstmann since Stagecoach. That may explain why Schulman chooses Horstmann for her first date in Mexico. It is worth noting Horstmann was liking Schulman's Instagram photos in the days leading up to Stagecoach and immediately after the festival.

Blake Hortsmann and Colton Underwood ex-girlfriend Tayshia Adams go on the first date of Bachelor in Paradise season 6. However, Caelynn Miller-Keyes confirms Sayulita isn’t their first meeting spot. Adams also was at Stagecoach and met Horstmann there — but, she did not sleep with him.

“Tayshia, he was flirting with you all night at Stagecoach, and he hooked up with me that night,” Miller-Keyes explains in a confessional. “But he also slept with Kristina the night before.”

This backstory would explain why Horstmann supposedly mentioned how “hot” Adams was while still in bed with Miller-Keyes. It also sheds some light on Horstmann's initial conversation with Adams on the reality show. The pair excitedly reminisce about Stagecoach and joke about how drunk they both were. Clearly, Horstmann charmed Adams that evening, but things did not progress past the flirting Miller-Keyes mentions. Hence, Adams’ excitement to go on a date with Horstmann weeks later in Paradise.

The progression of Horstmann’s Stagecoach flirtations brings us to his third target, Caelynn Miller-Keyes, his most vocal opponent. The pageant queen explains over the premiere that she and Horstmann were set up by Colton Underwood, Miller-Keyes’ Bachelor and Horstmann’s friend/Bachelorette co-star. Miller-Keyes and Horstmann spoke for a few months, FaceTimed “three times a day,” and texted daily.

“I thought he was a great guy. We really had something,” Miller-Keyes says. “We talked about skipping Paradise and coming out with us. And then he ghosted me.”

The ghosting came after Horstmann “sweet talked” Miller-Keyes during the second night of Stagecoach, which led to a hookup. Their night together followed Horstmann’s flirtation with Tayshia Adams, according to Miller-Keyes. It was also about 24 hours after his Kristina Schulman hookup (Miller-Keyes had no idea until after the fact).

Miller-Keyes says Horstmann only returned to her life about two weeks before Paradise filming to beg her to keep their sexual encounter a secret. Considering the fact that Miller-Keyes spends the premiere regaling anyone who will listen with the worst stories about Horstmann, it looks like his wish will not be granted.

Hannah Godwin is the final woman Blake Horstmann seemingly pursed before the events of Paradise. Miller-Keyes says Horstmann was in the middle of direct messaging Godwin, another Underwood Bachelor alum, when she woke up in his bed. According to social media, Godwin didn’t go to Stagecoach and was therefore unable to get sucked into Horstmann’s music festival sex vortex. However, it’s unclear if the pair ever met up in person at another time.

All we do know is that Godwin expected more from Horstmann during the start of Paradise, admitting to Katie Morton, “He was saying things earlier that made me feel hopeful.” However, Blake Hortstmann’s loss may end up being Dylan Barbour’s gain — and he doesn’t have a single Stagecoach scandal to his name.