Kristin Cavallari still thinks her relationship with ex-boyfriend Mark Estes was the “best” she’s ever had — but their age difference proved to be too much to move past.
“It’s hard because I broke up with Mark because I just know long-term it’s not right,” Cavallari, 37, revealed during the Tuesday, October 1, episode of her “Let’s Be Honest” podcast, confirming their split. “It’s not because of love lost or something bad happened. No one cheated. No one was mean. No one did anything.”
“Those breakups are always the hardest I think because it’s almost easier if the guy does something that makes you hate him,” she continued.
The Uncommon James founder reiterated that Estes, 24, “didn’t do anything” wrong. (Us Weekly confirmed on Friday, September 27, that Cavallari and Estes split seven months after debuting their romance.)
“Mark has been nothing but so sweet and so supportive. He’s always been there. He’s been the best boyfriend I’ve ever had,” Cavallari confessed. “I just know long-term he needs to experience life.”
Cavallari and Estes raised eyebrows when they went public in February because of their 13-year age difference. However, Cavallari still stands by her relationship with Estes. “I started to feel the age a little bit just with life experience. I look back when I was 24 and how much life has happened for me in between,” she told her listeners. “Those are crucial years. Those are formative years. This is when you find yourself. He needs to be able to do that.”
The Laguna Beach alum acknowledged that a “lot of people” will call her out for the delayed reaction to his age, but she said she’s “always been well aware that he is 24.” She added, “It wasn’t like I was ignoring that fact that he was younger.” The former reality star noted that she doesn’t want to “rob” Estes of getting married and having his own children.
Cavallari — who shares sons Camden, 12, and Jaxon, 10, and daughter Saylor, 8, with ex-husband Jay Cutler — started to get emotional after insisting that her split from Estes “isn’t a bad thing.”
“I really look at our relationship as such a beautiful relationship. Probably the best relationship of my life, quite honestly,” Cavallari explained. “It was very healthy and very mature. It was nothing but sweet and loving. Mark is a really good guy. And that’s what makes it hard.”
Cavallari got choked up talking about Estes’ future outside of their relationship, saying, “I actually think one day he will thank me” for pulling the plug. “That’s just hindsight you don’t have at 24. Everything is so [focused on] right now when you’re 24,” she shared.
Even though it’s been hard to let him go, Cavallari said she doesn’t “regret anything” about the romance. “It was such a good, happy relationship. I will forever look back at Mark and I with such fond memories and pure happiness,” she continued, adding that she is “optimistic” they’ll remain friends after some time apart.
Cavallari confessed, “Mark is someone I would really love to have in my life in some capacity. I do care a lot about him. My kids like him.” She once again started to cry thinking about how the Montana Boyz star will grow with age. “He has the whole world ahead of him,” the Hills alum pointed out.
When it comes to her own future, Cavallari said her life is “really full” with her kids, work and “a little bit of friends.” A new boyfriend, however, is far from her mind.
“[It’s] so not even on my radar right now. I have no interest in getting back into the dating world right now,” she told her listeners. “I don’t know how much time I have for dating.”
While Cavallari asserted that she is “really happy and really content having my life right now being about my kids and my work,” she said that Estes is the kind of man she wants in her life — when the stars align.
“If Mark were 45 and had two of his own older kids, he would be perfect. I mean that,” Cavallari gushed. “He is such a good guy, but to me it just means I’m one step closer to ultimately finding The One.”
She noted that because Estes was “so close to what I want” she is confident that the “work” she’s done since her divorce from Cutler is paying off. “I just think timing was off,” Cavallari continued, concluding, “My life right now is just full. The time that I do have I don’t necessarily want it going to a man right now. That’s that.”
