Nick Viall can sense that Jason Tartick and Kat Stickler’s romance is the real deal.
“I’m really happy for Jason. I’ve heard that he’s incredibly happy [and] the happiest he’s ever been. I’m really excited for him,” Viall, 43, said during the Thursday, June 27, episode of his“Viall Files” podcast. “He seems really at peace.”
Tartick, 35, and Stickler have been linked since April, making their public debut as a couple at an F1 Grand Prix party in May. Weeks later, they went Instagram official.
“I think he’s a high-character guy [and] I really like him. It’s great to see him happy. This is all to say he seems really happy,” Viall noted on Thursday, adding he “always” enjoys hanging out with “good dude” Tartick. “This is all to say he seems really happy, I heard he’s happy and I look forward to meeting his new girlfriend.”
Viall added, “His heart definitely seems full, fuller than ever.”
When Tartick and Stickler debuted their relationship on social media earlier this month, they captioned matching Instagram posts, “Heart is full.” According to Tartick, their romance was effortless from the start.
“The day after our first kiss, Kat was supposed to leave town and I was leaving the following day. She FaceTimed me when she got on the plane and said ‘Should I get off this plane and go to you? Is that too much? I should just stay on, right? But it would be pretty romantic … I think. What do you think?’” he wrote via Instagram earlier in June. “I told her to do it since she didn’t have [her daughter] MK that weekend … and she didn’t even hesitate.”
Tartick added, “She got all her things from the overhead and at this point everyone on the plane was sitting down. Flight attendant asked where she was going and all she said was ‘I’m gonna go see a boy I just met!!’ and then all the passengers started clapping and cheering and she left the plane and that night we had our first dinner where it was just us. I’ll never forget the feeling I had taking this picture right before that first date night.”
Kat was previously married to Mike Stickler, with whom she shares daughter Mary-Katherine (a.k.a. MK). The Bachelorette alum, for his part, and ex Kaitlyn Bristowe ended their engagement in August 2023.
Bristowe, 38, does not appear to harbor any ill will toward Tartick and his new girlfriend.
“Yall are making some wild assumptions in here,” Bristowe wrote via Facebook comment this month, responding to claims she was upset by her ex’s Instagram debut with Kat. “Thank you for the kind sentiment. It meant a lot to me.”
Bristowe has recently been linked to fellow Bachelor Nation alum Zac Clark but has not officially confirmed their status. The duo were spotted together at Game 7 of the NHL Championship earlier this week, which was also attended by Tartick and Kat.
