Kristina Schulmancame toParadiseto find love, but she wasn’t willing to settle.
The 26-year-old dental hygienist shocked viewers when she rejected exBlake Horstmannon ABC’sBachelor in Paradiseafter he told her he wanted a relationship.
“At that point, I had heard a lot,” Schulman, who dated Horstmann on and off before coming toParadise, tells PEOPLE. “I tried. But mentally, I wasn’t there anymore.”
Craig Sjodin/ABC; Bob D’Amico/ ABC
Horstmann’s pursuit of Schulman came after he had already gone on a date with fellow contestantTayshia Adams— and thentried in vainto dateHannah Godwin.
“At some point I was like, ‘Maybe if I’m still thinking about him, considering he has feelings for me, I should give it a shot,'” Schulman recalls. “But it’s like, hey, a guy doesn’t want you, chooses every girl before you, and then comes back to you and you run back and take him? I didn’t want to be that girl again.”
Ultimately, Schulman says she was even though she wasn’t willing to get into a relationship with Horstmann, shesupported him platonically.
“I didn’t go toParadisefor Blake,” she says. “But he was struggling and I didn’t want him going through that. That’s why I was holding his hand throughParadise, hoping to be that shoulder to lean on. We had a good friendship going. And I wanted to stay committed to that.”
Blake Horstmann and Kristina Schulman.ABC/John Fleenor
And when it comes to themassive backlashHorstmann encountered post-filming, forreleasing private textsbetween him and exCaelynn Miller-Keyes, Schulman remains loyal to her friend.
“I know Blake’s heart and I know that deep down he’s a good person,” she says. “Dean got a lot of negativity for what happened with us inParadiseand I still think he’s a good person. And the extent of backlash he got on our season is uncalled for, just like this season for Blake.”
Schulman says she even reached out to Horstmann after the show, though the status of their relationship hasn’t changed.
“We got back and I said, ‘I’d like to talk if you want to talk,'” she says. “He had just had his heart shattered and he said, ‘I need some time.’ Ultimately we came back together as friends.”
The season finale ofBachelor in Paradiseairs Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
source: people.com
