Kristin Cavallari Says Mark Estes Will ‘Thank Me’ One Day for Breaking up With Him

Kristin Cavallari is speaking out about her recent breakup with Mark Estes. The Laguna Beach alum, 37, opened up about why she and the Montana Boyz TikToker, 24, split after seven months of dating during the Tuesday, Nov. 1 episode of her Let’s Be Honest podcast.

“Mark and I broke up,” she confessed with a sigh. “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.” The MTV personality clarified that there was no infidelity involved in their breakup, but said the 13-year age gap eventually took its toll.

“He’s been the best boyfriend I’ve 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 explained. “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.”

The Very Cavallari personality said she’s “always been well aware” of the age gap, but called her romance with Estes “very healthy and very mature” despite them being in different stages of their lives. Cavallari continued that even if Estes doesn’t agree, she has the “life experience” to recognize that “this 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.”

Looking back, the Uncommon James founder has no regrets about her relationship with Estes. “I don’t regret going public with him. I don’t regret introducing him to my kids,” she said. “I don’t regret anything. It was such a good, happy relationship. And I think with every relationship you learn and you grow from, and I will forever look back at Mark and I with such fond memories and just pure happiness.”

Even now that she’s a single lady, Cavallari said she has “no interest” in getting back into the dating pool. “I’m really happy and really content having my life right now being about my kids and work,” said the mother of three, who shares sons Camden, 12, and Jaxon, 10, and daughter Saylor, 8, with her ex-husband, Jay Cutler.

Cavallari continued, “I just want to really take care of myself. I’m like really feeling this energy of just wanting to feel really good and making myself a priority and so I don’t really know where men fall on that list. I guess they sort of don’t, and in a few months, I’m sure that’ll change. But right now, that’s kind of all I want to do.”