Kaitlyn Bristowe is looking back on her time as the Bachelorette. ET spoke with the 35-year-old Dancing With the Stars contestant following her performance Monday night, and she opened up about how Clare Crawley’s upcoming season of The Bachelorette makes her think back on her own.
Bristowe appeared on The Bachelorette in 2015, and, in a twist, was only chosen to lead the show after the male suitors picked her over her co-Bachelorette, Britt Nilsson.null
Bristowe’s experience has similarities to the upcoming season, as ET learned last month that Crawley’s time as the Bachelorette came to an end roughly two weeks into filming, after she fell for one of her men. Tayshia Adams was brought in as a new lead, though Warner Bros. and ABC have yet to confirm the switch-up.
In a promo that aired during DWTS Monday night, Crawley says, “I definitely feel like I just met my husband,” in reference to one suitor, Dale Moss.null
“Imagine if she did? That’s a nice little love story. I’m always like, ‘Yeah, that would’ve been nice. To be like, yeah that guy, and not have to go through all the drama of it,'” Bristowe said. “… I’m excited to find out what happens, too, because girlfriend signed a contract. So even though we text, she can’t tell me anything.”
“… Two Bachelorettes is always better than one,” she added. “Not if you ask me when it was my season, because we had two Bachelorettes and that was not fun either.”
After explaining the complexities of her Bachelorette season to her pro partner, Artem Chigvintsev, he declared it an “awful” situation.
“That’s like a direct comparison,” he said.
“It worked out for the other girl to. Now she’s married with a baby,” Bristowe responded of Nilsson who married Jeremy Byrne in 2017 and welcomed their first child back in June.
While thinking back on her season, Bristowe also recalled how she was “bullied” and “hated” during that time.
“When I was on TV, I was hated. People gave me such a hard time. I was so bullied,” she recalled. “They had to make it into a thing on the show to show how awful people were being to me. It was really hard because all I was doing was being myself.”
“I was like, ‘I’ve gone my whole life being surrounded by people who love me and then I go on this show and I’m still being just who I am and I go overnight to people hating me,'” Bristowe continued. “It was so hard for me to understand. But I continued to just be who I was. I wasn’t going to let it change me.”
After that experience, Bristowe is soaking in the praise she’s receiving week-to-week on Dancing With the Stars, including three ninesfor her performance on Monday.
“Now I think people have gotten to know me through social media or other thigs. Everyone knows my passion was dancing and how much I love it. I think a lot of people now see how happy I am to be here and in this position,” she said. “I’ve been absolutely blown away by how much love I’ve received and how much love we’ve received from the dancing. It’s been such a nice change of pace.”
Bristowe and Chigvintsev danced a tangoduring Monday’s ’80s night episode. The former Bachelorette ended the number with some epic breakdancing, a choice that Chigvintsev supported after seeing Bristowe’s skills — and having her teach him some moves!
“I was like, ‘This is great. Perfect. We’re gonna include this in the tango,'” Chigvintsev said. “I was like, ‘I’m gonna run around like this and cheer you on.’ And Kaitlyn was like, ‘No, why don’t you just do it with me?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t think so.'”
“Yeah, right. He learned it in two seconds and did it better than me,” Bristowe said.
“That’s not true, but OK,” Chigvintsev responded.
Their performance ended up being successful, and getting them one step closer to walking away with the mirrorball trophy.
“I mean the thought of that, I can’t even let my brain access those feelings yet or I’ll go into happiness overload,” Bristowe admitted.
Dancing With the Stars airs Mondays on ABC, while Crawley’s season of The Bachelorette will kick off Tuesday, Oct. 13 on ABC.
