Bachelor Nation's Kaitlyn Bristowe Recalls Feeling "Used" Toward End of Shawn Booth Relationship

Will you accept this...ruse?

Kaitlyn Bristowe recently got candid about her relationship with Shawn Booth, to whom she got engaged during the Bachelorette season 11 finale, noting that she feels he took advantage of her fame until just before their 2018 breakup. 

"It was like getting down to the end where we both just didn't see it going anywhere," she said on her fiancé Jason Tartick's podcast Trading Secrets April 3, "but it felt like he was hanging on until his gym opened and that's where I felt used."

Kaitlyn, 37, then clarified that she felt like Shawn used her "professionally."

E! News has reached out to Shawn's rep for comment and has not received a response yet.

The 35-year-old opened his business, Boothcamp Gym, in Nashville in June 2018, with his then-fiancée Kaitlyn helping to celebrate its launch. One of the first posts on its Instagram account, shared late that month, shows Shawn with his colleagues at a promotional event, pointing off to the side. The caption reads, "We see you in the corner drinking wine @kaitlynbristowe #BCAMPteam."

And following its launch, Kaitlyn praised Shawn and his new endeavor on Twitter days later. "Congratulations on the first opening day of Booth Camp gym!!" she tweeted. "It's gonna do so well and I'm so proud of you @Shawn_Booth (Even tho I'm kinda scared I won't see you for the next 10 years)."

Months later, in November 2018, Kaitlyn and Shawn announced they had broken up after three years together. At the time, sources told E! News that the two had spent much time apart before they split.

"He's focused on the gym and building his business and she wants to be out and about," one insider said. "Their priorities are more different than they've ever been. They used to do everything together—both in personal and business. Now, a lot of their time is being spent apart."

Both Kaitlyn and Shawn have also spoken out separately about their relationship and breakup following their initial split announcement. In November 2021, the trainer said on the health-and-fitness podcast Austin AF that their engagement following his 2015 proposal on The Bachelorette did not feel real to him, noting that he and Kaitlyn "were very good at having fun and showing the world that we had fun."

"Being in love, and doing the whole love thing, we weren't that good at behind closed doors," he added. "And I think there was some sense of, like, a trauma bond. I'll always be connected to her in that way. We'll always have that bond, like, we went through something that I mean, a handful of people in the world have gone through."

On social media, Shawn has remained mum about his current love life, , with much of his social media activity revolving around the gym or his Golden Retriever, Walter, who has his own Instagram following.

Meanwhile, Kaitlyn has been engaged to Jason, a Bachelorette season 14 alum, since May 2021. And as she revealed last fall, they are well underway when it comes to wedding planning.

He's a very good planner, in general," Kaitlyn told E! News in October. "He's an organized person and he enjoys the financial aspects, like creating a budget. He's very helpful in that way."

And many of her and Jason's Bachelor Nation friends will be on-hand to see them say "I do."

"These are unique friendships with aspects so many people won't really understand," she added. "We've been through a lot, and it bonds us all. They will definitely be a part of this special day."

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