Kristin Cavallari Says This Is the 'First Time' She's Not 'Given a S--- What Anybody Thinks' amid Mark Estes Romance

The 'Laguna Beach' alum is 13 years older than her TikTok influencer boyfriend, who she told Bustle has stepped up for her “more than anyone else I’ve ever dated”

In February, Kristin Cavallari made her relationship with Mark Estes Instagram official — and opened herself up to criticism about the 13-year age difference between her and the TikTok influencer.

But the Laguna Beach alum, 37, doesn’t care what people say about her relationship with Estes, 24.

“This is the first time in my life I truly have not given a s--- what anybody thinks,” Cavallari told Bustle. “I think if people are upset about it, that has nothing to do with me. You don’t know me. My life doesn’t affect you in the slightest. If that’s triggering for someone, they need to take a look in the mirror and figure out why.”

Related: Kristin Cavallari Says She's 'in Love and Obsessed' with Boyfriend Mark Estes During Bahamas Getaway

Cavallari claimed that no one in her life clocked the age gap between her and Estes as strange.

“I understand what it looks like from the outside world of, like, yeah, I’m dating a 24-year-old," she said. "But no one in my life has been like, ‘This is weird.’ Everyone’s like, ‘I get it. It makes sense.’”

Cavallari and her former NFL pro husband Jay Cutler announced their split in April 2020 following nearly seven years of marriage. The pair shares three kids: sons Camden, 11, and Jaxon, 10, and daughter Saylor, 8.

The reality star thinks the divorce “was when I let go of a lot of control, and I let life unfold before me instead of trying to plan everything and control everything,” she told Bustle.

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Today, Cavallari said she doesn’t need a boyfriend “for anything other than just pure happiness,” and she feels like Estes has been “able to step up to the plate” for her “more than anyone else I’ve ever dated.”

“I’m way happier and I’m way more at peace in my life, so it’s working for me,” Cavallari continued.

In May, a source told PEOPLE that “everything is so good” with Cavallari and Estes. “He’s great with her kids,” the insider added. “They have a lot of fun together. It’s honestly the happiest her friends have seen her in the past 10 years.”

The MTV alum explained on her Let’s Be Honest with Kristin Cavallari podcast in March that she didn’t actively try to date a younger man.

“I want you guys to know that me dating a 24-year-old is not something that I was, like, searching out,” she said. “If you guys listen to the podcast, you know, I thought 30-year-olds were too young for me. I understand what it looks like to the outside world, I really do.”

But Cavallari deemed Estes “the hottest guy I've ever seen” when they first met.

“That attraction was always there,” she said. “But when I met him I was like, he's actually a really nice, good guy. He's very sweet — from the jump, he was so sweet to me. Like the very first thing he said to me when we were standing there and [had] just met, he was like, ‘You're, like, really pretty.’”

Related: Kristin Cavallari Takes Trip to Bahamas with Boyfriend Mark Estes and Her 3 Kids: 'Favorite People'

Cavallari said on another episode that the relationship with Estes has “become pretty serious.”

“If he ends up really being the one,” Cavallari said, “I would have a kid.”

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