“I just know long term he needs to experience life,” she continued. “He’s young, I mean, he is. I started to feel the age a little bit just with life experience. I look back on when I was 24 and how much life has happened for me between then. Those are crucial years; those are formative years. This is when you find yourself, and he needs to be able to do that.”
But during their relationship, Kristin defended Mark amid public criticism of their age gap and shared insight into what her inner circle thought about their relationship.
“I understand what it looks like from the outside world of, like, yeah, I’m dating a 24-year-old, but no one in my life has been like, ‘This is weird,'” Kristin told Bustle in July. “Everyone’s like, ‘I get it. It makes sense.'”
“I own my own house. I have kids,” Kristin—who shares kids Camden, 12; Jaxon, 10; and Saylor, 8, with ex-husband Jay Cutler—explained. “I don’t need a man for anything other than just pure happiness. Emotionally, he’s able to step up to the plate, and he’s shown up for me more than anyone else I’ve ever dated.”
