Kat Stickler and Jason Tartick just announced their break up, which was one of the more surprising break-ups in the news recently, because of how real their love seemed to be and how often they publicly declared their love for each other.

My belief is that it absolutely was real. I liked them together. In April of this year, I sat across from them for awhile, at a New York City bar, which happened to be Jason’s book tour wrap party. I was chatting with Kat Stickler’s manager Alice (who is hilarious by the way!) while the two lovebirds tried to discreetly hold hands across from us and Jason snuck a kiss on Kat’s cheek. By this point, they were about to go public and hard launch their relationship, so they were being careful but not too careful. Regardless, prior to going public with their relationship, I can say without a doubt that I witnessed a genuine connection between Kat Stickler and Jason Tartick. 

That’s probably what Kat Stickler meant when she said “it wasn’t love wasted” when addressing her breakup with Jason on her Instagram story last night. It wasn’t love wasted, because the love was real, and their time together therefore meant a lot to each other. Kat also seemed quite sad in her video and said that “it didn’t work” and she did not want to talk about it. 

As for Jason, his statement on a now-deleted Instagram story last night read, “I am sad to share that Kat and I are no longer together. It’s fair to say that I love hard with all my heart and fall fast. Sometimes in life, that works out and other times it doesn’t. This time, it didn’t. Kat has brought me so much happiness and light. She brought out parts of me I never knew existed. I will forever be grateful for her and of course, sweet MK. This chapter closes amicably, and another opens. I’ll be rooting for her happiness and I am also rooting for mine.”

If you want to know why Jason Tartick and Kat Stickler broke up, there are a few things to note: First, don’t worry, you’ll probably soon find out since these stories eventually come out in podcasts and interviews somewhere down the line. Second, even if speculation is all you have right now to get answers, the Kat and Jason breakup theories are relatively obvious and the problems they likely had are not that difficult to figure out. 

I’ll outline those theories below to satisfy all of you who were invested in a very public and adorable relationship, but I’ll preface this by stating that these seemingly obvious break up reasons – these possible reasons I should say – are neither Kat’s fault nor Jason’s fault. I believe it is purely a result of circumstance, logistics, and priorities. So if you’re looking for someone to blame, you’re reading the wrong article. I know many of us thought Kat and Jason were end game, and I’ll be honest and say that I thought they were end game. I thought this was it, and he was with his future wife. Not just from seeing their content online but also seeing their connection in person. Another clue for me that this was for real, was Kat introducing Jason to her daughter, which I don’t think she would do if she didn’t think it was going to last (so don’t come for her). To everyone saying they only dated 6 months and that’s too soon to introduce the kid, there was likely another couple months of dating in secret, when they weren’t public yet, so they were probably together for longer than 6 months.

1. Logistics (Kat Stickler is Tied to Tampa)

What if Jason Tartick could not commit to a big decision such as a move to Tampa, Florida, which is where Kat Stickler has to live due to custody arrangements (and other) reasons? If Tampa is not somewhere Jason is interested in living, can we expect him to be willing to commit to a promise to move there? Can we even expect him to make that promise in the first place? He likely didn’t promise any such thing. And if Kat Stickler did expect that from Jason, she’d of course feel very let down if it didn’t happen. Relocation is a big deal, and we can’t blame Jason if he couldn’t agree to relocate to a city he never wanted to live in. It’s entirely possible that Jason thought Kat might be the one to agree to relocate, and perhaps when they read the questions sent in for their Q&A, it became obvious they were at an impasse. One or both of them may have decided it would not work out if they couldn’t live in the same city.

For Jason, committing to a location might be more difficult for him than committing to a person. He may have discovered a different type of commitment-phobia that he didn’t even know he had. I’m a strong believer that you should love the city you live in, not just the person you live with. So if Jason didn’t feel a love connection with Tampa, Florida, I don’t think anyone can blame him, but we could have empathy for Kat if she was let down by this. I definitely think it’s possible that Jason fell in love with Kat, but he did not fall in love with Tampa.

It’s sad when logistics are the reason a relationship doesn’t work out. It probably feels like letting the one get away. Some might argue that it’s a sign he wasn’t the one or she wasn’t the one, because otherwise they’d stop at nothing to overcome these logistical obstacles. There’s some truth to that, but relocation is an obstacle many couples can’t overcome and break up because of. Let’s not forget how normal that is, when it comes to reasons to break up, and we don’t even know if that’s why it ended. Let’s move on to my next theory, another one I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking is the possible reason for the break up.

2. Exes 

A lot of people in a new relationship have a firm boundary that they’re not okay with exes still being in the picture in any capacity. Even those who don’t enforce that firm boundary about exes often still feel upset when exes have to be in the picture and would prefer it wasn’t the case.

Not only does Kat Stickler still have to have consistent communication with her ex Mike Stickler as they are co-parenting their little girl, but Jason also had reasons to give Kat, about why he can’t cut his ex Kaitlyn Bristowe out of the picture.

Do you remember what Kaitlyn Bristowe said on her recent solo podcast episode of Off The Vine, about how Jason is welcome to visit the dogs? How could Jason not want to visit those adorable dogs? Kaitlyn Bristowe is therefore potentially still in Jason’s life in some capacity, perhaps because of dog visitations, and Kat Stickler would be completely normal for not loving the idea of Jason seeing his gorgeous ex-fiance. Exes in the picture equals baggage. The point is that if they both still have their exes in the picture in some capacity, that could be enough of a reason why the relationship just doesn’t work. Remember that Kat said, “it just didn’t work” when addressing the breakup. Logistics would be enough of a reason why it just didn’t work, and so would exes in the picture. There doesn’t have to be some bigger reason or explanation, sometimes it really is that simple. Dave Neal, host of The Rush Hour Podcast, said it best: “Love isn’t always enough.” 

You can love someone and it just doesn’t work out, especially when you add complexities such as a kid, exes, and being long distance. Dave Neal also stated, “It’s not necessarily a failed relationship. They pursued it to all available ends, and then it ended. And that’s it.” They still made beautiful memories together and they definitely tried and took it seriously. 

3. They Went All In, Too Soon, Without Thinking it Out

Another theory I think is possible is that the two of them genuinely fell for each other so fast and hard (like Jason acknowledged in his statement) and they therefore didn’t take the time to think it all out. The logistics we covered that pose real problems are conversations they may have delayed having, perhaps on a subconscious level, purposefully. They may have known that conversation could have resulted in the end of their relationship. They may have procrastinated having that important talk, and then they welcomed questions for a Q&A which may have instigated that conversation, or something else may have instigated it.

Being a stepfather is a lot to take on, it’s a huge undertaking, and many different aspects of that in itself may not have been fully thought out. There’s a difference between thinking about these things and thinking it could work, versus fully thinking out all the aspects of that undertaking. 

Another problem with going all in too fast, aside from not taking the time to think out relationship logistics, is that sometimes relationships that move fast also end fast. Many people believe that a slow build is what results in the healthiest relationships.

Lao Tzu once said, “The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long.” There’s a common expression, relationships that start fast, end fast and it reminds me of this Lao Tzu quote because sometimes relationships that move that fast do seem to fizzle out more quickly.

4. Priorities and Effort

Kat Stickler may have given us a hint at some trouble in paradise when a few weeks before the breakup, she posted an Instagram reel of herself looking drop dead gorgeous and essentially told Jason he’s all talk, after he commented that she looked so good he was “getting on a plane right now”. As you can see below, Jason wrote, “Runs to airport, immediately jumps on next flight to Tampa. Holy hell.” Kat replied, “Don’t talk about it, be about it.”

If Jason put in more effort to fly to visit Kat more often in the beginning, and Kat noticed a shift in that effort and priorities, let’s just say this wouldn’t be the first time we’ve heard of someone putting in more effort in the beginning. It just wouldn’t work if someone needed that initial effort level to continue. If the bar was set high, that’s not always a good thing. What I mean is, if Jason is admitting that he falls hard and fast, it also makes sense that he puts more effort in, in the beginning. Setting the bar high can result in a fall, and that is a very common reason for a break up. It’s also very natural for the passion to start to die down a little, which does sometimes lead to a break up due to unmet needs all of a sudden or unmet expectations.

5. Putting the Child First

If Kat’s daughter was getting attached to Jason, and there were already some problems and aspects of the relationship not working out, it’s possible they both made the best decision for the child and pulled the plug. In other words, while sometimes people prolong a breakup as they try to iron out the kinks and try to see if a problem will work itself out, in this scenario it’s possible they chose not to prolong the inevitable. The point of this would be to help prevent the child from more extreme attachment or abandonment issues. 

Final Thoughts and Other Theories

Other theories are out there that are not my theories and I’m not comfortable speculating about those ones, but I’ll briefly mention them without going into detail. Some people think Kat Stickler’s manager Alice sniffed out some red flags with Jason and talked some sense into Kat. While I do know that Kat is very close friends with her manager (and likely listens to her advice) I’m not going to speculate that Alice saw red flags with Jason or didn’t like Jason. I’m not sure I believe that. I also am not so sure I agree that Jason is a clout chaser or that Kat caught on to that. While it’s fair that some people think it’s not a coincidence that he’s dated two very popular and influential women back-to-back, Jason could also just be attracted to strong, powerful, successful women. Would it be nice to see him date someone with 900 followers who’s not in the public eye? Absolutely. But I’m not comfortable speculating that he only wants to date women with a following. He’s aware of these accusations, and he can speak on it himself if he wants to. Did Jason find someone new? While I have to admit some of the language in his statement about a new chapter beginning and rooting for his own happiness does allude to the fact that he may have met someone new, this is another theory I won’t elaborate on because there are so many logistical reasons that could reasonably explain this break up, it seems less likely to me that it’s because of someone new entering the picture. I’ve interviewed Jason before, I do think he’s a good guy, I was following along with his relationship, and I do care that they broke up which is why I’m covering it. Okay, that’s all, folks. 

Wait, one last thing: How great of an episode would it be if Kat Stickler and Kaitlyn Bristowe got together on a podcast to talk about what went wrong with Jason, and became besties.