Cavallari said the fling was “one of the deeper relationships I’ve had, especially in such a short amount of time,” as she revealed the retired athlete’s identit

Tibrina Hobson/Getty

Kristin Cavallari attends the Uncommon James SS20 Launch Party hosted by Kristin Cavallari at Gracias Madre on March 05, 2020 in West Hollywood, California.

Kristin Cavallari has lifted the lid on the identity of the retired athlete mystery man she previously confirmed she was dating.

Cavallari said in December on Bunnie Xo’s podcast that she was dating a retired athlete who’s “such a good guy” and “checks all the boxes” for her, and on the April 1 episode of her podcast Let’s Be Honest, she revealed who the mystery man was — and confirmed their current relationship status.

The mom of three had been seeing former NHL player Nate Thompson, she said on the podcast, and called it “the most honest, pure, amazing, quote-unquote relationship I’ve ever had.”

“I really think he’s such a great guy. So that’s not one where I’m like, I don’t want anyone to know,” she said as she revealed that she’d named him during a stop on her live podcast tour already, so that cat was out of the bag — plus, some “f—ing detectives pieced it together” on TikTok, she said.

Jason Davis/Getty; Gary A. Vasquez/NHLI via Getty

(L-R) Kristen Cavallari; Nate Thompson.

“He is an ex-hockey player. He’s been retired for a couple years now. He’s a dad. He’s someone who has done a lot of work on himself, and we really connected on such a deep level. Honestly, one of the deeper relationships I’ve had, especially in such a short amount of time.”

“We didn’t hold back anything. We told each other f—ing everything,” she continued, though she clarified she “wouldn’t consider him a boyfriend” per se, but rather “someone that I’ve dated.”

Things between them were “mostly long distance” as Thompson, 40, lives in L.A. while she’s in Nashville, so that was another challenge, and she said that things between them ended before she embarked on her Let’s Be Honest tour last month.

“It wasn’t like we didn’t have fun, and I was attracted to him. Like, all the pieces were there… I just didn’t wanna be in a relationship,” she said, explaining her reasons behind the split.

Juan Ocampo/NHLI via Getty

Nate Thompson of the Los Angeles Kings poses for his official headshot for the 2023-2024 season on September 19, 2023 at the Toyota Sports Performance Center in El Segundo, California.

Her responsibilities as a mom also played a part. “I didn’t necessarily have time either. I think that’s also been kind of a factor for me of, like, my time that I can give to a man right now is so limited.

And that’s obviously really hard for guys, and it’s hard for me too … It’s f—ing complicated, alright, with having my kids most of the time.

It’s not like it was a couple years ago, which is fine. Again, this is not the phase of my life where I I don’t even wanna be dating that much anymore.”

The Laguna Beach alum instead decided to be “done with dating” and instead focus her energy on planning the tour. “I was like, I don’t want any distractions before my tour. And I really stuck to that. I really was serious. I did not put any energy into men. I did not talk to any men.”

She then echoed a sentiment she’d shared during the New York City stop of her live podcast tour on March 13, as she revealed, “In fact, I had hot ass men, hot men, DMing me on Instagram, and I did not respond. You guys would have been so proud of me.”

Before Thompson, Cavallari was most recently linked to TikToker Mark Estes and she was married to retired NFL player Jay Cutler, with whom she shares her three kids, from 2013 to 2020.