The Untold Truth Of Miley's Ex Kaitlynn Carter
Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth shared a love story all of us wanted to believe in. Not long before she was spotted kissing reality TV star Kaitlynn Carter in Italy, the "Mother's Daughter" singer was pretending to lick her handsome husband on the Avengers: Endgame red carpet and standing in for him at the Isn't It Romantic premiere. But less than a year after getting secretly married in a low-key ceremony that was all love and no fuss in December 2018, this cute pair called it quits. Cyrus and Hemsworth's shocking August 2019 split seemed mutual, but the actor's alleged heartbreaking comments to the Daily Mail Australia were depressing enough to spark abandonment issues in even the most secure fans: "You don't understand what it's like. I don't want to talk about it mate." However, the Hunger Games star later wished Cyrus "nothing but health and happiness" and called this quote "false."
Meanwhile, Cyrus was unofficially dubbed queen of the "Hot Girl Summer" soon after. She looked absolutely ecstatic while gallivanting around Europe with alleged then-fling Carter. So, who's this mystery blonde that was spotted canoodling the pop star on a boat deck? Carter, who's best known for her role on The Hills: New Beginnings, previously made headlines when she broke off her marriage to Brody Jenner. Their whirlwind romance may have been short-lived — but more on that below. Here's everything you need to know about Miley's new girl-turned-ex Kaitlynn Carter.
Kaitlynn Carter never wanted to be a reality star
Reality TV stardom wasn't necessarily the life Kaitlynn Carter pictured for herself. "For the longest time I'd always say no," she told The Daily Front Row in 2015. "I've had a lot of people approach me about that, related to my blog and being in the L.A. social scene. I've taken a meeting but it's never felt right to me because I don't want to be involved in a show that's based on character drama."
To be fair, taking on Speidi-level spats every day would be kind of a lot for anyone. The fashionista was only willing to work on a reality show that focused on women's careers, but this was before MTV came knocking to reboot a previous hit. Carter was a massive fan of The Hills' original run, which means she probably knew of her future husband-turned-ex, Brody Jenner, long before they even met. Regardless, she found the iconic series to be a source of inspiration, and was even born in the same New Hampshire hospital as Heidi Montag.
"I watched The Hills religiously and, I mean, I never in a million years thought I'd be on it," Carter later told Vogue (via MTV News). "... I feel like it helped me see that there was a whole other world out there and endless opportunities."
Miley's ex once moved to Italy on a whim
We probably won't be catching Kaitlynn Carter twerking against middle aged men during the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, but Miley's ex does have a little bit of a spontaneous side. Carter once moved to Europe on what appeared to be a whim — a total contrast to the doting wife and hopeful, future mother she's portrayed as on The Hills: New Beginnings (at least in comparison to her retired party boy ex).
In 2010, Carter made it all the way to the finals of Maxim's Hometown Hotties contest. Yes, you read that right. This blogger actually entered, and it's as deliciously tacky as you'd expect, belly button piercing and all. In her entry, she admitted that moving to Italy was the "craziest" thing she'd ever done. "I picked up and moved to Italy for four months by myself last year, it was a leap of faith," she said. "And I am so glad I did it. I had some wild experiences with some awesome people."
It's unclear whether marrying Jenner in Indonesia or kissing Cyrus on a boat bumped this European excursion down a few notches, but we wouldn't have put it past the "Can't Be Tamed" songstress to teach Carter a few things about exploring her wild side.
Kaitlynn Carter is a savvy entrepreneur
Before hitting reality stardom, Kaitlynn Carter actually had a pretty normal job. Her very first gig was as a museum tour guide. After graduating from the University of New Hampshire with an English degree, she worked in financial services for "several years." In an interview with The Skinny Confidential, Carter claimed she left the world of finance for blogging, and it seems like she never looked back. According to Hollywood Life, the star launched the lifestyle blog, Hey, Miss Carter, in 2014, but stopped updating around the time she tied the knot with Brody Jenner in June 2018.
Though Carter's blog might have fallen to the wayside, she's pretty startup savvy. The entrepreneur launched the e-commerce website Foray Collective with her friend, Tiana Haraguchi, in 2015. Carter described the company as a "curated fashion marketplace with a shop by influencer approach" in an interview with The Daily Front Row. In other words, shoppers can buy looks from celebs like Vanessa Hudgens and top fashion bloggers like Aimee Song.
Miley's ex-girlfriend was once romantically linked to ... David Spade?
Miley Cyrus' complicated dating history is hard to top. The music star is notoriously free-spirited, and her on-and-off-again relationship with Liam Hemsworth proves it, but she's not the only one with an interesting track record in the romance department. Kaitlynn Carter was once linked to the Joe Dirt, which might just be as bizarre as that time Brody Jenner and Avril Lavigne got matching tattoos.
In some weird, head-scratching, pseudo-celebrity news, Carter was spotted grabbing lunch with David Spade back in 2012. To top it all off, the pair wore similar-looking fedoras during the outing — and anyone who's ever read celeb gossip knows the tabloids love to gauge the strength of an alleged couple by whether or not they coordinate looks. According to HuffPost, there is actually some psychology behind this phenomenon, but 2012 was also a big year for fedoras. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, and Carter and Spade were simply sharing a friendly moment with a magazine while bonding over their mutual passion for oft-ridiculed fashion accessories. Or maybe Carter had just binged a box set of Just Shoot Me! Who knows?
Kaitlynn Carter and Brody Jenner: love at first sight?
Kaitlynn Carter somehow achieved the superhero-like feat of getting Brody Jenner to at least partially retire from his party boy ways — or as Spencer Pratt put it, held him "hostage." It should be noted that Pratt was once suspended from The Hills after threatening to kill a producer, according to Us Weekly, and that Jenner's the kind of guy who proudly told GQ that smelling a girl's private parts was his "most traumatic experience." Basically, they don't always seem like the easiest people to get along with. But before their relationship apparently got so convoluted, things between Carter and Jenner appeared to be pretty simple.
The former couple's attraction was nearly love at first sight. According to People, they met at a party in 2013, where Jenner found himself immediately "going after her." Meanwhile, Carter soon realized their connection might last a lifetime. "He was really honest about what he wanted, no messing around, and I found that really charming and refreshing," she told the magazine. "Pretty soon after we started dating, I thought it could be for life."
Life or a year of marriage: what's really the difference in Hollywood?
Carter and Jenner were adventurous in (and out of) the bedroom
Miley's ex-girlfriend apparently had an adventurous love life with her ex. Before Brody Jenner was calling Kaitlynn Carter a "psychopath" on national TV and sleeping in his car to avoid her (via E! News), these two actually liked to push the envelope.
In a joint interview with Yahoo! Style in 2015, they revealed that Carter was more insatiable than Jenner — which was somewhat surprising considering he's so widely known for his sexual exploits that Sex with Brody became an actual show — and enjoyed the occasional public romp, much to Jenner's dismay. "I like to be in the confines of my own home," he explained. "I've never been into the whole have-sex-in-public-places thing ... I've done it — like, I'll go into the bathroom, or the changing room at the Grammys. But not like, let's just have sex in our car in the parking lot in the middle of a cross street on a summer day. You can go to prison for that ... Apparently Kaitlynn wants to go to jail, but I like my freedom."
Around that time, Jenner claimed to GQ that Carter was also down to add another person to their exploits, but she definitely wasn't thrilled when he told a woman in a club that they were in an "open relationship" on The Hills reboot. In retrospect, he probably should have seen that coming.
Did Kaitlynn Carter spark a KarJenner family feud?
When Kaitlynn Carter tied the knot with her reality star beau in 2018, a huge chunk of Brody Jenner's family never made it to the nuptials. According to E! News, dad Caitlyn Jenner and half-sisters Kendall and Kylie Jenner were notably absent. While Caitlyn apparently had prior work commitments, Kendall and Kylie reportedly hung around with friends and went out on a date night. Brody even claimed his younger siblings didn't even bother to RSVP. Similarly, stepsisters Kourtney, Kim, and Khloé Kardashian also skipped out.
It's not clear what exactly caused the reported rift Brody seems to have with the Kardashian-Jenners, but if you ask Spencer Pratt, the answer is allegedly Kaitlynn Carter. In an interview with Cosmopolitan, Pratt claimed that Brody used to have a good relationship with Kim, but things started to get weird when she didn't give him a plus one to her wedding with Kanye West. "He'd only been dating Kaitlynn for a year. Brody dates lots of girls for a year," Pratt claimed. "Kaitlynn made such a big deal about it that Brody didn't go to the wedding and publicly made statements about how they didn't give him a plus one ... Kaitlynn's the reason that Brody had a falling out with Kim."
Kaitlynn Carter was reportedly never legally married to Brody Jenner
Miley Cyrus certainly enjoyed a scenic Italian vacation with Kaitlynn Carter, but we're not too surprised we didn't see this alleged pairing visiting Indonesia together during their short-lived romance. That spot is somewhat sacred to Carter's old relationship with Brody Jenner, considering it's the place they got engaged in 2016 and married two years later.
According to People, the former couple held a gorgeous, intimate wedding ceremony at Nihi Sumba, an island resort just off the coast of Bali. It happened to be the same exact resort where Jenner originally proposed. They planned four days of activities — from horse races to a white party — for their 50 guests, but when the event was all over, they allegedly neglected one crucial detail. Us Weekly reports Carter and Jenner never filed for a marriage certificate in the United States. In other words, their marriage wasn't legally binding.
While this undeniably made their split a whole lot easier (no courts involved!), it also gave Spencer Pratt, who wasn't invited to the wedding, some fodder for his TV interview du jour.
The Hills reboot might have triggered Kaitlynn Carter's split
Both Miley Cyrus and Kaitlynn Carter know their way around a tumultuous relationship. Apparently, all those times Brody Jenner referenced how marriage was difficult on The Hills: New Beginnings really meant something. We probably could have guessed these two were headed toward Splitsville by one single comment made by Jenner in the Season 1 confessional booth. "While I don't have kids, I'm gonna pretty much do what I wanna do and live for myself as opposed to living for another human being," he said (via E! News). "I think that that's why [Carter] wants to have kids so bad — because she wants me to change in that way."
If that's not a relationship red flag so big it rivals the Hollywood sign, E! News reports that the pair also allegedly had trust issues since the start. According to a source cited by the media outlet, the couple broke up once before, and Carter allegedly "pressured" the party boy into a non-legally binding marriage. Another insider who spoke to People claimed that The Hills "magnified" these long-running relationship issues, and alleged that Carter had even "moved out" of their home prior to filming. While we can't confirm this report, we do know that the influencer was already renting her own apartment in Santa Monica, Calif. to allegedly ease her commute.
Was Kaitlynn Carter the one to call it quits with Brody Jenner?
It's not totally clear who broke up with whom, but from the outside, it seems like Brody Jenner may have been hosing down the flames around his relationship while Kaitlynn Carter bounced to safety (much like what happened when California's tragic wildfires encroached on their home in November 2018).
Fans of The Hills know that the couple had been hinting at their relationship issues on-screen for months. Carter wanted kids, but Jenner preferred to live for himself and, according to Buzzfeed, told her that she'd be "doing all the work" once they finally did procreate. Yikes. Regardless of whether or not Jenner believes Carter is a "nightmare" and "psychopath" like he's said on-screen, the reality star admitted in a confessional on The Hills, "To be honest, more than any nightclub, more than any bro sesh, being at home with my wife ... is my favorite thing to do."
The only evidence we really have of who triggered the split are two reports. Us Weekly claimed Jenner was looking "melancholy" and "wasn't talking to girls" on the day they announced their breakup (though he did reportedly have "a wandering eye"). Alternatively, Cosmopolitan alleged that Carter was busy flying around in a helicopter, listening to "Don't Worry Be Happy," and making out with then-girlfriend Miley Cyrus. So, who really won the breakup here?
Jenner didn't seem happy about Carter's Miley Cyrus fling
At first, it seemed like Kaitlynn Carter's split from Brody Jenner was amicable. The DJ even commented "Hot girl summer" underneath an Instagram selfie that the influencer took with Miley Cyrus during their Italian vacation. Things quickly took a turn for the worse, but was it all in good fun?
According to Comments By Celebs, Jenner took a dig at Carter in the Instagram comments section of his own post, on which he seemingly referenced their headline-worthy split with the caption, "Don't let yesterday take up too much of today." His Hills co-star Brandon Lee chimed in with, "Let's round this scandal out and post a pic of us making out." To which Jenner replied, "Watch out! Pics of Liam and I Holding hands on the beach coming soon." Shots fired. Cyrus, who knows how to drop a mic after spending years as a performer, clapped back: "Go take a nap in your truck and cool off #HotGirlSummer." Not only did she throw Jenner's own hashtag in his face, she referenced the exes' now-infamous on-screen argument.
According to a source cited by Page Six, Jenner reportedly knew Carter and Cyrus had been "hooking up for 'a couple of months'" and was "totally okay with it" (which raises questions about that open marriage comment that aired on The Hills). While he's supposedly "still friends" with both women, things did seem a little tense online.
Miley Cyrus and then-girlfriend Kaitlynn Carter were just having fun
You know what Cyndi Lauper says: girls just want to have fun. While Miley Cyrus was involved in an on-and-off relationship for the better part of a decade, Kaitlynn Carter had been tied down for the last six years. Basically, there's no time like the present to have a casual, flirty fling that just feels good, and according to a source cited by People, that's exactly what this alleged couple were doing.
Carter and Cyrus reportedly know each other through mutual friends — one of whom appears to be Cyrus' older sister, fashion blogger Brandi, who accompanied them on their European outing. Carter's breakup vacation, as it had been dubbed, was one part Eurotrip, one part Eat Pray Love (minus Bali, since Carter's past wedding location was probably off limits), and 100 percent FOMO-inducing. Meanwhile, Entertainment Tonight reports that the Hey, Miss Carter fashionista even accompanied Cyrus to the Glastonbury music festival the previous month and snapped photos in front of Stonehenge. Did our invitation get lost in the mail?
For their part, Liam Hemsworth and Brody Jenner are also reportedly friends who have bonded over surfing. Let's hope these two leaned on each other during that difficult time and managed to have a Hot Boy Summer of their own.
Did things get too serious between Miley Cyrus and Kaitlynn Carter?
Miley Cyrus can't be tamed, and that's exactly what allegedly led to her breakup with Kaitlynn Carter in late September 2019. As we know from watching The Hills: New Beginnings, Carter was eager to have children and even visited a fertility clinic to calm her nerves about when the sand would run out on her fertility hourglass (at the time of this writing, the TV star is only 31 years old). Cyrus, on the other hand, supposedly struggled with settling down with Liam Hemsworth the same way she struggled with settling down with Carter. When things got too serious, she reportedly cut her then-girlfriend loose.
According an insider cited by People shortly after the split, Cyrus was allegedly looking forward to being single again. "Miley split from Liam to focus on herself. Her relationship with Kaitlynn was a happy surprise," the source claimed. "However, Miley was so invested in her relationship with Liam for a long time. She felt her relationship with Kaitlynn was almost moving in that direction, too."
Cyrus may not have wanted a serious romance with Carter, but the pair did manage to salvage a friendship. According to Page Six, these amicable exes still comment on each other's Instagram posts.