Kaitlynn Carteris defending her brief marriage toBrody Jenner.
In a first-person essay forEllepublished Monday, theHillsstar said that her relationship with Jenner was “very real” despitenot being legally binding.
“The legitimacy of that marriage has become a matter of public debate, but for he and I, it was very real,” she wrote. “He was quite possibly the most beautiful man on the planet, with a heart of gold and a tireless sense of adventure. I was drawn to his spirit.”
Carter, 31, and Jenner, 36,announced their spliton Aug. 2, just over a year after theirintimate Indonesian wedding.
She also admitted in the essay that she “wondered early on whether or not he was the right partner for me.”
Donato Sardella/Getty
“He became my best friend, and together we had all the fun the world had to offer. Eventually though, after years of constant ‘excitement,’ we found we’d done as much growing apart as we’d done growing up,” she continued. “I began to spend a lot of time traveling on my own or with friends, quietly mourning what I knew in my heart would soon be the end of my marriage.”
At the time of their split, Carter and Jenner’s reps told PEOPLE the two had “decided to amicably separate,” adding that they “love and respect one another, and know that this is the best decision for their relationship moving forward.”
A source later told PEOPLE the two had been having “issues for years” and that shootingThe Hillsrebootwas “not good for them.”
Amy Sussman/Getty Images
“DoingThe Hillsmagnified a lot of things in their marriage,” the source said. “And it became clear that it wasn’t going to work. They both knew it.”
Carter, meanwhile, entered a whirlwind romance with friendMiley Cyruswhile the two were vacationing abroad last summer after their splits from their respective husbands, Jenner andLiam Hemsworth.
“This past July, I went on vacation with a female friend; the next thing I knew, I was in love with her,” Carter wrote in the essay. “It wasn’t quite that simple, of course. But it also wasn’t very complicated, either.”
“Until that trip, it had never crossed my mind that I was even capable of loving a woman the way I loved her,” she continued. “But after reflecting on my romantic history, I realized that I’ve never really had a ‘type.’”
Kaitlynn Carter/Instagram
Carter and Cyrus, 26, were first spottedkissing in Italyin August, around the same time Cyrus and Hemsworthannounced their split. (Cyrus hasinsisted she was not unfaithful during their marriage.)
In the essay, Carter said that while her fling with Cyrus “was short-lived,” she remained “eternally grateful” for their relationship “for opening my eyes to this unexplored part of myself, and for inspiring a new level of self-discovery and wonder at all the possibilities of life.”
“Although the relationship with my friend was often referenced in the media as merely a ‘summer fling’ or a ‘same-sex affair,’ it was so much more than that,” she wrote. “This was a profound journey of self-discovery. For the first time, I listened to myself, forgot about the ‘norm’, and lived.”
PEOPLE confirmed in September that Carter and Cyrushad splitbut were still friends. Cyrus is nowdatingCody Simpson.
source: people.com
