Bachelorette Alum Jason Tartick Says He's 'Shipping Matt and Michelle' Ahead of Bachelor Season 25 Finale
Dancing with the Stars requires an immense physical commitment from participants like season 29 winner Kaitlyn Bristowe, but it took a toll on her boyfriend Jason Tartick's body, too.
"I've had some sleep troubles over the past few months and it really was sparked when I was at Dancing with the Stars with Kaitlyn," Tartick, 32, tells PEOPLE while promoting melatonin brand Natrol.
The Bachelorette season 14 contestant found himself waking up at 3 a.m. every night. Specifically, "if I wake up, my phone will say 3:11 AM," Tartick says. "It'll always the same time."
As Sunday's Daylight Savings Time threatens to disturb sleep schedules, even more, Tartick says he swears by Natrol's 3 A.M. Melatonin fast-dissolve tablets. The reality star made some adjustments to his bedtime routine as well as part of his New Year's resolution to focus on mental wellness. "One thing I've been trying to do is keep bright screens away from bedtime for 60 minutes, and then working on meditation," he says. "And that's something I try and do with Kaitlyn."
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Frazer Harrison/Getty Kaitlyn and Jason
Not long after Tartick's sleep issues started, he and 35-year-old Bristowe — who will host the next season of The Bachelorette with Tayshia Adams — announced on Dec. 24 that they tested positive for COIVD-19, derailing the couple from spending the holidays with family. They recovered and today "we're 100 percent," Tartick says. "We're very blessed and thankful to be."
Next up for Tartick and Bristowe: buying a house together in Nashville, which may just be a smaller city than the pair initially realized. "We're in the middle of house shopping and we have a great real estate agent that's helping us. And we find out after two or three meetings — somehow connect the dots — that it's Derek Hough's sister that's helping us out," Tartick says of the coincidence.
RELATED VIDEO: Jason Tartick Says He Turned Down Chance to Propose to Kaitlyn Bristowe on 'Bachelor: GOAT'
The Buffalo, New York, native also looks forward to seeing who Bachelor Matt James picks during Monday's season finale. "I'm a huge fan, since that first date, of Michelle," Tartick says of one of James' finalists. "I joke around with Kaitlyn, I'm like, we need to hang out with Michelle. She is awesome. I'm shipping Matt and Michelle, that's for sure."
If 29-year-old James, who Tartick calls "fantastic," ends up with Rachael Kirkconnell instead, the Restart financial toolkit founder would like to see Michelle Young, 27, as the next Bachelorette. Though he supports Abigail Heringer and Katie Thurston stepping into the role as well.
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Tartick hopes that, amid host Chris Harrison temporarily stepping away from the show following backlash to his response to 24-year-old Kirkconnell's past racist action, Bachelor execs make "all the changes that need to be implemented." Though Harrison, 49, shared his intentions to return to the show during his Good Morning America interview last week, Warner Horizon and ABC Entertainment announced Friday that the Perfect Letter author won't resume his position on the upcoming season of The Bachelorette.
"It's good to see that people are being held accountable and people are taking ownership," Tartick says of Harrison. "As far as the franchise goes, that's going to be in the hands of the show executives. I'd like to think that they're being receptive to what they're hearing."
Former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay has been the most vocal Bachelor Nation star to call for change after Harrison made his controversial comments during a February interview with her on Extra. Following the interview, Lindsay, 35, deleted her Instagram because of the hateful messages she received. She has since returned.
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"Rachel is a fantastic voice for the changes that need to be done," Tartick says. "She's done a great job of getting the messaging and education that needs to be out there. I fully support Rachel and was truly, truly devastated when I heard that she was in a position where she had to remove her Instagram because of the racist hate messages she was getting. It was really, really, really disturbing."
The ongoing controversy has plagued James' run as the first Black Bachelor. "It's a shame that Matt's season is having so many outside distractions impacting such a historic season," Tartick concludes. "I think Matt has done an exceptional job."
