Kristin Cavallari Recalls Thinking She’d Make Mark Estes Her 'F--- Buddy' Before Dating: 'Lack of Sex in My Life Was Real'

Cavallari said she thought she'd just sleep with the 24-year-old because she hadn't had a "f--- buddy" in Nashville since her divorce, but things changed when she "ended up liking" Estes

Kristin Cavallari’s new relationship has been making headlines since her first Instagram post — but the former reality TV star had no idea when she met Mark Estes that she’d end up dating him.

On a new episode of her podcast, Let’s Be Honest, Cavallari, 37, reflected on the early days of her relationship with the 24-year-old TikTok star. She admitted there was “instant chemistry” between them, but she was not envisioning a relationship.

“When I first met him, I didn't think it was gonna turn into what it turned into,” she began, before promising to be “f---ing honest.”

“Here's what I thought: I thought Montana was moving to Nashville. He's the hottest man I've ever seen. So I was like, perfect. I'll make him my f--- buddy," she recalled.

The Laguna Beach alum noted that she “didn’t have one” in Nashville prior to Estes and admitted that in the four years since her divorce from Jay Cutler, things had been a bit slow in that department.

“The lack of sex in my life was real, okay? Let's just put it that way,” she continued. “So I was like, Oh my God, this is perfect. This is, you know, this will be great. And then I ended up liking him.”

Related: Kristin Cavallari’s Boyfriend Mark Estes Shares PDA-Filled Photo Dump: 'My Girl and I'

The relationship between Cavallari and Estes, a former Montana Tech football player, began over a direct message, which she first shared on a previous episode of her podcast, which also featured her BFF Justin Anderson.

She said she was “scrolling on TikTok” and stumbled upon the group he’s part of, the Montana Boyz, who boast over 12 million likes on the app. “So I go, ‘Holy s---, who are these guys, because they’re so hot, but specifically this one,’ who I’m going to refer to as Montana."

She continued of her and Anderson, “So we both go, ‘This is the hottest guy we’ve ever seen in our entire lives, but like, okay.’  We carry on with our lives. Three weeks later, I get a DM on Instagram from the Montana Boyz that just says ‘I love you.’ And I’m going, ‘Oh, my God!’ ”

Estes’ friends Kaleb Winterburn and Kade Wilcox, who round out the Montana Boyz trio, told PEOPLE that the DM was “all” Mark.

“Yeah, I thought I was on my own account and I DMed her,” Estes said. “We woke up the next day and [my friend] was like, ‘Who DM'd Kristin?’ I was like, ‘Oh, that was me.’"

“It worked out,” Winterburn, 24, added of Estes shooting his shot over DM.

Related: Mark Estes Was 'a Little Nervous' Before First Date with Kristin Cavallari But Says They Had 'Instant Chemistry'

The couple, who went on their first date just before Valentine’s Day, have recently admitted that they’re both looking ahead to the next step in their relationship: kids.

Cavallari started the conversation when she admitted she was “mulling it over” on her podcast. “If he ends up really being the one, I would have a kid," she said, calling the relationship “pretty serious.”

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Estes said the pair are “going with the flow right now” when asked by Entertainment Tonight on the red carpet at the CMT Awards but admitted: "We definitely have had the talk, obviously,"

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