Kristin Cavallari is insisting — again — that she and “hot” Austen Kroll are just friends after their recent Mallorca vacation set tongues wagging.
“Let’s f–king talk about it,” the “Hills” alum said on Tuesday’s “Let’s Be Honest” podcast episode. “Every f–king DM I’ve had for the last two weeks has been about Austen Kroll coming [on the trip].”
The 39-year-old claimed, “There was zero hooking up. We weren’t even flirting or anything. He’s like a buddy.”
She dubbed the “Southern Charm” alum, 39, “so respectful and so cool,” as well as a “big teddy bear” with “the biggest heart.”
Her pal Justin Anderson chimed in to tell listeners there was “none of that weird tension” — despite him initially being “nervous” Kroll would get drunk and hit on Cavallari.
Cavallari continued, “I’ve always had male friends. … I’ve always enjoyed men probably because I’m basically a dude.”
She “without a doubt think[s] men and women can be friends,” explaining, “I think Austen and I are a good example of that. I don’t think Austen likes me or has a crush on me.”
“We’re able to actually just be friends, and I think that’s why it was such a beautiful thing,” Cavallari added. “And it was never awkward.”
She co-signed Anderson’s opinion that Kroll “has aura, man,” gushing, “I think he’s hot. In person, he’s hot. … He’s six foot five, you guys. He makes all of us feel little.”
Cavallari, notably has shut down speculation about Kroll on multiple occasions in the past.
When the “Laguna Beach” alum was spotted hanging in Nashville with Kroll and his co-star Craig Conover in December 2020, she clapped back via Instagram Stories.
“I didn’t realize I wasn’t allowed to have FRIENDS that are guys,” she captioned a selfie at the time.
Kroll shared a similar sentiment on “Watch What Happens Live” that same month.
“Honestly, she slid into Craig’s DMs and was like, ‘I’m coming into town,’” he explained. “So we all went to dinner and we all just kind of hit it off.”
Cavallari railed against “gossip bulls–t” claiming she was in a “love triangle” with Kroll and Conover, 37, the following year.
“I’ve never dated either one of them, I can guarantee that I’m not gonna date either one of them, and it’s possible for a grown woman to be friends with a grown man, and for that to be it,” her July 2021 social media statement read.
