Mark Estes admits he had some butterflies ahead of his first date with Kristin Cavallari.
“I think just like along with any first date, I was definitely a little nervous,” the athlete, who makes up one third of popular TikTok group the Montana Boyz, exclusively told Page Six in a new interview. “But yeah, it was great, and yeah, I’d say there was instant chemistry right away.”
Estes officially asked the “Laguna Beach” alum out for the first time on Feb. 13, just ahead of Valentine’s Day. The two haven’t been shy about showcasing their love for each other ever since – whether that be in public, on social media or in various interviews.
“She’s just super confident,” the content creator gushed of Cavallari, who shares kids Camden, 11, Jaxon, 9, and Saylor, 8 with ex-husband Jay Cutler. “Obviously she’s gorgeous. She’s an amazing person as well, and a great mother. So, yeah, pretty much [the] full package.”
Estes was joined in the interview by fellow Montana Boyz members Kaleb Winterburn and Kade “Cutter” Wilcox. Winterburn told us that he also felt “instant” chemistry between Estes and Cavallari when they met in real life for the first time during a group hangout in Nashville, Tenn., in January.
“Hanging around her at first I was like, ‘Holy cow, this is crazy,’” he remembered, with Wilcox adding, “She’s super cool in person.”
Estes and Cavallari first connected via Instagram last fall after the “Hills” alum discovered the Montana Boyz on her TikTok “For You Page” in September 2023.
The Uncommon James founder received a DM from the trio’s IG account that said “I love you,” which Cavallari later discovered was from her “favorite,” Estes.
Winterburn told Page Six that he remembers his friend being elated when he saw the reply from Cavallari.
“He was just fired up,” Winterburn said of Estes. “He mustered up the courage to do it and then he did it on the wrong account [instead of his personal]. Then she saw it and he was pretty ecstatic the next day.”
Estes, 24, and Cavallari, 37, eventually hard-launched their relationship in February while vacationing together in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
While many fans praised the reality star for showing off her new man at the time, others took to the comments section to weigh in on their 12-year age gap.
“You definitely kinda gotta block it out, just kind of have tunnel vision; have a vision of where we’re going and what we want to do in the future,” Estes said in response to any type of criticism he and the Montana Boyz receive online. “So we don’t let that really get in the way of it.”
“I mean, yeah, we’ve definitely been shooting some shots,” Winterburn confessed, bursting into laughter.
“We’ve got some DMs,” Wilcox added. “We can’t go further on any names but… we’re definitely single.”
Before finding fame on TikTok, all three of the boys were athletes who played college football together at Montana Technical University. They told us they also loved hunting, fishing and taking part in “classic Montana things” growing up.
“I definitely don’t think we were like ‘most likely to be TikTok famous’ by any means,” Wilcox joked, when asked what they were like back in high school and whether they won any superlatives.
“We’re goofballs, for sure,” added Winterburn.
Estes, Winterburn and Wilcox told Page Six that the creation of the Montana Boyz – which now boasts nearly 750,000 followers on TikTok and 238,000 on Instagram – actually happened by “accident” when they were playing a drinking game called beer die in college.
“Cutter set up his phone and was like, ‘Hey boys, let’s make a TiKTok.’ It got a bunch of views and we’re like, ‘Alright, let’s post more of these,’ and it kind of turned in to what it is now,” Winterburn recalled of their early lip-synching clips.
“Honestly, it was like pure bliss,” he added of their reaction upon discovering their first video went viral. “It was the first time like all of our phones were kinda blowin’ up. We’re like, ‘Oh, this is addicting.’”
The Montana Boyz have since moved to Nashville, a short distance from where Cavallari resides in Franklin, Tenn. Winterburn admitted the move has been “a culture shock, for sure,” but told us they’ve collectively been “having fun” as a group and meeting new people.
“Nashville was kind of the closest thing to Montana lifestyle-wise, and obviously country music,” Estes explained. “It kind of just fits our whole vibe of what’s on our platform and kind of what we’re shooting for.”
As far as the future goes for the Montana Boyz, they’re hoping to grow their TikTok by showcasing “more personality and humor” in their videos, while also promoting Belmont Acres, their new clothing brand that gives a percentage of proceeds to ranchers in Montana.
They told us they’d also be interested in getting into reality TV someday – perhaps something focusing on hunting season – and wouldn’t be opposed to joining a competition show like “Dancing With the Stars.”
“I don’t know how long we’d last! [But] yeah, we’d try it out. I’m hoping to try all that kind of stuff out,” Winterburn said, with Wilcox adding, “I think if we had the practice, we could get there.”
