Amanda Kloots is setting the record straight on her journey with Bachelor Nation‘s Michael Allio.
Late last year, The Talk host and the former Bachelorette contestant had fans buzzing after they took their online friendship into the real world and grabbed dinner at Burntwood Tavern in their shared home state of Ohio.
“Finally met this guy in person after being Instagram friends for a year!!” Amanda, who now lives in Los Angeles, wrote in a Dec. 27 Instagram post that showed her wrapping her arm around Michael during the meal. “Lots of fried food, drinks, great chats and laughs!”
And while fans may have been shipping the duo, who both lost their respective spouses in recent years, they’re not exactly checking out Neil Lane diamonds.
If they were dating, Amanda exclusively told E! News, “We wouldn’t be, like, snapping the picture and posting it.”
But she isn’t mad about the rumors. “I know it all comes from a good place,” Amanda said during an interview to promote her partnership with Traditional Medicinals and the wellness tea brand’s new lozenges. “It comes from, you know, he has an incredible support system online and fans all over that just want him to succeed in life and find love again, and I have an amazing group of fans that want the same for me….We were both laughing at it, but neither of us were upset by it….People just want us to be happy and find love again. So, there’s nothing wrong with that.”