Jason Tartick Says He’s Not ‘Mentally Ready’ to Date Yet 2 Weeks After Split from Kat Stickler (Exclusive)

Jason Tartick is not looking for love again quite yet.

The Bachelor Nation star, 36, is fresh off a split from influencer Kat Stickler, which the pair announced on Oct. 12, and he’s opening up about the mindset he’s in two weeks post-breakup.

“I’m mentally not there right now,” Tartick tells PEOPLE about whether dating is on his radar at Heidi Klum’s annual Halloween Party at the Hard Rock Hotel in New York City on Oct. 31. “I’m just trying to take care of myself right now.”

Though he’s “not in that [mind]set,” Tartick is getting out there, as he admits that the Halloween outing was “the first time I’ve just been out and about” since the split.

“It’s good to change it up a little bit,” he adds.

In his post announcing his split from Stickler, 30, Tartick wrote, “It’s fair to say that I love hard with all my heart and fall fast. Sometimes in life, that works out and other times it doesn’t. This time it didn’t.”

“Kat has brought me so much happiness and light, she brought out parts of me I never knew existed. I will forever be grateful for her and of course, sweet and MK,” referring to Stickler’s 5-year-old daughter, MK.

“This chapter closes amicably, and another opens. I’ll be rooting for her happiness and I am also rooting for mine. ❤️‍🩹.”

Stickler addressed the split in a video posted on her Instagram Stories as she also called the split “amicable” and said, “It just didn’t work.”

“I don’t want to talk about it… I understand that with posting a relationship online you also have to show this side, the aftermath — Woohoo, so fun I love this,” she said sarcastically.

“But I just wanted to tell you guys and it’s not love wasted. I feel like sometimes its so easy to think that when a relationship ends that the love is wasted. But love is never wasted. So, that’s all I have to say.”

In his first podcast episode after the split, Tartick briefly addressed the news as he said the “past week’s been tough.”

“I mean, there’s just no way to kind of beat around the bush. Tough week. Breakups suck. If you’re in a situation where you’re not feeling OK, just know that’s OK,” he said on Trading Secrets.

PEOPLE confirmed that Tartick was dating Stickler in April. It marked his first relationship following the end of his and Kaitlyn Bristowe’s engagement, which they announced in August 2023 after four years together.