The pair shared dinner together late last year.
Michael Allio is opening up about his friendship with Amanda Kloots. On the latest episode of Audacy's Talking It Out with Bachelor Nation podcast, Allio revealed how he and Kloots got acquainted and shared the cornerstones of their friendship.
"Amanda's from Akron, [Ohio], area, so her and I are from here," Allio shared. "Her story is also very tragic. She lost her husband to COVID. She has a young child, Elvis. She lives out in LA. I'm here in Akron still."
Bachelor Nation got to know Allio when he competed on Katie Thurston's season of The Bachelorette. While on the show, Allio revealed that he was a widower, having lost his wife to breast cancer. He and his late wife share a son, 5-year-old James.
As for Kloots, she lost her husband, Nick Cordero, in July 2020 after a lengthy battle with COVID-19. Kloots and Cordero also have a son, 2-year-old Elvis.
Kloots messaged Allio online after he sent himself home on The Bachelorette, in favor of returning home to his son.
"Once I got off the show she kind of reached out and we started talking and developed this friendship," he explained. "We had so many similarities in the way we look at life, hopeful, but also with some reverence to the tragedy that we've had to overcome. Just this great friendship happened."
The pair got fans chatting when Kloots shared a pic of herself and Allio sharing a meal together in Dec. 2021. "Finally met this guy in person after being Instagram friends for a year!!" Kloots captioned the shot. "Lots of fried food, drinks, great chats and laughs!"
"When she came back to Akron for Christmas, I was like, 'Let's go grab a drink,'" Allio recalled. "I got to meet her parents, got to meet Elvis. They're an amazing, amazing family. I think she'll be a lifelong friend. She's the salt of the Earth."
As for his dating life, that's come less easily than his friendship with Kloots.
"I think I've developed trust issues. I never had them in my entire life, and for the first time, I'm worried about who I'm talking to, why they want to talk to me," Allio explained. "That whole for the right reasons thing is way beyond the show. I feel like it's spilling out into my personal life. I've been a little bit more guarded than I ever have been before."
Due to his now-guarded nature, Allio said that it took him "a lot longer than I thought [it would] to jump back" into the dating world.
"I've gone on three first dates... All have been really cordial, very nice, but sometimes when it becomes all about the show, the conversation, and when it becomes all about social media it's almost like, yeah, I understand that there are questions and I entertain those, but I'm trying to get to know you too," he said. "Anytime I'm dating somebody I'm usually love asking the questions because I'm trying to figure out who they are as a person, not just what's the show's about."
Watch the video below for another update from Bachelor Nation.
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