Kristin Cavallari’s recent ex is coming clean.

After the Laguna Beach alum revealed she secretly dated Nate Thompson, the retired NHL player admitted he knew the disclosure was inevitable.

“I knew it was only a matter of time before things became public—that’s her world, that’s what she does,” he said on the April 1 episode of his Energy Line podcast, referring to Kristin’s life as a public figure. “Her podcast, obviously, as you know, is pretty big, and she talks about her relationships, so I knew it was probably gonna come out eventually.”

While the two are no longer dating, the 40-year-old hockey star—who shares son Teague, 9, with ex-wife Cristin Stuart and daughter Wylder, 2, with ex Sonni Pacheco—had high praise for Kristin, noting he had “nothing bad to say” about her, even though he “wouldn’t have called her [his] girlfriend.”

“She’s a cool person,” he continued. “We had a good time. Life is gonna life and it just didn’t work out.”