From Pilot Pete and Madison Prewett’s chaotic affair to Clare Crawley’s drama-heavy relationship with Dale Moss, The Bachelor franchise has explored plenty of unusual romances.
Tia Booth‘s past fling with Colton Underwood is no different. The fling reached its highest height on Season 5 of Bachelor in Paradise. And, as anyone associated with Bachelor Nation will tell you, it didn’t end well. Here’s a refresher on what went down between Tia and Colton.
Tia Booth and Colton Underwood starred in Season 5 of ‘Bachelor in Paradise.’
Tia and Colton’s situation-ship began circa 2018, a good three years before Colton came out as gay.
After exchanging a few flirty messages on Instagram (Tia slid into his DMs after spotting his Instagram story referencing Stranger Things), the stars embarked on a range of romantic dates, including a hike to Runyon Canyon in Los Angeles. (Rescue puppies were also involved, per Refinery29.)
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Things took a turn for the worse once Colton landed a spot on Season 14 of The Bachelorette (Becca Kufrin’s season). Intriguingly enough, Tia made a surprise appearance, effectively diminishing the little hope Colton might have had to make it to the final three. (Jason Tartick, Blake Horstmann, and Garrett Yrigoyen were the finalists. Garrett won.) After The Bachelorette, Colton went on to appear on Season 5 of Bachelor in Paradise. He once again reconnected with Tia.
“The second Colton walked out on the beach, I felt these feelings kind of rush back,” Tia explained in a confessional. “I don’t know why I’m nervous, but I can feel my heart beating out of my chest.”
In a step that anticipated future events, Colton pulled a Bachelor in Paradise contestant decidedly not named Tia (Kendall Long) for his first date. And then he pulled another girl decidedly not named Tia (Angela Amezcua) for another date.
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“I think him showing up here and asking other girls to talk to first is a red flag,” Astrid Loch remarked in a scene.
Despite all the complications — read: the problems directly resulting from Colton’s inconsiderate behavior — Tia managed to turn the tides and lock it in.
“He has treated me like a princess ever since,” Tia told Raven Gates. “I’ve never felt it from him like this before.”
In other words, buckle up.
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Tia and Colton agreed to see where the relationship takes them, which wasn’t too far from where they began. Colton broke things off on Season 5 of Bachelor in Paradise, telling Tia in a hard-to-watch scene that he was missing the spark.
“I wanted us to work so bad, but it’s not there,” Colton said, per Bustle. “I can look at you with 100 percent certainty and say that I tried here.”
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“I know Colton is a great guy. I know what I deserve,” Tia said. “Someone is going to love me someday. I just wanted it so bad through this because I believe in this so much. I’m tired of always feeling not good enough for people.”