Shawn insinuates that he's being pressured into proposing to Kaitlyn as he's told that 'everyone is gonna hate' him if he doesn't propose to Kaitlyn in her 'The Bachelorette' season.
- Nov 20, 2021
AceShowbiz - Shawn Booth got candid about his past relationship with Kaitlyn Bristowe. In the Thursday, November 18 episode of the health-and-fitness podcast "Austin AF", the former "The Bachelorette" star reflected on their past relationship which began in season 11 of the ABC dating show.
"Any little thing to mess with me, mess with her, [the show] did," Shawn said. "So I think that definitely grew our relationship, because they were trying to pull us apart the entire time. Because they needed a show. It's a business."
Saying the engagement didn't feel real, the 35-year-old further explained, "At that point, it was like, I am so, so worn down mentally, emotionally, physically. I knew we were gonna end up together for, like, a long time on that show. I never, never really had a doubt, like, ever. I was always like, 'Yep, she's gonna pick me.' "
Shawn also insinuated that he was being pressured into proposing to Kaitlyn. "And then that last night was just like, 'Let's just get this over with and get out of here.' I was asking [producers], like, 'What if I don't propose, like, I mean, this is kind of a big deal.' And they're basically like, 'If you don't propose, then everyone is gonna hate you.' "
At one point, podcast host Katie Austin talked about how Shawn and Kaitlyn "fell in love on a reality show." In response to that, he opined, "Yeah, I think 'love' is a loose term," adding, "Looking back at it, there was, like, a serious connection. I don't know if it was true, true love. I guess it wasn't because we'd still be together if it was."
Still, Shawn insisted that his love was Kaitlyn was real. "Did I have a love for her? Yeah, of course. We had this connection, like, right out the gate. It wasn't a forced thing. We connected and we had an awesome time. But, like, afterwards, the situation makes it pretty easy to fall in love. No distractions," he shared.
"Being in love, and doing the whole love thing, we weren't that good at behind closed doors," he went on to say. "And I think there was some sense of, like, a trauma bond. I'll always be connected to her in that way. We'll always have that bond, like, we went through something that I mean, a handful of people in the world have gone through."
Shawn later revealed that he and Kaitlyn actually broke up before the news was made public. Before they eventually confirmed rumors of their split, they were forced "to post stuff and just to make it seem like everything was still good and we're still happy."
His experience made it hard for him to believe what he saw on the franchise. "It's a whole different ball game with that. You do have brand deals. And that's why I look at relationships now from 'The Bachelor' [and] I'm like, 'Are they actually happy?' " he wondered.
