Shawn Booth is reflecting on his past relationship with Kaitlyn Bristowe.
The reality star was on the “Austin AF” podcast on Thursday, where he opened up about his three-year engagement to former “Bachelorette” lead Kaitlyn Bristowe, and he did not hold back.
“I think love is a loose term, like, 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. Of course, you’re thinking it’s love. But you’re put in a situation where you’re completely secluded from the world. You can’t talk to your friends, you can’t talk to your family. You can’t watch TV. You don’t have the internet. I mean, you’re there for 12 weeks, you’re trying to, like, just figure out your emotions and your feelings. And you have this person that you’re kind of going through the process with,” he shared.
The 34-year-old went on to say he felt like they had a “trauma bond” and he feels like they will always be connected in that sense.
“We were very good at having fun and showing the world that we had fun. Being in love, and doing the whole love thing, we weren’t that good at behind closed doors. And I think there was some sense of, like, a trauma bond, right,” he shared adding, “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. And it’s such a crazy, cool experience where you experience the highest of highs, the lowest of lows, and having to do all that in the public display is just like, ‘Holy cow.’ It was intense, but it makes you grow as a person.”
Kaitlyn and Shawn broke up in November 2018.
Kaitlyn, who is now engaged to Jason Tartick, has also previously dished about her time with Shawn.
In July 2020 the reality star spoke out on the “Scrubbing In with Becca Tilley and Tanya Rad” podcast, saying she felt “miserable” in the relationship.
“I pushed away a lot of friendships. I didn’t realize how miserable I was or how out of touch I was with myself and my confidence until — and I’m not trying to, obviously, blame Shawn … but I felt a lot of shame from the show. I felt a lot of insecurities. I didn’t feel safe in the relationship. I was constantly working on myself, constantly going to therapy to not feel those things,” she shared.
— Stephanie Swaim