Even after everything that happened with her ex-fiancé Josh Simmons, Paige Tillman would still “do it all over again.”
The Love Is Blind season 5 participant opened up about finding love in the pods on Thursday’s episode of the podcast with Tommy Braco, Anjelica Conti Vispisiano and Phil Bracco.
Though things ultimately didn’t work out with Simmons, Tillman said it was “a good thing she didn’t match up” with fellow season 5 star Jared “JP” Pierce given his less-than-enthusiastic reaction to now-ex-fiancé Taylor Rue’s makeup the first time they saw each other outside of the pods.
“My lashes are bigger than my face and I have bronzer up to [my cheeks,] and I had a big full dress on. He would have hated that,” Tillman said of her appearance on the day the couples met each other face-to-face.
“But it makes me sad because us girls just wanted to look so beautiful. I mean, this is a once in a lifetime moment for us and you want to look your best and feel your best,” she continued. “Taylor is one of the most beautiful women inside and out. So it does make me sad that that happened because we all tried really hard to look good for our significant other that day.”
Luckily, Tillman found love elsewhere with Simmons, though their story wasn’t shown on season 5. According to Tillman, the pair remained together five months after production wrapped and “probably would have got married” had they not prioritized their own needs and desires.
“Had I wanted to stay in Texas, we probably would have got married, and I would have done that immediately,” Tillman revealed on the podcast.
“We did plan our wedding. I was planning this huge wedding. He wanted a big wedding. I didn’t and I was gonna do it for him,” she said, noting that she wanted “to get married in a courthouse.”
“We both were always compromising things for each other, which you do that in relationship, but we just decided to go our separate ways,” added Tillman.
Though they were filmed for season 5, Tillman said she and Simmons did not go to Mexico for the post-pod getaways with the other couples.
“If you guys went to Mexico, you guys would have gotten married?” Vispisiano asked on the podcast, which Tillman confirmed, “Oh, we would have gotten married on the show, 100%.”
However, she admitted that she was “actually thankful we didn’t go” to Mexico following their engagement, and proceeded to open up about the events leading to their split.
“I asked him before I ended it, I said, ‘What do you want out of life?’ … and he just said, ‘To get married and have kids.’ And I said, ‘Okay. I want a career… I want a great big life and I want to give that to myself,’” she explained. “And I didn’t want to take him away from his life and his family and his friends.”
“We talked about it recently and I said, ‘It would have been so unfair to ask you to move with me for a job, for a career because I wanted to be in LA because in Texas there’s not much for what I do creative direction-wise,” Tillman continued. “So it would have been unfair to make him do that for me. I would never want him to compromise his life or what he wants for me. And I think that was the same situation. He didn’t want me to give up my dreams.”
“When I said we wanted different things out of life, we really just did,” Tillman added. “I didn’t want to take anything from him. He didn’t take anything from me. [Simmons said,] ‘You’re always going to want to do what you want to do. And I said, ‘Yeah, you’re right and you’re always gonna want to be in Texas and with your family and that’s okay.’”
Despite ending their relationship, Tillman said the breakup itself was “really beautiful” and the two still remain “close” today.
“It’s really cool that we have each other and still, to this day, we can say, ‘Yep, I’d do it all over again.’ And that’s so true,” Tillman shared. “We’re very grateful to Love Is Blind for bringing us together because I would have never met him if not.”
Tillman and Simmons revealed in a joint Instagram post earlier this month that they “fell deeply in love” and got engaged on the hit Netflix show, but ultimately “found out that we just wanted different things out of life.”
“We made the hardest decision to end our engagement, we have nothing but love and respect for each other and always will,” the pair wrote. “We are so grateful LIB brought us together and would do it all over again if we could 🤍.”
The first nine episodes of Love Is Blind season 5 are now streaming on Netflix. The season finale will drop on Friday, Oct. 13, followed by the reunion on Sunday, Oct. 15.
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